I bike to work!

Recently biking in Boston has shown how much it has grown in the past few years. First, it is steadily in the news, even in December! How good is that? Second, some of the press has even figured it out and understands urban biking to at least some degree. Hey, it’s a rapidly growing and evolving segment of our community, so we’ll give them some more time to catch up.

Sadly there are still folks out there riding around in automobiles and trucks who believe they own the road and bikes are a pesky nuisance they shouldn’t have to deal with. After all, there are the thousands of other folks in cars to deal with, isn’t that enough?

I find it amusing to hear complaints about scofflaw bicyclists when not a day goes by on my daily ride where nearly EVERY DRIVER that passes me is breaking the law… The speed limit in Franklin Park is 25, so every car that passes me there is no doubt breaking the speed limit. I know as I commuted by car through the park for years and I can tell my own stories of idiot drivers passing me over the double line or even on the right in the break down (now bike) lane while I was tooling along at between 30 and 35 mph… They’re probably from the same group of people who would complain about those idiot bicyclists…

Specifically for me is Boston Cab with the Medalian #1238 cut me off, yelled out of the car window and was generally fairly unsociable while I was riding on Ruggles Street on Friday. We’ve complained to the Hackney Division, but the only way to get any satisfaction is to go to the police station and file a report…. Could happen.

There’s also still the yawning gap in City Hall between those charged with advancing biking and those who actually do the work. Public Works and contractors for Boston don’t seem to be getting the message that the car isn’t king as they continue to put biking issues at the bottom of their punch lists. A year-long gap on Dorchester Avenue where a repaved stretch has yet to get sharrows is the most glaring example. C’mon! What a waste of energy NOT to get it done.

Second in the biking in Boston is growing are the continuing sitings on my part of other riders. Even today, a rainy day with hard rain forecast for later we saw a number of regulars along with the usual complement of local Dot Sidewalkers. Riding to town on Saturday night we saw at least a half dozen folks out on their bikes in Dorchester. They need more lights, but they were out there.

Third, Hubway’s so successful it is planning to go year-round. One aside here are congrats to Charles Yancey for making a big point of how inequitable Hubway is. He may be doing it wrong, but he’s spot on related to how unequal it is. Dorchester and JP in particular should be areas where Hubway needs to add more stations. We’re just as dense as Somerville and Cambridge and by the way, we’re actually in City of Boston limits… Imagine if City of Boston time and money getting Hubway in Cambridge, Somerville and Brookline was spent getting it into Boston neighborhoods? I guess that’s what Mr. Yancey and I see… Think about it from our perspective eh planners? Your excuses don’t hold water. PERIOD.

So, someone who read this post has sent me a shot of a local fellow riding a white bicycle that looked like the Ghost Bike. I’m going to post both here for you to decide. We’re still thinking of creating an installation for Mr. Bui too. If anyone can for sure tell us both bikes are the same ones, please respond.

The report by Boston Biker that the police in the town of Wellesley didn’t want a ghost bike helped spur today’s post.

As someone who has lived in Dorchester for almost 30 years I can say I’m not a big fan of memorials to folks who have been killed on the street. I pass by a number of them daily. Some fade away, but others remain for months and years. Of course I don’t like the dozens I see when I’m out driving on the highway either. But I’ve grown to accept them as being important to someone, so I tolerate them.

Well obviously one of our Dorchester neighbors wasn’t as tolerant as me regarding the Ghost Bike installed by Dotbike to memorialize our neighbor Mr. Bui who was struck and killed while riding his bicycle on Morrissey Blvd.  We’re pretty sure it was stolen and here’s why.

A Dotbiker was passing by the site of the Ghost Bike and noticed it was gone. He looked over and saw it leaned against a trash barrel, the lock was cut and thrown in the barrel. He returned the bike to the spot and tied the bike to the post with the cut lock. A day or two later the bike was completely gone.

We checked with the State Police and DCR who we had cleared the installation with back in September. They indicated no one had taken it down at their behest. So, who did?

The family was a suspect, but given there has been a consistent line of flowers installed there even after the bike was removed I would write them off the list.

So, that leaves the driver or someone close to him as a leading suspect. Isn’t it bad enough that you had a tragic accident while you were speeding and killed someone? Now you have to dishonor the dead by removing a memorial to them?

