Dot Bike

June 17-21, 2009 is Common Boston 09 Weekend
with the theme of “Designing a Liveable City for Families – A community celebration of architecture and design.”

A celebration of our built environment—the streets, landscapes, buildings, and neighborhoods that make us distinctive. The Common Boston 09 festival provides an opportunity for all of us to engage with new places and to interact with the people who shape the city. During our tours, discussions, open buildings, and student exhibition, we invite you to take a fresh look at Boston, to understand its history and imagine its future.

Saturday June 20th at 2:00 p.m.
DotBike Tour to JP: Meets in front of Flat Black Coffee, 1906 Dorchester. Ave.
Explore the future of architecture and landscape in Dorchester and Jamaica Plain by bike, with Justin Crane of Common Boston; Christine Poff, of DotBike and the Franklin Park Coalition; and Joe Pryse, AIA of Leers Weinzapfel Associates.
pre-registration is recommended.

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.

National Train Day Bike Ride

On May 9^th, celebrate national train day with a bike ride from Davis Square Somerville to South Framingham. 

Meet at 9:30 in Davis Square in Seven Hills Park (behind the Holland Street T Station) for a ride to celebrate National Train Day 2009

Ride leaves promptly at 9:45, and follow the route of the old Central Massachusetts Railroad to Wayland.  Along the way, we will stop to look at a number of historic railroad stations, and then head south to Framingham, where we will admire the station there (designed by H.H. Richardson, who designed Trinity Church) and then take the train back to another historic station – South Station.  23 miles – moderate.  Steady rain cancels.

 Map and cue sheet available.

For more information, contact dick.bauer@alum.mit.edu

 Join DotBike, the City of Boston and fellow area cyclists for a morning ride to City Hall Plaza for the Bay State Bike Week Bike Festival on Friday May 15th.

The ride starts at 7:00 a.m. in Peabody Square at the corner of Ashmont St. and Dorchester Ave. or meet up with the ride in Fields Corner at 7:10 a.m.

This ride is Police Escorted allowing us cycle safely up Dorchester Ave. and into the center of Boston.  Experienced leader will ensure a fun and pleasant ride.

Once we reach City Hall Plaza there will be a Bike festival with food and vendors and fun giveaways.  The festival runs from 7-10 a.m.

Help to make the Dorchester convoy the largest by registering on the Boston Bikes page.

There was a great turnout for Dot Bike Spring Kick-Off last Thursday!  Thanks especially to the BOLD Teens for the update about the biking component of their recent project with the Boston Food and Fitness Collaborative, to Nicole Freedman, Boston Bikes director who shared and update about the Dot Ave. project, and the Dot2Dot Cafe for the tasty snacks.

Sorry for the bad pics.  I’m hoping to find some better ones for an update.

One of the goals of Thursday’s event was to get feedback and input from Dot Bikers on key priorities for our second year supporting each other as a community of cyclists.  We’ll have a more detailed report on what we’ve heard both Thursday and via the online survey in a couple of weeks.  But overwhelmingly this is a group hoping to feel safer on the road – bike lanes and bike paths are on everyone’s wish list.  Reaching more of Dorchester, and group rides of all kinds also emerged as priorities common to most of us.

DCR SCHEDULES PUBLIC MEETING TO PRESENT

DESIGN FOR REHABILITATION OF NEPONSET RIVER BRIDGE

WHAT: The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has scheduled a public meeting to present the design for the rehabilitation of the Neponset River Bridge that crosses the Neponset River between Quincy and Dorchester. The rehabilitation, a full deck replacement scheduled to begin in late 2009, is part of Governor Patrick’s Accelerated Bridge Program.

Upholding his pledge to quickly repair the Commonwealth’s most neglected bridges, Governor Patrick last August signed a bridge bond bill that committed $3 billion to repair and replace 250 Massachusetts bridges identified as structurally deficient. Of that amount, DCR is overseeing $906 million to repair or replace 29 agency bridges and preserve 50 more.

Over the next several years, the Accelerated Bridge Program will ensure public safety by funding repair work for bridges in the most urgent need of repair, and will create thousands of engineering and construction jobs. The project will save the state an estimated $1.5 billion in avoided inflation and deferred-maintenance costs.

To learn more about the Accelerated Bridge Program, visit www.mass.gov/acceleratedbridges.

To learn more about DCR projects, visit www.mass.gov/dcr/projects.

WHEN: Monday

April 27

6:30-8:00 p.m. 

WHERE: Port Norfolk Yacht Club

179 Walnut St.

Dorchester 

If you haven’t seen in the Globe today or heard on the radio it’s been reported that Massachusetts is last in the nation in percentage of available federal money for bicycle projects spent. 80 Million dollars is available for state funded projects but apparently because the State process for getting projects approved for this available money is so onerous few cities and towns have the stomach for applying.

Here’s a link to the article.

It’s really a shame and while the governor has given lip service to Bicycling as a priority for the state action speaks much louder than words. I mean, cmon already, Connecticut and Rhode Island were able to spend 99% of their allocation.

Bike Night 2009: A Party to Support Bicycling!

Saturday, April 18, 2009, 5-8pm

Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation
154 Moody Street, Waltham MA 02453 map

Click here for Regular Admission

Give yourself the VIP Package and help MassBike even more (available through 4/13 only)

The Event: Join us at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation on Saturday, April 18 from 5 to 8 pm, MassBike’s Bike Night includes a cocktail reception featuring hors d’oeuvres, cash bar, silent and live auctions, bicycling advocacy awards, advocacy and industry displays from geekhouse bikes, Zipcar, and more, and live music from The Moving Co. and Jess Baggia. Advance tickets recommended, tickets may not be available at the door. MassBike members save $10!

Live and Silent Auctions: You won’t want to miss this year’s auction!

• A coveted spot in this year’s sold-out Harpoon Brewery to Brewery Ride (B2B)
• A day on the Dutch Bicycle Company’s Conference Bike with your friends
• Ride along “on the beat” with the Cambridge Police Bike Patrol
• Own Sheldon Brown’s mountain bike!
• Cycling get-away packages to Martha’s Vineyard, Northampton, Provincetown
• And much more!

Food and Drink: Thanks to the generosity of several local businesses, we will have light hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar with beer provided by Harpoon and Wachusett Brewing. Have your appetizer course at Bike Night, then try one of the many great restaurants in Waltham.

Bikes, Bikes, and More Bikes: We’ve got the whole museum to ourselves, including the special exhibit “The Wheelmen’s Machine – The Bicycle and its Innovators”, with high-wheelers, classic bikes, and more! Ride your bike to Bike Night and use our free Valet Bike Parking! We’ve even got a group ride from Boston to Bike Night – contact Doug Mink for ride details.

The museum is also easily accessible via the MBTA, and public parking is available. Click here for transportation information

Sponsored, in part, by Jason & Fischer, a law partnership specializing in cases involving bicyclists.

There’s still time to become a Bike Night sponsor! Contact David Watson for sponsorship packages.

If you can’t make the kickoff tonight (or even if you can but like taking online surveys) we’ve created a short online survey that we’d love you to take.

It’s short, it’s easy and it will help us to make cycling in Dorchester more fun and safe!

Click Here to take the DotBike survey