Dot Bike

Yep, another opportunity to vote in MA.  This time the special election for the U.S. Senate.

If you haven’t decided who to vote for and bicycle related issues are important to you the information below in response to inquiries by a member of the Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee may be of interest.

“Hi All – For the US senate election tomorrow, I queried Scott Brown and Martha Coakley to find out their positions or support for bicycle transportation in the Commonwealth and nationwide. I got a response back from Martha Coakley, but not from Scott Brown. I contacted Scott Brown in multiple manners by email and phone, but he neglected to respond with any statement of his support or his position.

The response below is from Martha Coakley’s campaign committee. She even mentioned the Minuteman Bikeway!”

From: Issues Issues <issues@marthacoakley.com>
To:
Sent: Sat, January 16, 2010 4:18:32 PM
Subject: Re: bicycle transportation: seeking Martha Coakley position for Bay State and nationwide

Dear Mr. Roth,

Thank you for writing into the campaign about this issue. We appreciate hearing from you.

As a person who cares very much about the environment and public health, Martha’s interests and priorities are in line with the Massachusetts cycling community. Martha cares deeply about developing alternative forms of energy and about energy conservation, both to promote a healthy environment and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. (see her energy & environment plan here: http://www.marthacoakley.com/about/Issues/details/22). She understands that a commitment to protecting the environment and a commitment to alternative forms of transportation certainly go hand-in-hand.

In short, Martha agrees that promoting cycling as a transportation alternative is good for the Commonwealth’s economy, businesses, environment, and public health. She is proud that Massachusetts is home to the most used rail-to-trail bikeway in the country (The Minuteman Trail) and she knows that we need to make main thoroughfares, not just dedicated bikeways, safer for all.

If she is victorious on Tuesday, she looks forward to working with your group and others with similar interests to see what kind of federal support and policies will be productive — for example, you mention wheel friendly draining gates. We admit that is not on our radar screen, which is why dialogue like this is so important.

Also, we agree that having something on the website about this may have been useful, but at this late date with the election so close it won’t be possible to put your suggestion into action. Thanks for it nonetheless.

Thanks again for writing.

Please don’t forget to vote on Jan. 19.

Cordially,

The Martha Coakley for Senate Committee

So get out and vote if you haven’t already!

As you hopefully have heard there is a bike cage at Forest Hills Station in J.P. for secure bike parking.

This is the second cage installed by the MBTA – Alewife station getting the first.  The MBTA has dedicated some resources and has plans to install a number of additional cages across it’s system and DotBike has been pushing hard to get one if not two of them installed on the Dorchester redline.

In anticipation of getting our own Dorchester line bike cage one DotBiker decided to get himself a Bike Charlie Card so he could use the Forest Hills cage.  So he rode down to the station and asked the attendant on duty for a card.  He was informed that they didn’t have any on hand and that he would need to call the MBTA’s main number and request a card and that one would be mailed to him.  So he did.

After navigating a few “press #1″ for this, “press #2″ for that, he reached the right person. She informs him that the only place to get the card is at Alewife station.  Being at the other end of the red line he expresses a disinclination to make the two hour round trip to Alewife just to get a Charlie card.  The initial response is that there is nothing else that she can do since this is the only place where it is available.  After he tells her that the station attendant had indicated that getting a card by mail was an option she remains adamant that that was not the case.  At this point he politely indicates that he finds the situation unacceptable and asks to speak to her supervisor.  After a moments wait on hold she comes back on the line and says they just found some bike-cage Charlie cards, and that she will mail one right away and takes his mailing address.

When asked if his friends could get a card the same way, she answered with a weak yes.  I for one am planning on making sure that this is true.

We heard from MassBike that they had been working with the T to make sure that Bike Charlie cards would be available at the stations with cages.  It seems obvious that this is the very least that they could do to encourage use of the cages.  Perhaps they weren’t so worried about it because it’s winter but in fact the time I would be most likely to use a cage would be during the winter (otherwise I’d just ride my bike where I was headed). In any case DotBike will work with other advocates to make sure that Bike Charlie cards are more accessible.

This could be you.

I freely admit it – I’m not much of a winter cyclist.  I am not a fan of riding on snow, ice, streets narrowed and cluttered with snow plow crud, dark evenings etc …

While there are many DotBikers and other city cyclists who ride the year round I am not one of them.  But that doesn’t mean I become a total slug during the winter.  I do a bit of indoor spinning and other workouts and more enjoyably I make use of that snow that is unconducive to cycling for cross country skiing.