Personally driver, from the moment I heard of the accident and your reaction I had been sympathetic to your plight. Why would someone be riding down Morrissey Blvd on a bicycle at midnight? You did the right thing and stopped and turned yourself in. Perhaps you schemed to avoid a DUI by feigning illness and being brought to the hospital or not. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. 50 on a spot that is 30 and there’s often a cop sitting there? Stupid but it’s easier to go 50 on that road than 30 I must admit.

But removing a memorial to someone because it hurts you? Guess what? You shouldn’t be driving down Morrissey Blvd anymore anyway. I hope you don’t have a license. Perhaps you should start riding a bicycle yourself instead of wasting others lives. Given the report of your sporatic driving record, you don’t seem to be getting the point. You lost your license once already, HEY SLOW DOWN!

There didn’t seem to be an upswelling of emotion to replace the lost Ghost Bike outside of me. Hey we were planning to take it down around Thanksgiving anyway. But after stewing about it, seeing the student get run over by a T bus earlier this week and then seeing Wellesley discouraging one, I’m fired up.

My idea would be to get a foot or two long miniature bike sculpture or something and then install it on the post about 12 feet above the ground. I’ll take my time though. If anyone wants to help, please get in touch.

Meanwhile, I won’t be going to a certain bakery on Dorchester Avenue ever. I’m way less inclined to go to the bar/restaurant nearby either. Even with only circumstantial evidence, this jurist has decided the driver is guilty of insensitivity. Too bad, I was willing to give you the benefit of doubt. Until now. There is a path to redemtion. If by some miracle you read this, you can redeem yourself by returning the bike!

What an amazing month or so for coverage of bicycle issues in Boston. While we suffered two tragedies with two riders being struck and killed, it seems to have kicked off a genuine effort in more than one media outlet around town to do more comprehensive reporting on bicycles.

The leader in this regard has to be the Boston Globe. They ran several pieces, photos and letters related to the Ghost Bikes that sprung up after the accidents. Since they have continued to run news and opinion articles related to the various issues around riding a bike in the city.

While we don’t watch network or local news, we’ve seen a link or two on other outlets that suggest there was some varying coverage on bikes as well.

The other print outlets have had their moments too. Both the Herald and Metro have had some pretty in depth bike stories. Amazing…

While not all of the coverage has been great, the more press there is leads to more overall understanding. Some of the pieces have even resonated. Even the misconceptions presented have led to intelligent responses that have been run.

The worst press was the Public Health Department’s roll out of their public safety campaign to increase helmet use. The bike community has done a good job of responding to that, although Public Health so far has seemed oblivious and defensive. No doubt we’ll see more on that.

The Department of Transportation, which is generally loathed by most bike advocates as being totally auto-centric has even begun to try to make an effort. Now if that ever would turn into results, like not having turn lanes and more car accomodations included on our narrow roads instead of efforts to calm traffic and make room for bikes and pedestrians. It’s sort of like turning the Titanic.

Meanwhile in Dorchester, Neponset Ave gets lanes/sharrow mixes, Gallivan Boulevard has sharrows in spots. However the sharrows that disappeared last fall when Dorchester Avenue was paved south of Gallivan Boulevard down to Richmond Street remain lost on a contractor’s punch list. C’mon McCourt! Get with it.

Get your lights going folks as there is less and less daylight. Also we’ll soon be falling back and the ride home will be really dark. Pedal on!

Dotbike installed this Ghost Bike in honor of our fellow Dotrider Mr. Bui age 63 who was run over on Morrissey Blvd late one night when he was returning from fishing.

Here’s my first effort at posting a photo on this site. Typcially I post a link to the dotbike flickr site. While the idea is to honor the fallen rider Mr. Bui, the Ghost Bike also says something about Dotbikers. Beyond Casey (works with Boston Mag & lives nearby) and his partner ??(sorry) the folks who showed up could be identified as the core of Dotbike. We might have had a few more, but the crew that communicates, gets out into the community and rides rides rides was there. You know who you are. Thank you one and all for responding to my e-mails calling for us to install a bike. Thanks to those who obtained a bike, found the paint, donated the lock, showed up on Sunday morning at 8:30 AM! and said our prayers over the spot marked Left Sho in what was a gruesome looking stretch of roadway where poor Mr. Bui and the unfortunate Mr. Ahern met. God bless you all. Given this is the stretch of road dubbed “The Missing Link” by Dotbike and the Dot Reporter piece chronicalling this even turned to a photo of our state and city elected officials not far up the road looking at the Pedestrian Cross Walk marking this site and honoring Mr. Bui was imperitive. Add to that the fact Hub on Wheels was minutes from riding past and the installation was timely and sensitive. Here’s hoping everyone who saw the Ghost Bike and realizes its significance will call their State Representative, Senator and the Governor’s office and tell them enough is enough and its time to make installing “The Missing Link” priority #1, not something we might do with some Obama Tiger Whatever # $. Enough now, I’m getting angry… Pedal on! Call your Rep & Senator NOW! Thanks!

