Bow ties and rail trails
Oct. 5th, 2008 02:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidThis morning I joined Cambridge's third Bow Tie Ride around Cambridge (I think the city's shaped more like a butterfly, but I suppose it's easier to encourage people to wear bow ties :-). The organizers switched the route around (going east first) so we'd end up at Alewife at the right time for the Cambridge celebration of the Minuteman Trail's induction into the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame.
It was a slow, er, leisurely ride with something over a hundred other riders, and at least half a dozen Cambridge bike cops, who stopped cross traffic for us most everywhere. It's easy riding, rather flat, though there were unpaved bits where I was paying much attention to the surface (the longest part was by the railroad tracks going to Alewife from Blanchard Road; apparently it's slated to become a real trail next year, which would be great). Mostly it was streets I'd been on before, except a few of the smaller ones in west Cambridge, so I didn't have to pay much attention, and could chat with people (I met someone who lives around the corner from me!).
We did run into a sea of walkers in pink: I hadn't realized there was a breast cancer walk today. Many special pink T-shirts (my favorites were ones with a pair of red handprints, and another with a slogan about being in support of ta-tas!).
At Alewife we heard lots of speeches about the glories of bike travel and the usefulness of rail-trails, etc. Useful information gleaned: there are two new bike cages at Alewife, which have parking for 150 bikes each, bringing the total of bike parking slots to 500. The cages are unlocked by a special Bike Charlie Card (I picked one up: the art has three bicylcists riding along the Charles near the pepperpot bridge), plus there are 4 surveillance cameras watched at all times. It costs about $500 for a new bike parking space, as compared to 5-digit costs for car spaces. Someone from the Highway Commission spoke about how most places plan from the center out (cars first, in other words), but in MA, the new order of the day is to work from the outside in, considering how bicyclists, pedestrians, et al., will work, then figuring out highway width afterward. It's clear that there's a push to not only have more bike paths (rail trail or otherwise), but to have them link up as well. It sounds like the Blackstone Valley path will soon be done (Worcester to Providence), and it's apparently just about possible to ride from Washington DC to Pittsburgh by bike path. Lots of paper was available, including a bike map of metro Boston, and a map of the T system that I've wanted for ages, with all the bus routes on it, plus a list of where every route goes, and whether they take bikes (plus all the ferries, too).
A nice ride, despite the overcast weather, though it didn't feel like real exercise, given the pace.
[For future reference, Cambridge Bikes runs spring and fall rides, with the spring ride always on Saturday, the fall ride always on Sunday (right in the middle of holiday season, of course). Somerville bike rides are almost all on Saturday with a Sunday rain date; I mentioned to one of the organizers there today how I'll never end up on their rides because of the Sabbath, and he suggested I watch for rain, basically. Not impressed.]
It was a slow, er, leisurely ride with something over a hundred other riders, and at least half a dozen Cambridge bike cops, who stopped cross traffic for us most everywhere. It's easy riding, rather flat, though there were unpaved bits where I was paying much attention to the surface (the longest part was by the railroad tracks going to Alewife from Blanchard Road; apparently it's slated to become a real trail next year, which would be great). Mostly it was streets I'd been on before, except a few of the smaller ones in west Cambridge, so I didn't have to pay much attention, and could chat with people (I met someone who lives around the corner from me!).
We did run into a sea of walkers in pink: I hadn't realized there was a breast cancer walk today. Many special pink T-shirts (my favorites were ones with a pair of red handprints, and another with a slogan about being in support of ta-tas!).
At Alewife we heard lots of speeches about the glories of bike travel and the usefulness of rail-trails, etc. Useful information gleaned: there are two new bike cages at Alewife, which have parking for 150 bikes each, bringing the total of bike parking slots to 500. The cages are unlocked by a special Bike Charlie Card (I picked one up: the art has three bicylcists riding along the Charles near the pepperpot bridge), plus there are 4 surveillance cameras watched at all times. It costs about $500 for a new bike parking space, as compared to 5-digit costs for car spaces. Someone from the Highway Commission spoke about how most places plan from the center out (cars first, in other words), but in MA, the new order of the day is to work from the outside in, considering how bicyclists, pedestrians, et al., will work, then figuring out highway width afterward. It's clear that there's a push to not only have more bike paths (rail trail or otherwise), but to have them link up as well. It sounds like the Blackstone Valley path will soon be done (Worcester to Providence), and it's apparently just about possible to ride from Washington DC to Pittsburgh by bike path. Lots of paper was available, including a bike map of metro Boston, and a map of the T system that I've wanted for ages, with all the bus routes on it, plus a list of where every route goes, and whether they take bikes (plus all the ferries, too).
A nice ride, despite the overcast weather, though it didn't feel like real exercise, given the pace.
[For future reference, Cambridge Bikes runs spring and fall rides, with the spring ride always on Saturday, the fall ride always on Sunday (right in the middle of holiday season, of course). Somerville bike rides are almost all on Saturday with a Sunday rain date; I mentioned to one of the organizers there today how I'll never end up on their rides because of the Sabbath, and he suggested I watch for rain, basically. Not impressed.]