Dot Bike

DotBike had a great time at the beach festival last year and we plan to do so again next Saturday August 8th at Savin Hill and Malibu beaches.  The festival runs from 11 – 4.

There are all sorts of activities planned for the festival including sailing, canoeing, field sports like volley ball and disc golf demos.   And there will be cool displays including the zoo and aquarium with live animals.  And tons of giveaways.

This year DotBike with the help of MassBike will park your bike for free in our valet parking lot.  Ride on in and check out our give aways.  We’ll also be happy to answer your questions, help you with bike fit and pump up your tires if they’re low.   And then enjoy the rest of the festival knowing your bike is safely tended.

Check out the map below for some recommended routes to ride to the festival.


View Routes to Dorchester Beach Festival in a larger map

And just between us there is a short but quite steep hill up Caspian Rd. in Savin Hill that ends at Savin Hill Park.  It’s a challenge to ride up and we might make that challenge to riders at the festival so if your interested just ask.

Hope to see you there.

Dorchester frequently gets a bad rap from bicyclists regarding stuff like traffic, safety and lack of places to ride and these most often come from those who rarely if ever ride in our part of the city.  In fact, this post by 100 psi, while not singling out Dot, lists us first as places they don’t like to bike in Boston.  Now I’m not saying that we couldn’t use a lot of improvements to make bicycling more safe in our hood but so could the rest of the city.

Dorchester is also frequently cited as have a low number of cyclists.   However, all you need to do is ride, walk or even drive if you must around for a short while to see that there are actually quite a lot of riders in the neighborhood of all types.

Since March of this year, far before most people pulled their bikes out of storage, Phil an intrepid DotBiker started documenting many of the uncounted riders in Dot first with his camera phone and then upgrading to a camera.  He has posted many of these pictures on flickr and if you want an idea of the diversity of cyclists in Dorchester take a look by clicking on the photo.

LivableStreets Alliance to host Street Talk by Jason Schrieber on Mode Shift:  moving from driving to transit, biking, and walking.

When: Wednesday, July 22, 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!*

What makes people shift out of their cars? Is it building more subways, bike lanes, and better sidewalks? Is it financial factors like a gas tax, congestion charges, and parking prices? Is it land use patterns like a mix of uses, local retail and where people live and work? Or how about the health and environmental benefits? Think about the factors that make you choose to walk, bike, drive or take transit. What would make you, or the people you know, take one mode of transportation over another?  Read more here.

All the info can be found here.

MassBike Spins to the Harbor Islands Saturday, July 25, 10:00 am

Paul Revere Landing Park In Charlestown (map)

The ride will go from Paul Revere Landing Park in Charlestown through East Boston on the East Boston Greenway to Deer Island and back, stop for lunch at Constitution Beach, and explore a few little side paths on the way back to Charlestown. Last year we found four.

Cyclists can join the ride at the East Boston blue caboose around 10:30-10:45.

And a group from RozzieBikes and JP Bikes will be riding up to the start together.  RozzieBikes leaving probably around 9 but contact them to find out specifics or meet up with JP bikes at 9:15 at Green St. station on the Southwest Corridor.

 BostonBikes is rolling out a new program aimed at decreasing bike theft in the city.

The Stolen Bike Alert program makes reporting stolen bikes easier and increases the chances of finding your stolen bike by giving you a larger network of search parties. When you report a stolen bike, an alert is sent out to the police, local bike shops, hospital and school security, and everyone who follows Boston Bikes on Twitter or Facebook. All of these people will be on the look-out for your bike and the police will be notified instantaneously as updates on your stolen bike are received.

You can register your bike in the program or sign up to follow Boston Bikes on Twitter or Facebook at the link above.

Sunday July 12th – Pub bicycle “crawl” with Tour watching!!!!

Meet @ Redbones at 11am (when they open for brunch) – watch the Tour de France stage!

From Redbones, we’ll visit 3 more pubs where there are food/drink options, and also outdoor seating in anticipation of good weather: Cambridge Brewing Company in Kendall Sq, Shay’s in Harvard Square and Devlin’s in Brighton. The total ride is only 11 miles with no more than 4 miles between pub stops! Anticipated finishing time is 3-3:30pm.  See the approximate route (subject to minor changes).

Please contact Laura Smeaton at laurasmeaton<AT>mac<DOT>com with questions.

Note that Laura will be riding to Redbones from Roslindale so get in touch if you’d like to ride to Somerville with her.

Fundraiser for Cyclekids on Sunday, July 19 at 6 p.m.
2nd Annual Tour de France Event!
Middlesex Lounge, 315 Mass Avenue, Cambridge, MA
Come watch the 15th stage of the Tour de France and help get children on
bikes and on the road to a healthier life!  Enjoy the wonderful food
at Middlesex Lounge as you watch this high mountain stage in the Alps
starting in Pontarlier and 207.5 km later ending in Verbier.

Also, try your hand at racing your friends!
We’ll be bringing back the CYCLE Kids bike challenge!
Tickets are $30, you can pay online by simply entering the number of people attending
in the “Designate my donation” box on our JustGive.org donation page, or by sending us a check.

Department of Conservation and Recreation
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
PUBLIC MEETING ON THE REHABILITATION OF TWO MORRISSEY BOULEVARD BRIDGES
MT. VERNON ST. & PATTEN?S COVE
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Loyola Function Room, Boston College High School
150 Morrissey Blvd., Dorchester

At the meeting, DCR will present the final design details for the
Rehabilitation of the Mt. Vernon St. & Patten’s Cove Bridges,
as well as the construction timetable. DCR’s plans to mitigate
anticipated construction impacts will also be discussed.

If you have questions about the public meeting, please contact
DCR Updates, at 617-626-4974 or dcr.updates@state.ma.us.