cyclin Comm. Ave.

If you ride a bike on Comm. Ave. (or would like to), we invite you to share your comments/experiences/thoughts here! (If you would like to become a "user" of this blog, please contact us at ABbikes@gmail.com)

10/19/2010… BTD on a bike with tickets in tow! ;)

Filed under: parking in bike lanes,thumbs up — October 23, 2010 @ 10:53 am

I was SO psyched to see someone riding a Specialized in the Comm. Ave. bike lanes (eastbound near Landry’s) who appeared to be a BTD employee with parking tickets hanging out of his back pocket 🙂 A bike-mounted BTD employee riding the Comm. Ave. lanes and ticketing illegally parked cars… now THAT’S what I’m talking about!

10/18/10

Filed under: Uncategorized — October 18, 2010 @ 11:53 pm

~ 11:15 -> 11:45 am: Only ONE car parked illegally in bike lanes going in either direction Packard’s Corner to Kenmore Square and back. Seemed to be a BU-tian’s Mom unloading stuff to go up to Warren Towers. (I’m not counting the USPS truck parked on the outbound side that could have been out of the bike lane entirely if it moved about six inches to the right…)

accident in Comm. Ave. bike lanes Eastbound, near Upper Crust

Filed under: Accidents/injuries (cyclists on Comm. Ave.) — October 16, 2010 @ 12:34 am

A young male Hispanic cyclist was injured at ~11am on Comm. Ave. this morning on the inbound side near Upper Crust in a collision with a white car driven by an older caucasian gentlemen. I arrived after the first BPD officer on scene but before BFD, Boston EMS, additional BPD officers, etc. I spoke with both the cyclist (in Spanish) and the driver (in English), but I did not witness the collision. The cyclist was injured (seriously enough to be transported by ambulance to the hospital) and does not have health insurance. If ANYONE witnessed this collision, please contact ABbikes@gmail.com ASAP (and the BPD of course). The information you have may help the cyclist obtain necessary medical care and/or help to make Comm. Ave. safer for cyclists in the future.

REMINDERS: If you witness an incident involving a cyclist, please offer to provide a statement to BPD. Witness reports can be essential, especially when the cyclist has sustained a head trauma and has limited recollection of the accident/collision/incident. If you are injured in any incident involving a cyclist (you or others), (as appropriate) please be sure to file a report with BPD if/when you are able.

Thanks and PLEASE ride safely out there!

Hi Cars!

Filed under: Uncategorized — October 8, 2010 @ 4:12 pm

Hi all:
I’m an urban planning student working on a project to try and address cycling/car/pedestrian behavior in Boston–particularly dealing with infrastructure lag (and getting everyone to use what we have, including our bike lanes, in a less contentious way). One of those ideas is to try and move from an aggressive “taking” of space from cars and into a more playful, assertive way of showing that bikes belong on the road as well. If you have any ideas on how to affect car—and cyclist—behavior, please let me know!
To that end, I went on a 2.5 hour ride yesterday along major arterials of Boston to enjoy the good weather and try and test out my theory. I put a sign that said “Hi Cars!” on the back of my basket and on my bike bag, and resolved to be the best version of law-abiding cyclist, stopping and waiting at every red light and stop sign. I then would try and look around and wave at any drivers who were also waiting, in the attempt at making a social connection and showing them I was there (and law-abiding). The photo and map here shows the set up and the results. On the whole, waving was really successful whenever I was at a light for a significant length of time. While there were a few negative interactions– cars blocking the Comm Ave bike box, one cutting me off to park, a few trucks parked in the bike lane, and the backup of taxis turning left onto Comm Ave at the Longfellow Bridge—on the whole I think it was more positive. It also really changed my attitude as a cyclist and my communication with the rest of the street.
I’d be curious if you have any feedback/ideas/comments. Thanks and see you on the streets!

HELP!

Filed under: Uncategorized — October 7, 2010 @ 12:13 pm

My name is Lindsay. The last time I rode a bike was in a spin class. What am I doing on this site? Trying to gather some information for an article I’m writing about YOU, Sir/Madam Bicyclist.

Someone gave me a bike about a year ago. I rode it down Beacon Street, once. And then gave it away… because these Boston drivers are assnuts. And because I tend to break and bruise easily. To quote a comment that was left a few days ago—”If so many cyclist[s] are so nervous or worried about cycling on the roads, then get off the road, because you’re a danger to the rest of us”—Well, I’m that cyclist, or I was, and my apologies… but in this Green Collar world, more people are ditching the gas guzzlers and returning to the childhood glory days of spokes and handlebars. If you want cars to share the road, don’t you also need to share the road with neophyte cyclists? Cause, really, how does anyone get better at biking?

So really… Are these hipsters driving you nuts? Is their irresponsible riding making it harder for drivers to take the seasoned rider seriously? And what needs to change? What kind of middle ground needs to be reached? And are these bike lanes making any difference?

And if riding is so dangerous, and if those polls are accurate, and most of you have done grave injury to your body… and if riding isn’t a necessity in your life… what’s the point? Why ride?

Feel free to rant… I would love hear what you have to say

Thanks guys. G’day.

anotha day in the Comm. Ave. bike lanes…

Filed under: thumbs down — October 6, 2010 @ 8:46 am

10-5-2010 ~11 am: From Packard’s Corner to Kenmore saw only 2 vehicles parked illegally in the bike lanes: 1 commercial white van parked half in half out in block before Babcock (with plenty of room to move all the way into the legal spot) and the other… Landry’s vehicle double parked with blinkers in front of their shop (gasp!)… hmmm… maybe it was a bike loading emergency? 😉 Kinda psyched that not a SINGLE non-commercial vehicle was in the bike lane (methinks in large part thanks to BUPD). Not so psyched to see a cyclist blow the red light on the BU bridge (without a helmet of course)… but at least I saw only ONE cyclist blow a red light this lap!

“Day 1″ of bloggin “cyclin Comm. Ave.”

Filed under: thumbs down,thumbs up — October 1, 2010 @ 12:57 am

Welcome all! Yesterday I made it from Packard’s Corner almost all the way to Kenmore Square without one car parked illegally in the Comm. Ave. bike lanes… until a Boston University Housing Authority truck passed me to the left of the bike lane close enough to scare the heck outta me, then pulled over and parked in the bike lane in front of Warren Towers. When I explained to the driver and two passengers that they weren’t supposed to park there (and that BU has actually created a new loading area behind Warren Towers to avoid this problem), they seemed rather uninterested. So I called BUPD and asked them to do something about it. BUPD has recently been VERY supportive of cyclists and dealing with cars and trucks parked illegally in the bike lane(s)… I hope they did their part regarding this truck as well!