Dot Bike

Yep, the Tour de France started this past Saturday and ends on July 26th in Paris.  There’s a certain guy named Lance riding again after a 3 year break.  If you’re not an Armstrong fan but are feeling patriotic there are two American sponsored teams riding this year, Columbia-HTC and Garmin-Slipstream.  Or you can root for Sastre (last year’s winner), Contador (2007 winner and odds on favorite), Cadel Evans (runner up for how many years?), Fabian Cancellara (current yellow jersey holder and my wife’s favorite) or any of the 180 riders in the race this year.

The Versus channel is covering the Tour again this year with Paul Ligget and Paul Sherwin calling the action and color commentary by the always amusing Bob Roll and that Craig guy.  Live coverage is in the morning and replays in the afternoon and evening so there is plenty of chance to catch the race.

But if you don’t get cable or want a more social experience watching a stage or two there are lots of opportunities to catch a stage at a Boston area establishment.  Here are just a few of them:

• Jeanie Johnston Pub at 144 South Street in Jamaica Plain in conjunction with Ferris Wheels Bike shop will reportedly have the Tour coverage nightly - note however that the same was advertised last year and I went in one evening and there was a poker night going on and that what was also playing on the TV so your mileage may vary.But, what I can recommend at this Pub is the will be two TdF party nights - the first tonight July 7th and the second on Tuesday July 21st both from 8-11 p.m.  hosted by Jeff Ferris with trivia and fun for all.

• Sunday July 12th watch the stage over Brunch at Redbones and then a pub ride to follow.
  Meet at 11 a.m. at Redbones in Davis Square, Somerville.Pub stops will include Cambridge Brewing in Kendall square, Shays in Harvard square and Devlin’s in Brighton.

•  Watch with Carlos Sastre’s brother Eduardo (Carlos was last year’s winner) each Saturday during the Tour - July 11th, 18th and 25th - at 10 a.m. at the Asgard in Cambridge.  How cool is that!

• Sunday, July 19 at 6 p.m. is the 2nd Annual Tour de France Event! Fundraiser for Cyclekids.
  Middlesex Lounge, 315 Mass Avenue, Cambridge, MA
  Watch the 15th stage of the Tour de France and help get children on bikes and on the road to a healthier life!  Tickets are $30 and available here.

There are certainly other events around and who knows DotBike may team up with Blue Hills Cycling to watch a stage at a local Dorchester establishment.  We’l keep you posted.

Being apropos of little related to DotBike or Dorchester - although I did meet a rider who lived in Savin Hill and know another DotBiker who has previously done this ride but an injury sidelined him this year - here is a brief report on my experience doing the Harpoon B2B ride on June 20th.

This ride goes from the Harpoon Brewery in Boston to the one in Windsor, VT.  That’s 148 miles  for those who are counting.  They tell you that you need to be able to average at least 16 mph over this distance.  And there are a couple of pretty significant climbs involved.  So this is no ride in the park.

I had been training quite a bit prior to the ride but with the chilly and damp spring and a late April vacation (that did include some riding but not tons) I was worried that I might be under prepared as  this was certainly the longest ride I have attempted.

At the start at 5:00 a.m. for the briefing and queuing up at the gates I managed to get in the second 16 mph group to start.  They start you in order by predicted speed with the 16 mph riders leaving first and the 22+ mph riders departing three hours later, the idea being everyone finishes around the same time.

The weather was overcast the entire time but not a drop of rain so it was actually ideal riding weather.  The start was very organized and our group of 25 stayed together for the first 15 miles or so.  After that people went at their own pace and I managed to latch onto a group of five or six others who were going at near my speed.   Riding with a group paceline for much of the ride was key.

The hills were indeed hilly and the course was long but the main thing was that the ride was really well organized with well placed rest stops and fun people.  And the best part was the finish.  There is a short climb right before you turn into the Windsor Brewery and boy was it a joy to crest the hill and see the Brewery grounds appear before me.

Your entry gets you free beers and BBQ and boy were they appreciated after a day of goo, energy bars and powerade.  And they had showers and massages were available.  So after a shower, a few brews and some food I got on the charter bus back to Boston.

So if you want a challenging ride you should definitely give this ride a try and sign up for the B2B next year.  Registration is limited and sells out fast (within hours)  but it is well worth it and get’s you a very cool jersey too.

Here is a story about one DotBiker’s effort that took a long time to pay off but with continued hard work finally has born fruit.

The winter before last, not long after the inception of DotBike, Phil who is a year round commuter from Dot to JP wondered why the Parks department didn’t plow the path connecting Pierpont and Glen roads which is the quickest way to cut through Franklin park.

He started making inquiries and was passed back and forth between several people.  As the weather improved he relented but if the Parks department was hoping he was going to go away they were sadly mistaken.

This past winter Phil, realizing he had just been getting lip service started  a full fledged campaign to get the Parks department to plow Glen Road.  He enlisted the aid of fellow DotBikers, the Franklin Park Coalition and other Park users including dog walkers who frequently use that path.  A letter writing campaign, a petition and finally talking directly to the mayor at his coffee hours made it clear to those in power that this issue had many vocal advocates who were not going to go away.

Finally last week Phil received a letter from Parks Commissioner Toni Pollack from which I quote:

“The Mayor has forwarded your letter to me for response. At his request we will include Pierpont/Glen Road in our Tier 2 snow removal plan for the interior park pathways.”

Congratulations to Phil and all who helped him in his effort!

And thanks to the Mayor for his directive that made this happen.

Over the past year DotBike has taken up a number of advocacy efforts with the intent of making Dorchester a better neighborhood for us all to cycle in.   We’ve reported in the past about some of the more visible efforts that have born fruit - like the new city bike racks that have been springing up all over town and our participation in several community events.   However, we’ve continued to work on several other projects and kept our eyes out for ways to influence and guide policies that will make Dorchester a better and safer place to cycle.  The progress on most of these efforts has been much slower but is still moving along.

