Dot Bike

Join the Somerville Bicycle Committee and the Somerville Historic
Preservation Commission for a Sunday afternoon bike tour featuring
Somerville’s many historic houses of worship.

We’ll meet at Somerville City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue, at 2 pm this
Sunday, May 31. This easy 9-mile ride will be fully escorted by the
Somerville Police bicycle patrol. We will visit historic churches
and synagogues throughout the city. The ride will end at the
Somerville Museum, where participants can enjoy refreshments and view
the Somerville Preservation Awards exhibit.
Before the ride, from 1 to 2 pm, police officers will be available to
register bicycles and hand out literature on bicycle safety and
security. Registering your bike helps police return it to you if
they recover it after a theft.

For more information, visit http://SomervilleBikes.org , e-mail
rnewman@thecia.net , or call 617-628-8895.

A $3 donation is requested to support the activities of the Historic
Preservation Commission.

The Tour de Farms is happening on Saturday, August 1, starting in Franklin Park
near the zoo.

A 40-mile ride to Allendale Farm, the Waltham Community Farm, the Newton Community Farm, and Brookwood Farm, ending at City Natives Nursery in Mattapan Square, will start at 8:00 am.
The 10-15-mile ride through Dorchester, Roxbury, and Jamaica Plain will start
at 9:00 am, and also end at City Natives Nursery after 4 or 5 stops at urban agricultural sites.

There will be a $10 fee to cover ride expenses.  Roads will not be closed, and helmets are be required.

For more information contact Doug Mink at dmink<AT>masspaths.net

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.

LivableStreets Alliance to host Street Talk by Noah Budnick on The Changing Streets of NYC: an inside view.

When: Thursday, May 28, 7 – 9 pm
Where: 100 Sidney Street, Central Square, Cambridge

*This event is free and open to the public. donation suggested beer/sodas provided compliments of Harpoon Brewery!* Learn about the political and physical changes that have come to NYC in the past few years. From the campaign for congestion pricing to European-style bike lanes, civic groups and City Hall are embracing green transportation like never before. Transportation Alternatives helped usher in this sea change and now they are working harder than ever to help educate the public and build support to cement the mind shift that’s taking place.  Read more here.

Join Officers from District C-11, Fire Fighters and volunteers for a Bike Rodeo and Fire Safety Day

Saturday May 23, 2009 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the parking lot of I.B.E.W Local 103, 256 Freeport Street Dorchester.

• This event is for children ages 4 – 10 and their parents.
• Bring your bike and helmet and get a safety check, take an agility test and participate in bike games.
• Helmets will be available for sale.
• The Boston Fire Departments Fire Safety Truck and the Vulcan Society Safety Town will be there too.

For more information call the C-11 Community Service Office at 617-343-4524.

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

On behalf of the city of Boston, Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Bay State Bike Week organizing committee, you are cordially invited to the Bay State Bike Week Kickoff Press Announcement and mini-
bike ride.

R.S.V.P preferred but not required: Nicole.freedman.bra@cityofboston.gov.

The Hills of Southwest Boston

Saturday, June 13th, 2009 1:00 pm, Adams Park, Roslindale Square

This ride was originally scheduled during bike week but rain cancelled.  This ride provides the opportunity find and ride most of the hills of southwest Boston, climbing a total of 1500 feet in about 15 miles demonstrating that Boston isn’t as flat as all that.  Some of the hills are very steep so a geared bike with decent brakes is highly recommended.

Contact Doug Mink at dmink<AT>rozziebikes.org with questions or for more info.