Hrrrumph!

This bicycling thing is becoming too popular!
Everywhere I went today, the bike racks were full to overflowing!

Note Paper Bike at the right.  I swear I'm not stalking it

This rack is OK, but is about 6" too close to the wall for easy locking of front wheel and frame.

The lovely weather this weekend, after weeks of chilly greyness brought bikers out from every nook and cranny of the city,  which is, of course, overall a great thing.

However there are a couple of places that really need to improve their bike parking.   When places like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have absolutely full parking at night in January,  you know that when the weather gets good they're going to need more parking.   I've asked and asked at the customer service at Trader Joe's and finally wrote the main contact email for the whole company in hopes that they'll do something.  It doesn't help that a lot of bike racks, even here where people should know better are "wheelbenders" which are virtually unusable for anyone with a front basket or fenders.

One of the "overflow bikes" (locked to a pole next to the full rack) had a very heavy duty front fork/ handlebar mounted rack, paired with an unusual "basket" It's odd, because that style rack isn't very available here, and most people who search one out would probably look a little further than a milk-crate for their front carrying needs.

 

Bicycle Parking innovations

These have been in for a while,  but Somerville has finally brought "on street" bike parking to the Boston area- fitting 9 bikes into the space of one car:

These are in front of Diesel Cafe in Davis Square

I also noted several bike racks around Davis Sq.  that were rings fastened to poles that already happened to be stuck in the ground.   On one hand, locking to the pole might have been just as easy as locking to the ring,  and there are questions about how secure the rings are.  Cambridge phased out this kind of bolt-on ring, after they started to fail or be compromised in some cases. In theory you use tamper-proof fasteners and it should be pretty secure I would think.

 When you're locking up with a cable lock to begin with, security is relative :)

As automated multi-space meters are taking over parking areas, however,  it seems like developing a protocol for turning abandoned meter poles into bike racks is a worthy project.

Once the meter head is taken off, you lose that pole as a parking spot,  but few cities want to spend the extra money to remove the meter pole and install a new pole  which is part of a dedicated bike rack.  One other solution I have seen is to leave the meter head on, but remove the core-  so you can't lift the bike off the top, but it's supposedly obvious that the meter doesn't work any more.

Too many bikes?

A week ago I was so sick all weekend that I stayed home on Monday.  But by then I had absolutely exhausted my reading material, so I got out of bed and walked the three blocks to the main library in search of new material (I ended up with The Veil of Gold which was a nice little fantasia on Russian mythology).

Outside the library the bike parking was absolutely packed (and there's a lot of bike parking!)  Every post and tree had 2 bikes locked to it too.   The library is right next to the Cambridge high school, and I asked the librarian, and she said it's like that most schooldays. She did mention that there's covered parking in the underground garage, which is also nice to know.   I counted 61 bikes.  Obviously the school needs to put in more parking!  (looks like some more may be coming, looking at some photos on Lovely Bicycle).

This is awesome!!!

Bike Parking bonanza

Cambridge is reconstructing  Dunster street between Mt. Auburn and Mass Ave.  They're putting in raised crosswalks (where the crosswalk is the height of the sidewalk, and the cars have to go up and down instead of the pedestrians.   They've also put in a generous parking area (I think 12 racks or 24 spots)  which is much needed in this area, just down the street from the substandard racks at Au Bon Pain:

Even though it's not completed or "open" and it was a nasty rainy night, people were taking advantage of the facilities already!

Luxe bike parking and private bike share

At the Harvard law school I saw this fabulous Miesian bike shelter:

Gilbert was so jealous.....and wants me to remodel his shed so that it's more glamorous.  Although given recent events he may be happy to be in any shelter!

I suppose they wouldn't help much if the wind was from the south, but they're awfully nice looking, and any roof over my bike is a good roof!  They also have a law school only bike share- I don't know if there are other locations, but it looks like you check out the key to the lock from a staff person, and then could ride it somewhere on an errand, lock it up there, and then ride back.

At some of the dorms I've seen a new bike share called "Crimson Bikes"  which, like the HLS program seems to have repurposed refurbished abandoned bikes for a student only bike share.

I think that they're relying on them being homely and mismatched to keep them from being stolen,  and it might work, but the history of such informal bike sharing programs has not been great.  

Still, it will help fill the gap until Hubway gets a foothold on this side of the river.

Bikes in Spaaaaaace

Ok, just on the wall:

After much research, and two trips to the Container Store, I found a wall mounted rack to hang the Lady's Tourist and the Dawn Tourist in a semi- used corner of the basement.   A bike on the ground takes up so much space, that I kept stumbling over the bikes when trying to re-organize all the stuff that's been outside under a tarp during the basement renno.

So, after an hour of drilling holes, there they are.  I lined up the bottoms of the bikes about 6" off the floor, you can see how much longer (almost 1') the Lady's Tourist is than the Dawn.

