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Bike Commuter Getting around Boston on two wheelsHome About Bike Commuter ← Older posts Bridging Boston’s Bicycle Divide Posted on July 16, 2018 by Liam Tweet Imagine you’re driving a car in Boston. You want to get somewhere quick so you decide to take Storrow Drive, the limited access highway along the Charles River. But as you approach Storrow Drive you see a sign informing you PLEASE WALK CARS ON ACCESS AND EXIT RAMPS.” Now, you’ve been driving your car on city streets and will be driving your car on Storrow Drive, that’s what an automobile is designed to do, so you’d expect you’d also be able to drive between the two. But the sign says you must put the car in neutral and get out and push the vehicle, no matter how inconvenient and possibly dangerous that is. Imagine now that you are a pedestrian walking the sidewalks of Boston. You decide to take a stroll along the Charles River along the scenic Esplanade. But when you get to the bridge crossing Storrow Drive, you a sign sign instruction pedestrians to PLEASE BRACHIATE ACROSS THE BRIDGE.” Again, you might expect as a pedestrian that your means of locomotion should remain as walking for your entire journey, but for this part of your journey you must get in touch with your inner primate and swing by your arms across the bridge. Sounds absurd? Insulting? Inefficient? Possibly injurious? And yet, a bicyclist in the city of Boston hoping to connect to and from the Paul Dudley White Bike Path along the Charles River will see these signs on every bridge across Storrow Drive: The Paul Dudley White Bike Path is in every the bicycle equivalent of Storrow Drive, a bicycle highway connecting Boston neighborhoods and the city to the suburbs. In a city where Mayor Marty Car Guy” Walsh informs bicyclists that they are responsible for their own deaths because cars are going to hit you,” the Paul Dudley White Bike Path is one of the few places in Boston where bicyclists of all ages and ability can feel confident and relaxed to bike without the risk of vehicular violence from automobiles. And yet, to merely get on or off this bicycle oasis, one must face the inconvenience and indignity of not being able to use a bike for what it was built to do. Speaking for myself, walking my bike for extended distances – especially up inclines – causes a soreness in my hips that I never get from riding a bike. As Bostonians we must ask why certain forms of transportation are given the space to allow large numbers of vehicles to move at high speeds unobstructed (cars) while other forms of transportation must share limited spaces (pedestrians and bicyclists)? Why is the solution to conflicts of use to single out one form of transportation to be completely restricted from use on connecting routes? These questions must be resolved by improving facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians, reducing motor vehicle capacity where necessary, throughout the city. Until that time, riding one’s bike across the Storrow Drive bridges (yielding to pedestrians where necessary) remains and act of civil disobedience. Posted in Advocacy , Back Bay , Beacon Hill , Bicycling , Bike Safety , Boston , Downtown , Walking | Tagged Paul Dudley White Bike Path , Storrow Drive | Comments Off on Bridging Boston’s Bicycle Divide 2018 Bikes Not Bombs Bike-A-Thon #BAT2018 Posted on June 13, 2018 by Liam Tweet On Sunday, June 10th, my daughter Kay (a.k.a. The Toothless Wonder”) and I rode in the Bikes Not Bombs 31st Annual Bike-A-Thon . The ride helps raise funds for Bikes Not Bombs’ social justice programs in Boston and abroad. We met our goal for fundraising (including for my son Peter who was not able to participate), but Bikes Not Bombs is still accepting donations if you wish to contribute . It was a beautiful day to ride, and except for the steep uphills right at the beginning, it was a terrific ride. Read about our previous Bike-A-Thons in 2011 , 2013 , 2015 , 2016 , and 2017 . Posted in Advocacy , Bicycling , Bikes Not Bombs Bike-A-Thon , Boston , Brookline , Events , Jamaica Plain | Comments Off on 2018 Bikes Not Bombs Bike-A-Thon #BAT2018 Sponsor Us for the 2018 Bikes Not Bombs Bike-A-Thon #BAT2018 Posted on May 31, 2018 by Liam Tweet It’s once again time to get back in the saddle for one of my favorite events of the year, the Bikes Not Bombs Bike-A-Thon . Bikes Not Bombs is a social justice organization based in Jamaica Plain, MA not far from where I live. Their goal is to use the bicycle as a vehicle for social change. The accomplish this mission by: collecting and renovating bicycles to ship to developing communities in Central America, the Caribbean and Africa. These bicycles help people meet crucial transportation needs with an easily maintained and environmentally friendly vehicle. help Boston youth develop confidence and leadership skills through programs focusing on urban bicycle riding and bicycle repair. I routinely get my bike repaired and by bicycle supplies at the Bikes Not Bombs shop in Jamaica Plain, and I’m always impressed by the positive impact they have in the community. Especially when I see young people out on their Boston By Foot group rides. Here’s how you can help: Donate now at our Bike-A-Thon page . OR , sign up at Bikes Not Bombs to ride with us on June 10th! Cheer us on during the ride or post an encouraging comment! This is our sixth time participating. Read about our previous Bike-A-Thons in 2011 , 2013 , 2015 , 2016 , and 2017 . Posted in Bikes Not Bombs Bike-A-Thon , Boston , Events , Jamaica Plain | Comments Off on Sponsor Us for the 2018 Bikes Not Bombs Bike-A-Thon #BAT2018 #30DaysofBiking Day 7 Posted on April 7, 2018 by Liam Tweet This is better! A sunny, somewhat cool spring day. Me on my bike, my daughter on a trail-a-bike, and my son on his bike. We rode down the Southwest Corridor, stopped at Ula Cafe for lunch, rode over by Jamaica Pond and back to center JP, with a stop at the library. 5.26 miles, 1:12. Posted in Boston | Comments Off on #30DaysofBiking Day 7 #30DaysofBiking Days 3,4,5, and 6 Posted on April 6, 2018 by Liam Tweet It’s been cold, rainy, windy, and I’m not sleeping well. These days of biking are short rides on Hubway to get from here to there, head down, and shivering. This is not the joyous Days of Biking I signed up for. Oh well, 24 more days to find my bliss. Posted in 30 Days of Biking , Allston-Brighton , Boston , Cambridge , Events | Comments Off on #30DaysofBiking Days 3,4,5, and 6 #30DaysofBiking Day 2 Posted on April 2, 2018 by Liam Tweet Easter Monday. The first work day of April. Today is the day I’m going to start riding my bike to work again! Or not. Because it’s snowing. And I’m tired and lazy. But every bit of biking counts no matter how small. So I ride a Hubway from the T stop to work, and back, even with snow on the handlebars. 1.30 miles, 14 minutes. Posted in 30 Days of Biking , Allston-Brighton , Boston , Cambridge , Events | Comments Off on #30DaysofBiking Day 2 #30DaysofBiking Day 1 Posted on April 2, 2018 by Liam Tweet I didn’t think I was going to go for a bike ride on Easter Sunday. As tends to be my habit, I ride less and less in the winter time and then find it hard to get back into the habit in the spring. On Saturday, my son and I biked to Daisy Field for the local youth baseball league registration and skills assessment. It was nice to be on a bike again. But still, it was an exhausting Easter weekend and late Sunday afternoon I would just as soon be ready to go to bed early. But then my son said he really needed to get out of the house (and away from his little sister) and go for a bike ride before the sun set. So we rode through the tangled morass of construction at Forest Hills and down the Southwest Corridor bike path to Stony Brook and back. It was colder than I’d realized and I should have worn a jacket over my sweatshirt. It also started getting dark swifter than I expected, and we may have rode even more if my son had his way. April...