On the Other Side

The Charles River divides Cambridge on the N-NW side (left bank) from Boston on the S-SE side.  There are parallel multi-purpose  paths on each side, and an arterial multi-lane road on each side.  There are 9 bridges in the 5 miles or so of  the "lower Charles":   From Ocean inward:  Museum of Science bridge,  Longfellow, Mass Ave (for some reason called the Harvard Bridge),  the BU bridge,  River street, Western Ave, Larz Anderson (footbridge)  JFK,  and Elliot.

There's a popular map of running loops with the milage of loops from bridge to bridge,  and back in my running days I did loops and combos along both sides of the river depending on the milage I had scheduled, but these days I almost exclusively ride on the Cambridge side, partly because my destinations are on that side, and partly because it's a tiny bit shorter because of the curvature and shape of the river.

Tonight though I decided to take the "long way" home.  My first challenge was to get on the path.  Because the arterial that goes along that side of the river is limited access, the only way across is by one of the footbridges, which are somewhat steep, and pretty tightly turning, which make them tough, but not impossible to ride up.

At the base of the footbridge is a public sailing club called community boating.  For a reasonable fee anyone can join and learn to sail, or just take a boat out.  Unfortunately the boats can't pass under the bridges, so you're limited to the largish, widest part of the river, called the Lagoon.

 

 Gilbert admiring the boats

There's a little island, joined to the "mainland" by three or four bridges.  

This carved bench sits at the first bridge,  right next to the Hatch shell where the Pops and other outdoor concerts are held

Winged lion foot.

There's a path on the island, which is full of joggers, lovers and dog walkers, but the bike "throughway is shunted off to the edge of the 6 lane road.

Should have stayed on the island.

  As the island and "mainland touch, there's a little channel with lillypads.  I wonder if there are frogs to sit on them and sing?

After about BU, the path gets a bit tougher-

There's a lot of raw infrastructure- flyovers, and overpasses and bridges over bridges.  Some of which is quite lovely in a post-industrial way.

At the BU bridge, you can have an airplane above a car above a train above a bike.

  But this is pretty much why I normally take the Cambridge side-  it's not much fun riding along a 6' wide path with a fence on the breakwater on one side and a jersey barrier and 6 lanes of traffic on the other side.

After that things get a little more picturesque

The Larz Anderson Footbridge.

The Harvard rowing club.  I should do a whole post on this building-  it looks like brick, but is covered in red slate shingles.

And then I was home!

Biking the Boston Greenway

I bike to the Farmer's market every week along the Greenway.  Everyone from Boston knows the history of the greenway but others might not.  I-93 was slammed through the middle of downtown in the 50's, destroying a lot of working class neighborhoods in the name of gentrification and rapid transport,  and separating downtown from the waterfront with a noisy, ugly elevated freeway and the no-mans land below it.   In the 90's they started the infamous "Big Dig"  which created a new bridge from the north, put 4 miles of road underground, and created a new tunnel out to the airport and East Boston.  It was a long and incredibly expensive process, and in the end they got the greenway where the freeway used to be.

It's still controversial that they didn't build buildings, or attractions on this "new" land.  And I will say that there are parts of the greenway that feel like an overgrown median between two busy arterials.  However, they have some neat play areas for kids (like a flush fountain)  some nice seating for office workers to escape to on a nice day,  and they're trying to encourage food carts, carousels, concerts, fairs and other things that will draw people to the new space.  And mostly I think it's working, and will work more in the future as people incorporate it into their routines.

Technically you're not supposed to ride your bike on the greenway,  which is really stupid, and I take the risk of a ticket and ignore it.   I understand that they don't want people zipping though at speed, but I see no reason not to slowly and courteously bike along the path.  I've ridden on the arterials on each side,  and it's not so bad, but it's not much fun either.  Mostly I ride along the edges, staying on the paved paths or sidewalks.  This week, in keeping with the Greenway LGRAB event, I rode in on the gravel paths and explored the plantings a bit.

They are really spectacular-  designed and maintained by the Mass Horticultural Society,  they have a really wonderful balance of textures and colors.  They did a lot of banking and vertical planting that really reduces the impact of the busy roads on either side.

They also did a lot with diagonal and winding paths to reduce the linear "chute" feeling of the park.  The blind corner creates a sense of mystery that draws you forward.

The gardens provide a wonderful place to sit and eat your lunch- shielded from the traffic noise by the lush plantings.

Huchera-  Coral Bells,  one of my favorites in my own garden.

At South Station (the main train station)  there's a plaza where the farmer's market is held in the summer

There's a vegetarian/vegan food truck (Clover food lab) with wonderful sandwiches and a grassy lawn on which to sit while you eat.

Brighly planted storage for the farmer's market.

Red Fire Farms CSA has a pickup spot at their booth at the market, which is where I got this week's goodies  (Zucchini!)  I like having my pickup at a market stall, because if I want to supplement with some extra tomatoes, or a couple of heads of garlic I can easily just pick them up.

And home with a pannier full of veggies I went!

