After their success in New York, the pair decided to head west. "We started in Seattle and headed down to San Diego and hit tons of cities in between — of course, Portland and San Francisco and all the big biking cities," Sullivan says. They visited a number of cities on the East Coast, too, including Philadelphia and Providence.
But the couple's love for local bikers is apparent in the number of cyclists represented in the book. Among those photographed are Geekhouse proprietor Marty Walsh, posing in front of his shop. A fellow named Joe Boudreau stands in tight briefs next to an unnamed tattooed lady in a bikini. "He's one of my closest friends," Sullivan explains. "He wanted to pose fully nude, but we wouldn't allow it."
Through it all, Boston remains their favorite city in which to ride — even though it's not the easiest. "Boston is definitely one of the most difficult places to bike," Sullivan says. But both love the biking community here best of all.
"There's such a tight-knit culture here," Finkle says. "I only moved here a few years ago, and immediately, one of the people that I worked with knew somebody at a bike shop. She introduced me, and the next thing you know, I was thrown into it and completely accepted. . . . There's a benefit to this being a smaller city. It's just a great feeling here."
Finkle and Sullivan will be at the Brookline Booksmith on Thursday, June 23 at 7 pm.
Follow Eugenia Williamson on Twitter @eugenia_will.
