04/10/2017
Cambridge Main Library at Broadway / Trowbridge St (4:48 pm)
Back Bay T Stop - Dartmouth St at Stuart St (5:22 pm)
My first fine of the year! Let's blame the Boston Marathon for the extra traffic, wild pedestrians, and heightened security. These factors all conspire to keep me away from any usable racks until I run well over my thirty minutes.
The main problem is a Hubway policy to keep Copley-area bike racks in storage until the marathon is over. This is understandable. But it reduces usage of those spaces by a month or more. Instead of rolling out as early as late February, we must all wait until the last runner crosses the line in Copley Square, an event traditionally occurring around 6pm on the third Monday of April.
04/11/2017
Charles Circle - Charles St at Cambridge St (6:45 pm)
Seaport Hotel - Congress St at Seaport Ln (7:07 pm)
No matter how bright the permanent crayons used by the mayor and his infrastructure team, sometimes a bike lane is just a suggestion to a driver. This post rush-hour trip along Surface Street from the North End to the Seaport reminds me once more of this reality.
About halfway through the trip, I almost suffer my first major injury on a bike. The bus in front of me and the truck behind me both start to slide over to the right until they each have one wheel on the bike lane. A right turn is coming and I don't have many good options; stopping might get me run over by the truck while cutting left exposes me to unseen drivers zipping past these enormous vehicles.
I hold my nerve and, like a matador guiding the horns past his person, angle the front wheel of the bike at the back left bumper of the bus. As the bus cuts right across the bike lane, I slide left into traffic and fill the space the bus's left bumper has just vacated. Theoretically, if I follow the bumper back into the bike lane, I'll stay ahead of the truck without being in danger of getting clipped by a driver passing the bus.
What I don't see is the pothole. The bus is covering it up. Just as the bumper clears my line of vision, I see the gaping hole. If my front wheel catches, I could flip and land right in front of where the turning truck will go. By instinct, I jump. The cinder block of a bicycle comes off the ground, just, and I clear the other side by the width of a debit card. The back wheel catches the hole but I manage to power through, up, and out of the hole, out of the intersection, out to safety on the other side.
04/13/2017
Charles Circle - Charles St at Cambridge St (2:50 pm)
Surface Rd at India St (3:08 pm)
After almost clocking it face-first into a pothole just two nights ago, I decide to investigate alternate routes into the Seaport. My wandering takes me toward the North End, a neighborhood I used to enjoy biking through before construction made it essentially impassable during the past year.
I start my journey by traveling east on Cambridge Street. At Staniford Street, I turn left onto one of Boston's newest features: a separated two-way bike path on the right hand side of the road. In this space, riders are entirely cut off from car traffic and pedestrians must slalom through upright lane dividers to invade the bike space. It is my favorite solution so far (and one I first saw the prior July in DC) for the issue of safe bike travel on two-way city streets.
As Staniford intersects with Causeway Street, I notice more bike lane construction. Here, it appears the plan is to build a central two-way bike path. I'm not as sure about this one but I like the spirit. If everything goes right, this new space will be better protected from pedestrians than a sidewalk based solution. I suppose it could end up being an improvement on existing methods.
Still, I can't help but shake my head at the memory of two nights ago. Was it Neil Armstrong who said a little pothole is 'one minor bump for a driver, one cause of death for a cyclist?'
No?
Well, in any event, it seems bike safety is like other fields in the way those easily distracted by bold visions, big plans, and new ideas seem to take funding and attention away from those demanding simpler solutions to maintain the safety level of the current infrastructure.
04/17/2017
Back Bay T Stop - Dartmouth St at Stuart St (1:52 am)
Charles st and Beacon St (1:59 am)
New York trip, Amtrak ride, it always gets in late, I think you get the drill by now, reader.
04/28/2017
Charles Circle - Charles St at Cambridge St (8:59 am)
One Kendall Square at Hampshire St / Portland St (9:11 am)
The Hubway Unicorn bikes refer to the one-of-a-kind models available in the system. As far as I know, there are eight Unicorns in all. Each one is distinct in terms of frame art. As far as I know, the model of bike is similar to others found in the system. I decide sometime in April to try and ride all eight. Who knows why? Makes a good boredom killing project, right? Gray springs are dull enough.
On this Friday morning, I spot the East Boston unicorn at the far end of the rack and my project is underway. This unicorn was launched last fall to celebrate East Boston's Hubway expansion. I adjust the seat, unlock the bike, and pedal onto the Longfellow Bridge.
Immediately, I recognize a problem. The unicorns, being eye-catching in design and well-understood as unique vehicles, are likely to grab the attention of other riders. This means they are probably more likely to wear down faster than the other bikes from overuse. The East Boston unicorn is a perfect exemplar of this theory- the bike is slow, the brakes uncommitted, the grips frayed.
It takes me twice as long to get over the Longfellow Bridge as usual. When I do, I dock it at the first rack I find and switch it out for a faster, regular bike.