Beep Beep

So,  For the LGRAB Summer Games,  I really really wanted to ride a fixie.  We got home late Saturday from NYC,  and spent most of the morning Sunday installing the Scientist's birthday present- a replacement min-fridge for the one in the basement mini-bar that crapped out a month after we moved in.  Unfortunately the new one was ever so slightly larger than the old one, and it turned into a PROJECT.

So it took a bit longer than expected before it was installed and happily filled with diet Pepsi. I headed out to Harris to pick up the honey B66S saddle that I'd ordered for Gilbert.  While I was there, I thought I'd try to ride something fun.  My first choice was a Betty Foy.  I wonder sometimes just how fast I could be if I weren't riding a 40 pound bike.  I thought that I might take a spin on something a bit more nimble and see if that was something I could get excited about.  Unfortunately no Betty Foys on the floor this late Sunday just before closing.
I eyed the fixies, but was just too intimidated to do a rushed test.  Then, out of a corner of my eye, I espied the perfect thing- a Brompton!
Every time I see Elton's tricked out Brompton parked at Harris, I flirt with the idea of a folding bike.  Unfortunately necessity hasn't driven me that direction,  and the price tag ($1,300 to start) has put me off,  but I'm definitely curious about them,  and I decided to check one out just to see what it was like.

One of the guys I don't know there (maybe he's new,  maybe I just haven't had a chance to meet him before) unfolded one, and pointed me to the test helmets.  Unfortunately it was too close to closing, and since I wasn't really buying, I didn't make him help me adjust the handlebars, and I felt like I was having to reach WAY out in front of me to reach them.

I took a quick spin down a couple of blocks and back, and, ummm, I don't think I need a Brompton,  at least not at this point in my life.

It could have been the handlebars, but the steering was WAY more responsive than I am used to, and I felt like I was going to tip over at the least provocation.  And yes,  I rode a road bike all through college and high school and it seemed much more aggressive than that.   Again, I think it was partly the mis-adjusted handlebars, but still- very aggressive steering.
Otherwise,  it was fine.  It had a surprising amount of get up and go for such small wheels, and the gear shifting was smooth and controlled ( I rode the 3 speed IGH,  there is also a derailleur model).   Brakes seemed fine, although I didn't challenge them.   Overall I did have a bit of top-heaviness in the balance, which is to be expected, as the small wheels bring the center of gravity way down.  It felt like a solid, well built bicycle.

After I brought it "home"  I spent a while trying to figure out the folding mechanism on my own.  I had had the interesting experience of watching a Brompton rep do it (at Harris) in English the week before I went to Spain, and then watching another Brompton rep do it in Spanish while I was in a shop in Barcelona.   I managed to figure it mostly out on the 2nd try, and it is a pretty marvelous piece of engineering!  Like mechanical origami.

If I had no bike storage at home,  no bike storage at work, or had to take the train as part of my commute (was coming in from the far burbs for example)  I would definitely consider a folder,  but as an everyday bike I'm not convinced.  Admittedly my test ride was far from perfect, and I'd love to give it a better run,  but so far, my need for a tiny bike is not enough to overcome the obstacles.

Book report(s)

I had a good amount of time to read on the train.
I finished up two bike-y books that I've been reading for a while.

The first is Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne, which I bought at his Boston talk a couple of months ago. Aside from the last chapter, this is less a book about bicycling per se, than a series of anecdotes and meditations linked to stories about bicycling in various cities.

The links between the stories and the cities and each other is a bit tenuous and impressionistic. Sometimes it worked for me, in that it reminded me of how my senses and ideas are sometimes stimulated in seemingly random directions when I'm biking. Other times though (especially the Manilla and Buenos Aires chapters) it just felt random and disjointed, with some esoteric music and art world name dropping thrown in.

My favorite was the  NYC chapter, mainly because it was less of an exotic travelogue than a more densely textured observation of his everyday biking. I'm still processing my experience of biking in NYC, which was probably part of the appeal.  It was more of a meditation on urban quality of life issues and how bicycles are and can be part of how we live.  From his talk, and the character of this book, I would say that David Byrne is a reluctant advocate. He seems to say, "This is kind of crazy, but because people liked "Burning Down The House"  they for some reason are interested in what I have to say." "so I'll say Hey there's this thing I really like to do- it's fun and cool and not as scary as you think it is, and can be done by everyday people in their normal clothes.   Try it,  you might like it!"   I agree with him that it's kind of crazy,  but I'm glad he's using his "power" for "good"  and if it encourages others,  more power to him!

The second book which I finished on this trip was Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt.
As an architect with an interest in urban planning and a techie bent, I found the densely researched  (20 pages or more of footnotes) but conversational style of this book very engaging.  It's a bit like Freakonomics in style and tone- the blend of the personal and human with the experimental data.

