WAIT JUST A MINUTE, Portland.

Most years, our annual Bike Issue means those muscle-thighed readers who already dig on two-wheeled travel will perk up, and folks who are interested in dabbling in this town’s bicycle cornucopia will give our coverage a peek. The rest of you—beset by the knowledge that you live in the best cycling city in the country but with no intentions of purchasing or using a bike—will move on.

Not so fast! This year’s different.

Like it or not, you now have 24/7 access to a bicycle. With the launch of the long-pined-for Biketown bike share program on July 19, so do most of your neighbors. And that means Bike Issue 2016 should be for every damn one of us. Consider this issue a jumping-off point to what will hopefully become a long, fulfilling relationship between you and the noble velocipede.

In the pages that follow, we’ll introduce you to your new steed—the tank-like, Day-Glo orange Biketown bike you’ll be whooshing all around town. And since the Mercury likes helmets, we took the trouble of getting you one: We’re giving away four one-of-a-kind Nutcase helmets custom designed by some the best artists we know. Check them out!

Never learned to ride? We’ve got you covered. Follow along as our music editor embraces a conveyance she’s always scorned and feared—and find out how YOU can do the same.

For those of you intimidated by riding on city streets, we hear from the movement that’s been (illegally) making them safer. And for people who discover they need more from a bicycle than Biketown can offer, we’ve got the skinny on how to learn basic maintenance, and an enthusiastic introduction to the fastest, easiest bikes you’ll ever ride.

For all its imperfections, Portland does a lot right as a cycling city. The introduction of bike share is an opportunity to take that a step further. So read up, and join in. We need you.