Dotriderblog was part of Boston Bikes recent bike count. We worked two sites, Dot Ave and Columbia Road and Washington St (in Dot) and Columbia Road. The following are my unscientific observations.

The Washington Street post revealed that there is a lot of education that needs to go on for Dotriders. With over 50 men passing that site, 80% of them didn’t wear helmets and 66% of them were what Dotriderblog calls “Sidewalkers.” They were typically riding on the sidewalk and very often heading the wrong direction. Some would wind back and forth onto the road where it seemed convenient. There wasn’t a lot of long distance commuter traffic. It’s a small wonder dotriderblog is always scratching his head when Boston Bikes reports high percentages of folks wearing helmets.

The Dot Ave site revealed much the same as a high percentage didn’t wear helmets and rode on the sidewalk. Lowering this percentage was a growing stream of folks who commute up the Avenue utilizing the bike lane and Dot Ave’s terminus in downtown.  This number will continue to grow as the fact is there will be more bike riders every day rather than less. Having counted at this site a year or two back, the 139 bikes we saw in two hours doesn’t seem like much but it was much more than before. Even the 71 seen at Washington Street was higher than what we may have found a few years back.

Riders at all spots didn’t do any good for cyclists’ safety image. I was amazed at the high number of folks coming north who drifted halfway across Columbia Road instead of waiting for the light. Perhaps it was spurred because Dot Ave there has a turn lane and there is no bike box or spot for riders to feel safe in what is probably one of the city’s craziest intersections. For better or for worse this intersection wasn’t included in the Stimulus Funded 10 Intersection Solution for Dorchester Avenue. It’s a state planned intersection though as there is no thought to accomodate cyclists. So it’s not a big wonder that many riders eschew the road and take the law into their own hands.

On the safety front though we witnessed two automobile accidents in two hours at Washington and Columbia. Both were a direct result of someone running a light. The police could make thousands each day at BOTH intersections just by standing there and citing folks who ‘block the box.’  Of course if they did, all havoc would break out. And they say it’s those crazy cyclists making things difficult for cars…

We saw one Hubway at Dot Ave. I got a chance to speak with the rider and he goes from Central Square to UMass which are two sites just added this year. Of course he took off down the sidewalk the wrong way. Wouldn’t it be nice if local Dorchester students at UMass would have the option of picking up a bike at Fields Corner or Peabody Square and head to school?

One thing that is definitely true about a significant number of bike riders in Dorchester is that many riders are using bikes for very very local riding. Many must be riding just a few blocks or less than a mile to home or work locally. Eyeing the riders closely, many had poorly tuned bikes with rusty chains and low air in their tires. There wasn’t any spandex or fancy bike computers. IPhones might be about the only similarity.

So how do we help our local riders? Good question. Given the news that two riders have been killed on Dorchester (South Boston was part of Dorchester until 1804 and it was a block from Dorchester Avenue) this past few days makes it a very important one too. Hopefully our Interim Bike Czar will either shed the Interim tag or be replaced by someone with a real title and more political pull that’s been on display since Nicole Friedman moved to Maine. Given most folks at City Hall are ensconsed in their jobs for life, they can easily ignore anyone who appears temporary, especially someone so young without any obvious political clout. So Boston’s bicycle future is on a bureaucratic hold despite a constant swelling of our numbers.

Neponset Avenue has been repaved for about half its length. Bike lanes have been installed going north but only sharrows going south. This road is way wider than 50 feet, so what’s with only one lane? (Must be a state planner?)

Franklin Park is blocked going from Pierpont Road to Glen Road due to pathway improvements which will actually make for a flat transition for riders in the future. While there is no easy access, regulars may plan an alternate route which isn’t as nice but is ok. Also this project is due to be completed fairly soon (before winter) so let’s go!