Even before I finished it, it was one of those books I was constantly wanting to share with others, emailing bits to my brother, buying a copy to my Dad, constantly interrupting the Scientist's reading to share interesting tidbits with him.  Although not explicitly a bicycling book, I found that there was a lot of information which related to complete streets theories and many of my own observations of traffic culture. Vanderbilt is clearly a proponent of the new wave of traffic planning and urban design which is less auto-centric, and against the kind of highwayization and "safety" optimization that in the name of improving traffic flow and protecting pedestrians has turned so many suburban spaces into no-man's lands where drivers were encouraged to speed beyond the limits of their perceptions and reflexes, and pedestrians and bicyclists were discouraged.  There was a lot of scary stuff about how bad so many drivers are,  how limited our human perceptions are, and how little we do here to govern and improve the human side of the traffic equation, choosing instead to focus on improving road infrastructure and auto crumple zones.
What made this book engaging for me, was its concentration on the human element, through changing times and technologies, with all our foibles and mode-bias and inattentional blindness.   I think that a lot of Robert Moses old school traffic engineers missed this human element, and our roads and public spaces have suffered for it.    I know that this kind of thought is more completely understood by the traffic engineers who are coming out of school now,  but unfortunately they're still not necessarily the ones making the decisions in many jurisdictions.  It leaves me hopeful however for the future of American traffic planning.

What I carried, omnibus edition

Did a lot of schlepping on the bike this week- thought I'd just combine pictures in one post.  I do most of our grocery shopping, and although every couple of weeks I'll borrow the car for a big run of heavy stuff,  by necessity, I carry most of our food home on the bike.

Indian Food on Tuesday:  The Scientist had a tough day, so I stopped and got his favorite- takeout Indian food.

I had to carry the Mango Lassi in my hand and ride one-handed- the lid just wasn't going to stay on if I put it in a basket or bag.  I need a coffee holder!

I also stopped and got a quart of milk and some sundries at the grocery store next to the Indian place.

Thursday was the second pickup for our CSA-and I brought home a pannier bulging with (mostly) green things .  The Haul this week:

From top left:  Napa Cabbage (destined to be KimChee) two heads of Romaine (Caeser Salad anyone?) fresh eggs (Caesar salad)  Two Kolrabi (Kim chee?)  two carrots,  green onions, Dinosaur Kale,  Beets, Oregano and garlic scapes.

Friday  at lunch,  I went to the North End,  the Italian district of Boston,   mainly because there's a hardware store there with a lot of canning supplies.  They didn't have the Bell Elite jars I was looking for, but I bought these short jars that will work fine.  

On the way home from work, I went to the Haymarket wholesale produce market with my co-worker E.  with the intention of buying only a giant bag of lemons.  It's starting to get hot, and nothing is as cooling as a giant glass of lemonade.   As always happens, instead I ended up getting a pannier full of bargains.

Canning jars (to be filled with Strawberry Jam tomorrow).  Pita bread and sweet paprika from the Halal market next to the haymarket.  Three packages of Blackberries (slightly beat up from the trip home, but 3 for $2, can't be beat).  Sugar free pectin for the strawberry jam.  A pound of Cherries, 18 Lemons (6 for a dollar) and a pound of Okra.  Oh, and a box of envelopes I picked up at the hardware store while I was buying canning jars.

That's a lot of stuff, and my fridge is full to bursting with all the good stuff.    To the point that things leap out at you when you open the door incautiously.  Maybe I should make a policy, that if it jumps out at you, you need to eat it immediately.  Might not work so well if the butter escapes its box. 

I love doing the CSA,  but it can be a lot of food, and it takes some discipline to use it all.  I've developed a strategy that is to immediately process it as much as possible instead of pushing it into the back of the fridge where it has a chance to be forgotten.  I spend a couple of hours every summer weekend "turning vegetables into food." For example: if the spinach/ beet greens/ turnip greens  are already wilted with garlic and olive oil,  I can easily take them to work, toss them in a pasta,  serve them alongside grilled sausages etc. etc.

If I peel and grate the carrots, I have a better chance of making them into Moroccan carrot salad (carrots, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt, cumin, paprika- oh MY it was tasty!) instead of leaving them to languish in the crisper drawer.

I think I need to not bring anything more edible home though until we get a handle on the stuff we have!

Flower delivery

I was so excited this year when my peony bush, despite getting minimal sun delivered 5 whole blossoms.
Peonies are such exuberant, extravagant flowers, and they're among my favorites.Shockingly, someone came up into my yard and picked three of the 5 blooms,  ripping whole branches off the plant.  Sigh- the hazards of living in a very urban area.

After a tough day at work, and the Scientist away at Princeton,   I bought myself flowers- peonies like the ones that were despoiled.

There's something almost cliched about carrying a bunch of flowers on a bike (kind of like carrying a baguette)  but on the other hand, it's so lovely to have a nice bike and a nice bunch of flowers!

I'm finding the "fish hatch"  on the creel basket to have all kinds of non-fishing applications.  Sunglass port,  key drop,  hankie depository.  And now flower carrier!  I was worried that it wouldn't be stable, but I put my balled up sweater, a package of heat and eat saag paneer, and a quart of half and half in the basket wedged up against the base of the flowers, and they stayed put perfectly the whole trip.
Although this is pretty tame in the annals of the things I've carried on a bike (see this, this and this),  I'm going to submit it as an entry in the LGRAB summer games, which I hope you all are playing along with at home!