Natural Selection, and Wombs
In continuation of the NY vs. Boston cycling thing, I’d like to offer a hypothesis about Bostonian cycling.
Specifically, how Somerville, Cambridge and Boston have more interest in Cycling than New York. Boston was once the worst biking city in the world, why would we spend more time reading about it on the internet?
Yes, Boston proper is horrible for biking, but it is flanked my pleasant areas like Somerville, Cambridge and Brookline. This creates a safe harbor – a kind womb, for neophytes and n00bs. This is coupled with a natural selection against bikers in Boston proper, so that there is a reduction in the more casual biker. Yes, casual riders exist and clog up the bike path, but most bikers in Boston are curious and motivated to learn about biking. This creates a core of interested, intelligent, and dedicated bikers, around which a culture can form.
Figure 1 illustrates an awesome bike, whose image was stolen from the fixed gear gallery.
So, in short. I’m saying we have less casual riders. The would-be casual riders are forced by the difficult environment into either progressively more proficient cyclists, or pedestrians. Our percentage numbers might be less than another city, but those that remain are the tough, the savvy, and fast.
Or, in Graph Form, here is what I’m saying. 
Note: these are not real numbers. I have not quantified cycling proficiency, nor have I established the frequency of such a train within the Bostonian people.
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