Broken (run over) bike racks in Peabody Square in front of Ashmont Cycles fixed within a week of ribbon cutting ceremony when dotrider asked the simple question, “How does leaving broken bike racks in front of a new bike store reflect on your actual support of his business…”

Dot Ave from Gallivan to Richmond is on a punch list. Great punch list! It’s a year old and aging daily.

Hubway announcements for JFK and UMass? Our bet is 2013…Anyone else?

And the beat goes on out in the hinterlands of Dorchester.

Peddle on!

While we’re riding more than ever and seeing more folks than ever why is it I’m still blue about the movement in Dorchester?

Try having to wait for months with no resolution about a length of Dot Ave that was repaved but the Sharrow Arrows never were replaced and no one has an answer? That might be one thing.

How about seeing more folks out on the road, heading the wrong way into traffic, sidewalking, not having a helmet, just wizzing here and there without any regard to automobiles and pedestrians? Sure.

How about Hubway claiming they’re in Dot with one lonely post at South Bay? It wasn’t Dorchester until it got filled and then even then the provenance is iffy. Good luck to Hubway.

Wait!

Then we see more women of all age and race ranges then ever riding everywhere. Go ladies go!

Then my daughter recruits me to be her guide on her ride to work from Dot to MIT. That’s good!

Everytime I go past Ashmont Cycles there is someone in there and it covers all of Dot. One day there’s the guys in their slinky suits. The next day a young mother getting her kids bmx fixed. Then there’s the older black guy negotiating a repair. Then there’s the yuppy buying the new comuter ride. It never ceases to amaze me. Of course I’ve always said no one has ever gone broke underestimating the buying power and taste of the general Dot public. Sarright!

So, we’ll chock up the city to Same Old Same Old and chill while the rest of summer slips into autumn and the roads thin and my commute gets way faster than any car thanks to the school buses. Then I might really get blue as I do love summer.

Pedal on!

My partner Maggie and I spend a lot of time on Nantucket. She has a summer job there and I’ve always gone there since I was a kid. This year we got a place out of town for a couple of weeks as we had a flock of visitors who wanted to come see us and hang. Since we didn’t have a car out there we made sure we had a bike for everyone or anyone who came to visit. The results to me show how difficult it is to grow bike culture.

After all Nantucket is home of the first bike path in the country. We were .3 of a mile off the main road with a speed limit of 20 and the main road had a totally separated bike path that ran 5 miles, 1 west to the ocean and 4 east to town. So how hard would riding a bike be?

Our first guests never got on a bike once. They had no problem walking to the road and they did buy a bus pass, but the bikes lanquished. They called a cab to get their gear to the boat when I offered to ride in with my trailer. Perfectly able middle aged women, but I’m wondering if one had never learned how to ride a bike…

The second group appeared talking a big game. 4-twenty somethings my daughter and her friends. We rode 2 miles to the beach the first day and then back. After that the bikes were used to ride to the main road. One more beach trip for 3 out of 4 and then my daughter sucked it up and rode into town. I’d give that effort a C, but in their defense they didn’t go anywhere much and we had a great time highlighted by a midnight dip. The cab to the brewery was cheaper than 6 of us taking the bus so…

Maggie’s step mom was the most game. She rode to town a couple of times but quickly figured out the bus had a bike rack and often would go only one way. Hey! Not bad really. I wasn’t there the whole time. During that time we had another guest who jumped on a bike whenever we said. Nice guest and I wish she was there longer. We missed Maggie’s niece who we know would have been on it.

One day during that time I rode into town on what was not a good beach day. Town was crawling with cars and I met the guy staying in a house near ours who said it took his kid an hour and half to find a parking spot (Hey dummy go back home and take the bus it only takes 20 minutes and it runs twice an hour.). The guy was flabergasted when I told him it took me 25 minutes to ride my bike in there and there was still plenty of parking. I know it may have got him thinking the other way.

But if anywhere in America shows the chasm between auto-centric folks and bike riders it is Nantucket. With 4 out of 5 vehicles being SUV’s or bigger and folks getting permits so they can park their monstrosities on the beach, there isn’t a more entitled and ignorant group of drivers anywhere. Even though there is only a few yards to gain folks chafe when they’re stuck behind a bike rider. If they get a shot to pass they will only most times to be over taken by the bike around the next corner at the Stop sign…

Then there are the hundreds and hundreds of bikes out there. I counted 200 parked in town that day it took my neighbor an hour and a half to park. Just think how long it would have taken him had there been 200 more cars? I pointed that out to him and he got it immediately. It’s too bad more folks don’t.