It’s fun, easy to stay warm and great exercise.  Snow permitting there are some great local places to ski.  Here’s my quick take on a few options.

First off is Dorchester’s own Franklin Park.  The golf course makes for some fairly flat and easy going and you can be virtually guaranteed that someone will have laid down some tracks if there has been any significant snow fall.  It is also quite fun to explore the ‘wilderness’ and some other paths that go through the more wooded and hillier sections of the park.  Join the Franklin Park Ski and Snowshoe club on facebook where members can plan meet ups and post upcoming events.

Also nearby are the Blue Hills.  There are some really great trails and paths that are perfectly suitable for skiing or snowshoeing.  As you might imagine from the name you can certainly find some pretty hilly expertish terrain but there are also plenty of easier options.  A couple of good places to launch from are the small lot at the intersection of route 28 and Chickatawbut.  Follow the logging/utility road that exits the back of the lot for a nice wide flat warm up before you venture into more challenging terrain.  If you park at the Houghton’s Pond Lot there are some nice flat loops out past the pond.

You will need to have your own skis or snowshoes or rent some (REI does rentals) for either of these options.

If you don’t have equipment and/or aren’t sure you will want to take up XC then you can check out the Weston Ski Track where they have groomed trails, a lighted loop for night skiing, lessons and rentals.  I hear it’s a good place to get started.

Another fairly local option is Great Brook Farm in Carlisle.  I’ve skied there and they do quite a nice job.  Again grooming, rentals, lessons and night skiing are all available.

I have peripherally touched on snowshoeing, which is an activity I am less familiar with having only tried it once.  I did enjoy it.  It was very much like a hike in the woods but in the winter where I didn’t need to worry about post holing in over a foot of fresh snow.  If you are interested in trying this DCR and BNAN are holding several events in January and February where you can try out snowshoeing.  I include the details such as I have them below.

Well enjoy the winter weather as best you can and hope to see you on the trails.

Bigfoot Stomp: A Blue Hills Snowshoe Hike
Sunday, January 24, 1:00 p.m. Call DCR at 617-698-1802 x212 for registration and meeting place.
Did you just get a new pair of snowshoes or looking to get a set? Join a DCR Ranger and an REI Outdoor School Instructor for a guided romp through the Blue Hills. REI will also have a limited number of adult size snowshoes to loan. No experience is necessary! Sponsored by DCR.

Fowl Meadow Snowshoe/Winter Walk
Saturday, January 30, 1:00 p.m. Meet at parking area on Neponset Valley Pkwy & Brush Hill Rd. Hyde Park/Milton
We’ll saunter through Fowl Meadow with Dave Hodgdon of Blue Hill Adventures and learn about this lovely site in winter. Bring your own snowshoes or skis, or call to borrow a pair of snowshoes. Without snow, we’ll enjoy a walk. Registration required. Contact BNAN at 617-542-7696

Stony Brook Winter Wildlife Discovery
Saturday, February 6, 1:00 p.m. Meet at parking lot on Enneking Pkwy opposite Smithfield Rd., Hyde Park
Join the Friends of Stony Brook and BNAN to explore the woods and look for signs of creatures that make Stony Brook their winter home.

February Break Snowshoe/Winter Walk
Thursday, February 18, 1:00 p.m. – Ryan Playground, River St., Mattapan
The riverside trail just behind Ryan Playground is a lovely place to walk and view the winter landscape of the Neponset. We will snowshoe if there is a good layer of snow on the ground, otherwise, we’ll go for a walk. Snowshoes to borrow are limited, registration required. Contact BNAN at 617-542-7696

You can also contact BNAN via email at info<AT>bostonnatural<DOT>org.

MassBike and Livable Streets has just reported some good news regarding MassDOT and that they have modified their plans for the Longfellow Bridge reconstruction project. You can read all about it here. But needless to say perhaps this bodes well for other projects including several in Dorchester that are under MassDOT control and that we have provided input on including the Dot Ave. intersection redesigns.

Here’s hoping you get lots of fun new toys for your bike this holiday season and remember during these oh so short days of winter – from now on the days are getting longer and it’ll be no time until spring riding season is on us.

image courtesy of feuillu’s flickr photo stream

If you haven’t had a chance yet you should check out some of the photo’s posted in our flickr gallery – all taken and contributed by our fearless photographer Phil who has worked hard capturing the faces and rides of folks around our neighborhood.