We have met with project managers at the MBTA about improving bicycle parking facilities at T stations in Dorchester.   I just received a report that a new rack was installed at the Fields Corner Station in a visible and convenient location, so this is good.

But as Ashmont Station is nearing completion we need to make sure that adequate facilities are included and certainly there can be improvements at other Dot stations.

The Dot Ave. intersection redesign project is reaching the final stages.  There was a recent meeting where designs were presented and it was clear that while some bike accommodations had been included they were given short shrift.  In response, we asked for input from DotBikers and wrote up extensive comments and suggestions as to how bike boxes, lanes and minor curb reconfigurations would not only make these intersections safer for cyclists but could also be thought of in the context of a continuous bike lane along much of Dorchester Ave.  We’ll have to wait and see if these suggestions get incorporated into the final designs.

There has also been a group of us working with BNAN to close the gap between the Neponset Greenway and the Harbor Trail with an off road bike path.  We’ve had several positive interactions with many interested parties and we have recently heard that National Grid who had previously refused to even consider allowing a path to pass by the gas tanks is now having discussions with DCR on possible options.

These are just a few of the things we are keeping tabs on.

Small steps forward.

We had 38 people take our online survey – 24 had a Dorchester zip code and most of others were in bordering neighborhoods like Mattapan, Roxbury, South Boston and Jamaica Plain - and here is a short summary of some things we learned.

Most people, 58%, said that commuting was the primary reason they rode with the remaining categories of errand running, work, exercise and recreation fairly evenly split between the remaining answers.  Everyone who responded said that they do ride a bike – perhaps not surprising but you never know.

A typical ride for people is somewhere between 1 and 10 miles -15 people said they usually ride between 1 and 5 miles and another 15 ride 5 to 10 miles.   A half dozen typically rode more than 10 miles a pop.

What did you think that DotBike should be focusing on?  A whopping 80% of respondents thought that advocating for neighborhood cyclists should be DotBike’s top priority.  Rider education and holding community rides were the second and third in rankings.

As far as improvements you’d like to see, on street Bike lanes was the most desired improvement with 62% of respondents rating this their top wish and 85% ranking this as very important (first or second choice).  Education of cyclists as well as drivers and getting more off road paths were also highly desired.

What about fun?  Everyone is interested in various types of community rides, which is great!  Themed rides were a popular idea and we got some great ideas for themes at the kickoff party so I hope to see a number of rides happening this summer.

Both the survey and the kickoff event provided lots of ideas and information and DotBike will move forward keeping these things in mind.  As we are a community-based organization the most important things is to have people involved.  Thanks to all who responded to the survey.

Let us know if you’d like to get more involved.  If you  want to help out in planning and organizing rides and activities just use the form accessed via the ‘Contact Us’ tab at the top of the page and let us know.

Another successful and fun Bay State Bike Week wrapped up with the ride into City Hall Plaza for the Boston Bike fest. There were around 30 riders in the Dorchester convoy on a gray but thankfully not rainy morning. Thanks to the police escort we had a safe and leisurely ride up Dot Ave.

Once at the plaza all got some tasty bites and there were giveaways and opportunities to win some schwag. It was also great to see all the other cyclists from other parts of the city and beyond.

Here is one of my favorite sights at the festival. Two of Dorchester’s riders each with their own take on the best way to suit up for the ride to work.

Hope everyone had a good week and got lots of riding in.

Got clued into this film video via Mayor Menino’s Boston Bikes facebook group.

A brief documentary on bike lanes in Boston by Matthew Hihagchi, completed for Bob Nesson’s class Filmmaking in the Sustainable City at Emerson College. A screening to take place around June 10 or 11 at the Museum of Science.

It contains a couple of cameos by DotBike’s very own Vivian Girard.

Saw this on BostonBiker

The MBTA really wants to know what you think. They have developed a new survey all about bikes, bikes on the T, etc. This feedback will help them craft future policy towards bicycles, so be sure to let them know exactly what you think!

Take The Survey Here

May 11 - 17.

There are all sorts of bike related activities happenning throughout and around Boston for Bike Week.

If you want you can get a free breakfast every day as long as you have your bike and are willing to ride to seek them out.  A number of businesses are having bike friendly events and discounts.  And of course there are the rides.  For a listing of many of the events that are happening see the MassBike calendar.

You can also join the 250000 mile pledge where you log your miles ridden during the week and help us collectively ride over a quarter of a million miles that week.

Several businesses are taking part in the MassCommuter challenge so see if your work place might be participating.

And there is the Bike Week festival happening on Friday May 15th on city hall plaza.

You can sign up for any of these free events at the Boston Bay State Bike Week page.

And DotBike is helping out with a couple of events as well.  We are having our Wednesday Commute Ride Home and also are helping to lead the Dorchester Convoy to the Bike festival on Friday May 15th.

So get out your bike and ride!

Debbie and I just returned from our first trip to the Netherlands.  And boy was it great!  We got amazingly lucky with the weather.  The North of Holland can be rainy in the spring but we had 5 days of wonderful weather.  We spent one day in Amsterdam where we didn’t ride - unless you give us credit for the canal bike that we rented for a pedal around the canals of the city.  But we sure did see lots of people on bikes.  Below is a typical scene.

We then took a train to Schagen in Noord-Holland and rode for four days ending up in Edam.  Most of the riding was in the country so we were far more likely to see scenes like in the images below rather than cars or even too many other cyclists although they were out there, roadies, commuters and cyclo tourists like us enjoying the outdoors.

The Netherlands is truly the way biking should be.