After all Boston went from 14th to 19th most congested city in America. Between surveys the ridership on the T reached record levels and the number of bicycle riders nearly doubled. Do you thinks there may be a correlation? I’d say so.

Peddle on! Keep spreading the word. It may take a while, but it will be worth it. After all for every six miles you ride instead of drive you save 3.5 pounds of CO2 going into the air and improve all our health.

After peaking at the end of last year with the miraculous transformation of parking on Mass Ave to make 50 miles of bike accomodation in Boston it is obvious we’ve lost a lot of momentum.

Nicole Friedman’s departure took the pressure off other City workers who may not share her view of cycling. She got what she wanted because it was obvious the Mayor had her back. Her temporary replacement doesn’t have that aura so bureaucratic ennui is setting in and stuff is being forgotten.

What? How about replacing the Sharrows on Dot Ave south of Gallivan Blvd? Nine months and counting… How about all the Share the Road signs in Dot or along any of the newly minted bike accomodation? Few and far between from what I see. Half the Sharrows on Dot Ave from Peabody Square to Fields Corner have already been compromised by our friends at NStar or National Grid, so that is soon to be history in terms of the 50 miles…

Are there any plans to expand bicycling education efforts in the neighborhood? Yeah right!

So our new associate Kris Carter has big shoes to fill and until he’s made permanant or a permanant replacement if appointed these type of issues will continue to build. They just show themselves out in the underserved neighborhoods first there folks, so watch out!

Dotbike didn’t choose to ride in the Dot-Day parade yesterday. Our immortal leadership was either commited to other causes or we were out of town. Personally I just wanted to relax and watch the parade for once. It’s been a while since I sat somewhere and watched everyone pass by. It is a generally entertaining hour and a half. The parties afterward can be good too. Although that’s true even if you march in the parade…

That said there were dozens of Dotbikers riding in the parade. Along with the police and EMT’s who were riding along (that’s pretty new) about half the floats had at least one or two folks hanging on while riding a bike. It was pretty cool. I wish I’d brought my camera.

Given this is the third plus year of bike advocacy in Dorchester it’s becoming plain that boredom has begun to settle in and our group is bigger but the core is fraying. We’re bigger simply because there are hundreds more riders than there were three years ago. In fact every day there are more riders than the day before. The bromide Maggie has come up with is that cars should just get used to having bicycles around because there won’t be less bikes going forward only more. What a comforting thought.

That helps to dull the urgency dotrider blog has felt in the past related to pushing bicycle issues for Dot. Over the past three years we’ve gotten a modicum (although the usual half-assed city treatment) of bike accomodation, revived efforts to build the missing link along our waterfront, saw a new bike shop open and brought to bear enough political awareness that we’re even getting some token Hubway sites.

The Boston Globe had its entire Stops and Starts page dedicated to bike riding. They didn’t even say anything dumb that called for a letter to the editor. It seems that the city and the Globe understand what’s happening in Dorchester and they’re making sure we get what we need. Of course it could always be better but hey it’s progress.

So it seems we’re getting bored with promoting biking. Of course the city is laying low too with Nicole Friedman gone there’s no leading light. We might have tried harder to stir the pot, but hey it’s spring and we’ve been busy.

Had we been squeaking at our usual volume, we’d be pointing out the sharrows on Dot Ave south of Gallivan Blvd are gone not to be replaced after the repaving. We’d be pushing Nicole’s admission that Dot Ave from Melville to Peabody Square is wide enough for lanes and not sharrows. The door issue is moot there since 90% of the cars there are long term parkers… We’d be still wondering out loud where the educational efforts are in the neighborhood. Where are they by the way? We’d have our fingers crossed waiting to hear if DCR got a Tiger Grant for the Missing Link. We’d be lamenting Mass Ave is still not laned south of BMC.

I guess we are, but the urgency is gone…. Now if you want to talk about Parks budgets and their total disregard for maintenance at Franklin Park (outside of the golf course and the zoo–they’re less than half the park tho), now you have an issue that is getting my attention! So watch out Parks! Clean up your act! Stop using Franklin Park as a dumping ground for the rest of the park system….Now THAT has me excited…