Biking to Boston Medical Center

[tomscholfield.livejournal.com]

So, tomorrow I am biking for the first time from Davis where I live to the Boston University School of Medicine (Boston Medical Center) in the South End.

Anyone have any helpful hints?

Comments

[ruxxell.livejournal.com]

yeah. watch out for car doors on mass ave.

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

Second that, but I'd add to watch out for car doors everywhere. I started commuting by bike a couple of months back so I'm pretty new to this, but I'd say be assertive, act like a vehicle, pay attention and get a Planet Bike Super Flash for a rear light (or similarly obnoxious beacon visible from space). I've found drivers in Boston are actually pretty cycle aware, but people exiting cars or drivers on cell phones are totally unpredictable. Try to ride a door length out from parked cars.

That all said, props to the original poster for bike commuting. I love it. It's gotten me in good shape, and for me its faster than driving or riding the T. Oh, last thing: get fenders on your bike if you haven't already.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

The "act like a vehicle" is probably the most important part. If nothing else it's because you are one. But note that this includes using head and tail lights (the head lights are more important, when a tail light is useful an automobile typically will have it's headlights pointed at you and a reflector can be just as bright. On the other hand, cars pulling out in front of you or turning left in front of you can't see you unless you have a headlight on), turn/hand signals and following the traffic rules (ie actually stop at red lights and stop signs). It means avoiding hazards on the road (especially staying away from parked car doors). You have a right to the same space as everyone else on the road does and to be safe you need to use it. You need to be where people are looking for traffic, otherwise they won't see you, or even, in the case of cross traffic/people in driveways, be able to see you because things like parked cars will get in the way if you're riding too close to them or the curb.

I emphasize staying away from car doors for two reasons. 1) getting knocked off of your bicycle in front of a car is one of the worst things that can happen to a cyclist and is exactly what an opening car door will do to you and 2) because most of the bike lanes in Cambridge (and now in Somerville) put you directly in harms way if you do the intuitive thing which is ride down the middle of them. You want to ride all the way up to the left edge of the bike lane when there is on street parking on your right or even into the regular lane when there are cars parked right up to or into the bike lane.

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

Plus 1 on the headlight--though I only tend to use a headlight when it's dark or raining. I use my taillight all the time. Passing cars seem to give me a wider berth when that thing is flashing away. And I also follow the traffic rules, unlike that crazy desperado Newman. I'm a fan of life.

One point on the bike lanes: while I agree that riding in the middle of them is just asking to be doored, the presence of the lanes, on Beacon/Hampshire, for example, tends to attract cyclists, and the more cyclists, the more aware and conscientious drivers tend to be. So I think they're a good thing, if used with common sense.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

I think most of this route is pretty much a breeze until you get into Boston. It's the Boston portion of this route that it's really important to get advice on.

I want to give a very loud second to the "act like a vehicle" bit. Most inexperienced bicyclists tend to think it's safer to hug the curb and the parked cars. This could not be further from the truth. The reality that while being out in the middle of the road does sometimes annoy drivers if you don't give them enough room to pass you, it is ALWAYS preferable to have them be fully (and sometimes obnoxiously) aware of you being there. Rarely are you going to be rear-ended on a bicycle on Mass Ave for going too slowly (people are almost always, at the very least, looking directly ahead of them). What gets you into trouble is if you have to swerve suddenly to avoid an idiotic driver un-parking or a giant pothole in the road (there are MANY between Back Bay and Huntington Avenue). You're much better off swerving around *in* traffic than having to swerve *into* traffic. Drivers will go around you (there's room) and most of them won't even honk their horns in the process.

The most disconcerting part is probably the last stretch between Huntington and Washington. Here the road is two lanes in each direction and people tend to drive pretty fast. I usually try to occupy the entire right lane here because there really *isn't* enough room to swerve out of the way of a door here if there's a car in the right lane. Keep in mind that as long as you are going slower than traffic in the left lane, it is almost always possible for a driver to pass you if he or she wants to. Most drivers will just pass you in the left lane without batting an eyelash.

Last but not least, when (not if, but when) someone behind you honks at you, don't panic and don't take it personally. Most of the drivers who do this are either taxi drivers (who honk at anything and everything), college students (who don't know any better), or suburban drivers (who still think bicycles are supposed to be on the sidewalk).

[mperrotti76.livejournal.com]

Don't forget a helmet.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

please don't take this wrong as it is not aimed directly at you.

One of my biggest cycling related pet peaves with people in this part of the world is that the sum total of the safe cycling education for most people is "wear a helmet". A helmets sole purpose is to make a crash less fatal which in and of itself is a good thing. The problem is that there's no emphasis on learning how to not get into an accident in the first place. Following traffic laws, maintaining, fitting and being comfortable on your bicycle and learning some of the primary hazards that are unique to cycling will go much further towards keeping you safe and well than any helmet.

[mperrotti76.livejournal.com]

Knee pads?