Phil entered a few of his shots in a photo contest and has made it to the second round of voting.  So check them out below and click on the image to be taken to the voting site. The resolution is better at the contest site. Remember vote and vote often.  Voting closes December 31st.

Here’s my favorite a photo of a very practical Vivian on the DotBike art ride

And here are his four other entries.

The City of Boston is conducting a brief survey of people who bicycle in Boston. If you ride a bike in Boston–rarely, occasionally or even every single day–please take a moment to complete this very brief but very important survey.

Click here to take the survey. Let anyone else you know who bikes in Boston about this too.

by Nicole Freedman, Director of Mayor Menino’s Boston Bikes

Hosted by LivableStreets Alliance
Thursday, December 10, 6:30-8:00 PM (doors open at 6)
@ Rabb Lecture Hall, Boston Public Library, Copley Square, 700 Boylston St

Free and open to the public

Nicole Freedman, Director of the Boston Bikes Program, will present her second annual report on the past achievements and future goals of the Mayor’s efforts to create a “world class bicycling city.” Ms. Freedman will discuss plans for the city’s bike sharing program, bike lanes and off-road networks, bike parking facilities, youth programs, bike festivals, and more.

LivableStreets Alliance is a non-profit organization that believes urban transportation has the power to make the Boston region more connected – and more livable.

For more information:
events<AT>livablestreets<DOT>info, www.facebook.com/LivableStreets, 617-621-1746
www.cityofboston.gov/bikes

19th Cycle-Smart International Cyclocross Race – November 7th and 8th

Look Park in Northhampton, MA

Cycle-Smart is putting on a cyclo-cross race in Look Park Northampton, MA this weekend. It is the oldest UCI sanctioned race in the US and is expected to draw much of the top U.S. talent to western Mass this weekend. There are races on both Saturday and Sunday.

This president and founder of Cycle-Smart is Dorchester’s own Adam Myerson so if you have a chance you should head on out and check out the great action.

There is a write up on the race on cycling news or you can visit the official race site for more info.

There was a great turnout at the forum for the 8 at-large candidates for Boston City Council to discuss issues on city parks and open spaces.  At least 200 people packed into the Franklin Park Clubhouse, many of which were sporting bright high vis yellow outerwear and bike helmets.  The large turnout and the presence of all the candidates was a testament to the excellent job of organizing this event by Christine Poff, director of the Franklin Park Coalition, and Valerie Burns, director of Boston Natural Area Network, working together on behalf of the Boston Park Advocates and the 99 total organizations that signed on as co-sponsors, including Dot Bike.

I don’t want to single out any candidate as a particular favorite especially as the topic of this debate was not biking per se and I encourage you to look at the candidates positions on all the issues.  However, I will select a few ‘highlights’ for mention.

There was a charming question from one of the always-sharp B.O.L.D. teens in the audience who noted the dearth of bike racks available in the parks and asked how to get more.  One of the candidates, Doug Bennett, jumped right in with the bold statement that the way to solve the problem was to install more bike racks – one of several perhaps overly straightforward responses from this earnest  young Republican.

Stephen Murphy professed to be a cyclist, which was nice to hear.  He also stated that one of his goals was to establish a committed revenue stream/budget item for parks and open spaces although he didn’t say exactly how this might happen.

John Connolly promoted himself as the main bicycle advocate on the city council, mentioning bike lanes and the bike share program multiple times.  DotBike is still wondering if our neighborhood will see any benefits from the bike share program as currently envisioned.  Our fabulous Franklin Park would be one attractive site to consider as a recreational bike share hub.

One of Debbie and my favorite moments of the evening had nothing to do with cycling.  When Felix Arroyo, who had been fielding questions with poise and relative ease, was asked what he thought about the Asian Longhorn Beetle he was completely stumped.  After a few humorous remarks he made a great recovery by admitting he had no idea and that as a city councilor he would routinely seek out people with expertise to help him get the info he needed to make informed decisions.

Generally, all candidates had an encouraging perspective on the importance of multi-use open space and recreation.  So thanks again to the organizers and we could use more forums like this to keep our elected officials (or hopefuls) involved in the issues and problems that cyclists face every day.