Bike Week is a day old and the energy has been great! I'm seeing lots of cyclists out, and even more I'm seeing lots of cyclists talking to each other. I think it is great for new cyclists to see that bike riders are a friendly, generous group and we should all make an effort to be extra friendly this week. I had a brief chat with the father shown in the photo with his son on the trail-a-bike - they ride every day and were surprised to discover that they could get their tires pumped up by a cheerful MassBike volunteer, and get a free Clif Bar.
I have to thank Broadway Bicycle School for throwing their annual pancake breakfast again this year. The pancakes have real blueberries in them, the coffee is surprisingly good, and the social scene is the best. I saw over half of my Boston bike friends in the space of a half hour. I wish we all got together more often.
Thank you Broadway Bike!
The only negative news is that there have been Cambridge police officers waiting around both sides of 77 Mass Ave to pull cyclists over. I'm sure they'll tell you they're doing it for your own safety, but just be careful out there. It kinda seems like they're looking to make some ticket money off the brand new cyclists who don't know the traffic laws yet.
9 comments:
here in Iceland, 3 weeks of May are bike-to-work. So far it's been a week and a half of the worst stretch of wind I remember experiencing here (currently gale/storm force according to Beaufort), so there haven't been that many people braving it. You basically don't go anywhere if you're in the headwind that's currently almost 90km per hour. Gah.
Man, I was bummed I didn't make it to the pancake breakfast. I'll probably be at the Cambridge Bicycle open house on Thursday. I'll look for you and your snazzy bike!
Geoff
What were the cops stopping people for?
I saw a couple of people biking really recklessly this morning- blowing lights, biking between lanes, weaving in and out without checking behind them.. I don't know if they're newbies or just clueless, but I wish they'd stop it as it gives us all a PR problem.
Carice,
The only one I saw has been a girl who ran a red. I'm guessing that's the focus. The cops have their bikes parked, so they have to target their efforts.
tehehe.. chain lube.
I am new at this and had no idea that the police stop and ticket cyclists. Could somebody please point me to some info about the local bike traffic laws and the punishments for breaking them? I've tried to search, but it has not been fruitful. Thanks!
Filigree, The Massachusetts bike laws are available here (though, as the link says, they've changed a bit in January)
Thank you for the link. I must say that this does not make riding in the city any less intimidating for a beginner. But we'll see; I am determined to persevere!
Here is an updated link, but they still have not integrated the new laws: http://www.massbike.org/resourcesnew/bike-law/
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