Cycling/Commuting FROM Davis Square

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I know many people commute FROM Davis TO day jobs elsewhere in the vicinity so I'm hoping this question will be deemed on-topic:

If you were to commute from Davis to the Back Bay/Copley area, what route would you take? Anecdotally, do you consider this to be a beginner, intermediate or advanced commute in terms of road savvy required? What sort of comfort-is-a-priority-but-price-is-less-of-a-concern bicycle would you recommend for a commute like this?

I suppose I could have posted to b0st0n but I'll admit that I prefer the less-snarky waters of davis_square when seeking advice/opinion.

Comments

[tober.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, the only ways to get back to the Longfellow completely legally are to approach Charles Circle from Cambridge Street or from Storrow Drive / Mugar Way - practically meaning that you would have to ride on Storrow Drive from Pinckney Street (at least) to the circle - which isn't really far but it's far enough. Back when the MDC was still called the MDC and was responsible for policing Storrow Drive (among other roads) they maintained the position (at least for some period of time) that it was illegal to ride a bicycle on Storrow (and that they had the legal authority to make it illegal to ride a bicycle on Storrow) despite that it would appear that there is no legal framework in MA for banning bicycles on roads other than limited access divided highways. Today the river roads are policed by the State Police and I don't generally think they will give you grief for bicycling on Storrow... but, at best, it's unpleasant.

[ron_newman]

The state can ban bicycles from even a limited-access highway only if they put up signs at the highway's entrances. There are no such signs anywhere on Storrow Drive.

When Storrow traffic is slow-moving or light, I sometimes use its on- or off-ramps to get to or from the Esplanade bike path.