[xuth.livejournal.com]

I would put gloves above knee pads in my list of safety equipment. They allow you to do so many things without hurting yourself like banging on the car that's running you into the sign on your right, pushing off from the sign on your right if the car isn't paying enough attention or is reacting too slowly and keeps gravel from embedding in the heels of your palm when all of the above fails. It's only at this point that the knee pads become useful too.

I'm only slightly kidding.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Check last month's query about bike commuting from Davis to Boston (http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1242010.html) for some general tips. As far as your route is concerned, I'd take one of the routes recommended in that post to get to Mass Ave, and then just take Mass Ave. straight to Albany St.

And if you haven't seen it already: http://www.bmc.org/patients/directions/bike.html

[dylanesque29.livejournal.com]

Don't die.

No, seriously, what time are you commuting? Going straight down Mass Ave? I've been thinking about getting a bike and commuting to BMC that way in nicer weather.

EARLY

[tomscholfield.livejournal.com]

At least I think it is early, like 6:00AM, coming home at 4PM

Re: EARLY

[dylanesque29.livejournal.com]

Good, that's nice and early. Hardly anybody on the road at that time.....in Cambridge. The trick I'm having before I try this is getting back, when traffic is a lot heavier. What campus do you work on, are you a new resident or something?

Re: EARLY

[tomscholfield.livejournal.com]

I work in the Medical Building, I work in the Educational Media Department

Re: EARLY

[dylanesque29.livejournal.com]

Umm, the Medical building? Do you work for the school, or the hospital? What's the address?

Re: EARLY

[tomscholfield.livejournal.com]

I work for the School, 80 East Concord Street, it is the BU School of Medicine

[ron_newman]

Going back, I wonder if a more roundabout route might make sense: Worcester Street to the Southwest Corridor bike path to West Newton Street to Dalton Street to Hereford Street to Back Street, then over the Mass. Ave. bridge to MIT.

[dylanesque29.livejournal.com]

Something like that, yeah. I was thinking of shooting up E. Newton Street, then snaking through the South End/the Back Bay in the more residential areas.

[cris.livejournal.com]

the Southwest Corridor doesn't really exist east of Melnea Cass. Also W. Newton to Dalton to Hereford is pretty much the six of one to the half-dozen of a straight shot up Mass Ave -- still pretty high traffic, especially during rush hour when everyone else is using that as the detour around the Mass Ave. Boylston intersection.

I used to have a client in near the South Bay Center and would commute from Watertown to Dorchester on a regular basis. The fastest route, easily, was on Mass Ave. and aside from the half mile of treachery that is the stretch between Symphony and the Bridge, it wasn't bad. If I had to pick out a more chilled out alternative to Davis from BUMC, I'd go, Harrison to W. Dedham which becomes Dartmouth, to Beacon to Mass Ave.

Alternatives

[ethanfield.livejournal.com]

I'd suggest taking Elm Street to Mossland and doing the left-right jog onto Beacon Street, then taking Beacon-Hampshire with its full-length bike lanes. Then turn right on Windsor Street at the B-Side Lounge and take that back to Mass Ave before crossing the river. This route avoids the inevitable slowdowns and dangers at Porter, Harvard, and Central Squares. Not only will it be safer, but faster -- according to GMaps Pedometer it's about 1/4 mile shorter than what you'd have to do to legally go through Harvard Square on Mass Ave.

Riding on Mass Ave through Back Bay is a traumatic experience, but there's not much you can do to avoid that.

Re: Alternatives

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much my commute, except I continue down Hampshire to Kendall. It's a really nice ride.

Re: Alternatives

[ron_newman]

Yeah, I can't think of any great alternative to the Boston part of Mass. Ave. Only a few streets other cross the Orange Line -- Ruggles St, Camden St, and West Newton St -- and all of these take you out of your way.

Re: Alternatives

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

I take the Beacon-Hampshire route, but chiefly because I work in Kendall Square and there is no route from points west that is more direct. Personally, I can't recommend cycling on that road, bike lanes or no -- the potholes are just obscene.

If I were biking from the Davis area to the South End I would probably cut directly over to Porter and take Mass Ave all the way down through Harvard and Central. It may be slightly longer but: the cars on Mass Ave go no faster (in my estimation) than the ones on Beacon, and Mass Ave is at least a two-lane road, and is overall in much better shape than Beacon/Hampshire.

Re: Alternatives

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

On a few blocks of Beacon Street in Somerville, one of the bike lane edge lines is missing on one side of the street. Is the restriping totally finished?

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

bostoncycling is often helpful, though it looks like there's enough knowledge in Davis to answer the Boston ends of this question too.

Have fun! :)

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

mass ave around there kinda sucks and the people who drive there are bigger assholes than the average boston driver

[meta-aesthete.livejournal.com]

The most important investment is in your brain.

Spend $15 on "The Art of Urban Cycling" by Robert Hurst. Read it (it's a easy read full of humor) and take the advice to heart. It's the most cost-effective way to increase your safety on the road.