davis_square | Bike Friday

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Bike Friday

Are there any other Davis people taking part in this month's Bike Friday? Davis Square is one of the points of origins for the various convoys of bike commuters. Last month's Bike Friday was rainy and I chose to skip it so I've not actually participated before (and riding in a police escorted group may prove more annoying than my regular commute) but the timing and the location are right and there are snacks at Gov't Center when I get there so I thought I would give it a try.

http://www.cityofboston.gov/bikes/bikefridays.asp
http://www.bikefridays.org/

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Sorry to be a wet blanket, but I decided it wasn't for me.

I helped escort one: rode to city hall and had some free food, in a gaggle of bikes with police bike escorts. We cruised at a leisurely pace through red lights (with police support), taking entire non-bike lanes, and generally aggravating and holding up commuters. Most of the people there were fairly committed bikers, with one or two people who weren't really skillful or experienced enough to be on the roads on their own. I suppose it may have been nice for them, but I'm not sure how they got home.

I'm afraid I couldn't see the point. Annoyance for car drivers, and some (very) light communing among cyclists. I wish they'd spend the money (police time isn't free) on repainting the cycle lane markings in something other than house-paint or whatever they use that wears off in months (e.g. Willow Ave - though that's Somerville, and this is a Boston thing).

Sorry to be a downer. I'd be happy to be involved in helping people get set up bike commuting, which is why I volunteered to help (once). I don't think Bike Friday achieves this.

wet blankets are sometimes necessary! Thanks for the input. This input, in fact, is very important to me.

I am especially appreciative that you've let me know that the police escorts facilitate the running of red lights and potential traffic blockage as I will not participate in a ride that allows bicyclists to skirt traffic laws just for the sake of convenience.

I can't condone breaking laws to promote safe biking when it makes the streets less safe for bikes when the escort goes home and the lasting impression that bikes are an annoyance and a inconvenience stay with all the drivers that encountered the riders.

As a sometimes biker and sometimes driver, THANK YOU for this attitude!

i'm surprised at this but appreciative!
the vast majority of my fellow bikers fully condone running red lights and riding the wrong way down one way streets.

(on most commutes i wear my t-shirt that says "RIDE SAFE RIDE LEGAL, running red lights is for losers" and the most popular response is a middle finger as other bikes blow past me while i am stopped at a light!)

I've actually heard bike advocates/activists (in our general area) advocate breaking the law.

some of them are members of this lj community, i'm sure they will tell their side.

I did NOT know this, I am shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you.

just sayin'

Thank you for this post.

I rode with critical mass once. I left the convey towards the end when the lead cyclists provoked an SUV into a confrontation near Harvard Square and I just couldn't stand to watch people get in a fight over something as silly as bicycles. To me, Critical Mass was more about blocking traffic and sticking it to the cagers (LOL) than promoting biking as a means of commuting.

I'm not equating Bike Friday with what Critical Mass used to be, but I really don't believe that the best way to promote cycling as a means of commuting on the road is to disrupt commuting and break the rules of the road.

I believe the money from the police escort, as others noted, should be spent improving cyclist infrastructure such as bike lanes and bike signals, and even on police cracking down on cyclists violating the rules of the road.

Anything that encourages more people to bike is a good thing, regardless of the time of day or season or how it is organized. I don't have any particular reason to be commuting downtown anymore (as I lost my job on June 2), but if I get up early enough I may participate in this anyway.

In my opinion, the biggest obstacle to biking in the Boston area is poor pavement quality in certain places. The second is poorly timed traffic lights, for bikers who wait for red lights. (I can't imagine how long it would take to bike from MIT to Porter on Mass Ave, waiting for all the lights that are red for no reason.)

We should focus our energy and tax spending on fixing these two problems first.

The single worst place for pavement quality in our area: Oxford Street, the first three blocks into Cambridge from Beacon Street.

I agree, 100%. Oxford Street is a mess.

Edited 2009-07-30 18:52 (UTC)

I did this a few days back. Maybe if enough people complain they will repave. I believe the offending section is part of Somerville even though there is another oxford street in Somerville.

here (http://www.somervillema.gov/Section.cfm?org=dpw&page=310)

Oxford Street is in Cambridge except for the first three or four houses. The condition of this street is entirely Cambridge's fault.

Worse than the arc of Union Sq. in front of the big bus stop? I now refuse to ride on that block. Shakes my teeth out of my skull.

And yesterday, I just (re)discovered an even worse one. What's the name of the street that you ride on to go from the BU Bridge to Park Drive, through a couple blocks of Brookline? That's absolutely horrible.

FWIW, MIT to Porter on Mass Ave is not a bad ride at all even if you are strict about obeying lights. It's certainly less annoying than if you're in a car; at least on a bike you can legally slip ahead to the front of the intersection.

But really if you're going from MIT to Porter you might as well take Hampshire/Beacon St and skip Mass Ave entirely. :-)

Agreed that that stretch of Mass Ave is not bad at all. (For traffic lights, anyway; it's bad because Central is kind of crazy, and also the rotary-like thing next to Harvard.)

Beacon/Hampshire, on the other hand, has a westbound bike lane that was in pretty bad shape when last I saw it, and it's hillier than Mass Ave for those of us in not-so-good shape.

fyi, there are no more police escorts for these rides.

tomorrow will be the first time i haven't done this ride this year. i usually help lead the belmont convoy. the other leaders and i make it a point to encourage single file riding and the obeying of all traffic laws. it depends on what group you're in. seriously, say something if it bothers you, because it bothers the hell out of me, too.

glad to hear it!

I went to Seven Hills Park behind Davis Square station around 7:40, awaiting the group that was supposed to be coming from Arlington via Alewife station. After 15 minutes, I saw no sign of the group, so I went to City Hall on my own. Anyone know what happened?

Edited 2009-07-31 17:22 (UTC)

I joined the Davis Square convoy this morning as they went through Porter Square. There was no police escort today, although there were 2-3 people who were acting as ride leaders. The group obeyed all the traffic laws and had a very nice ride into Boston. (It also reminded me how crappy the Charles River Paths are in some places.)

There were two groups scheduled to pass through Davis Square. Were you on the earlier one? The one I never found was the later one, coming from Arlington.

i biked on my own as i needed to run an errand on the way that was on hampshire/beacon (not along the planned convoy's path).

The group I intended (but failed) to join was the purple route on this map ('Lexington Convoy'), which was supposed to go down Beacon/Hampshire Street. I guess you didn't run into them there, either.

I ended up instead taking my usual route into Boston via East Somerville and Charlestown. The couple blocks of Washington Street heading towards Sullivan Square are not for the faint-hearted, however, even though you can skirt the actual 'square' via Spice Street.

One benefit of taking this trip today: the Wheel Works folks handed me an ad for their 30% off super-sale, which was a great opportunity to replace my broken tail-light and stock up on innertubes (3 for $11). The sale goes through Wednesday, August 5.

Edited 2009-08-01 04:13 (UTC)

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