I also had a mild attack of Shipwright's disease, and decided the change the front brake shoes on the 1938 Lady's Tourist, hereforto known as Agnes (I've been playing with names, and somehow this is the only one that's stuck).  I bought Fibrax pads at Harris, and have spent a fair bit of time messing with Minerva's  pads, so I thought it would be straightforward.

And it was, although not at all like Minerva.  Minerva has a set of stays that clamp onto the fork with a post sticking out.  The brake shoe itself bolts into a carrier, which slides up and down on that post as it's pulled up and down by the stirrup. The post is angled such that when you stop pulling the stirrup, the brakes slide down and away from the rim.
  Agnes has a completely different, and to my eyes, better system.

She has a spring and lever arm that fit onto studs brazed onto the inner face of the fork. The spring and the lever arm are kept concentric with a funny little "bung" or interior washer.  The springs pull the pads away from the rim when you release pressure on the brakes.  I don't know how they compare in effectiveness, but they're a lot easier to deal with when adjusting and replacing the pads.

I think that I've discovered that a 9mm wrench fits these Whitworth bolts well enough to not round them.  Unfortunately I only have a 9mm socket, not a box wrench, so I'm a bit nervous about really cranking on it, without being able to see if I'm rounding it.  I think I need to buy a 9mm wrench (easier than buying a whitworth set -which I've considered, now that I have three rod brake bikes!!)  Fortunately the replacement Fibrax pads are 8mm, so the only thing that is a real problem is the bolt on the rod itself.

Once I had the new pads in, I adjusted them by pushing them hard against the rim with the rod connection loosened, and then tightened the rod connection so that the shoes are "just" clear of the rim when the brakes aren't engaged.  I didn't have time to take it for a test ride, but I noticed that they may be too tight, as when wheeling it across the room, it catches a bit.  Wheel must not be radially true.  But that's a project for another day...

The good with the bad

There must have been a wave of jerky driving out there Wednesday  (Maybe it's like wearing white, you do it after Memorial day!)
Dottie, from Let's Go Ride a Bike, got harassed by a Land Rover driving overgrown frat boy, and I got harassed by a grey haired lady driving a  Prius.  I was in the left lane, about half a block before making a left turn, when the prius squeezed through the space between me and a bus in order to get to the red light 10 seconds before I did.  When I politely pointed out to her at the light that she had really scared me, she yelled at me that I needed to stay on the right.  I pointed out that I was about to turn left, and she accused me of holding up traffic ( I was moving at the same speed as the bus was..)  Anyway things deteriorated, and things got heated, and although it didn't end up in profanity, I was upset and rattled.  Things like that tend to stick with me for longer than they should.

Thursday morning though, I observed an anomoly- a polite and bike respecting cabbie!  I was taking the lane through a complicated intersection, and kept it,  as I headed up Cambridge street.   A cabbie started to pass me, moving into the 2nd lane and giving me a good 5 feet of space.  All of a sudden a fare steps out and hails him ahead on the right.  He starts to move over,  and I saw him check his mirror and decide he didn't have space to pass me.  So he hit his brakes in the middle of both lanes, and stopped and waited for me to pass him before he swooped in to collect the fare.  About a block later, I thought - I should have said something to acknowledge his good behavior.  There is so much animosity between bikers and cabbies, that it would be nice to give positive feedback when it's deserved.

Last night, the Scientist and I met up with Charlotte  from Chic Cyclists and her husband A.  We're doing some "research" for a potential Cocktail ride (stay posted for details).  The service was awful, but the drinks were good, and we were having such a good time chatting, that it was hard to mind too much that we never got to order food.
Although it feels like we've known each other for years through the blogosphere, we've not spent much time actually sitting and chatting, so it was great to have an extended time to get to know each other.

On the way over I was running a bit early (for once), and took a different route to Back Bay from my work.
There was this cool information kiosk that was about the reclamation of the back bay- how it was turned from a marsh to an urban center through the importation of thousands of tons of gravel.  You'd never see it if you were whizzing by in a car.

Next, I stopped off at Trinity Church.  H.H. Richardson is probably my favorite Architect, and I consider myself lucky to live in a place where there are so many of his works.   I love the contrast of the muscular proportions of the massing, and the delicate carving of the details.

One of the major perks of biking in Boston is that it's so much easier to park your bike than your car.  We actually had a bit of a problem finding parking at the Pru,  but all we had to do was walk a half a block to find an un-occupied signpost.  Much better than paying $20 or circling for 20 minutes to find a car parking spot!

I so much enjoyed my French "77"  (kind of like a French 75)  that I decided to try to make my own tonight.  I had some sparkling lemonade left over from the tweed ride picnic.  I mixed that with some gewurtztramener, and added a tiny dash of gin for some bitterness.  Tasty!

Finally, I accidentally broke one of the connectors on my lighting wires.  On Wednesday night I was a ninja!  I felt so vulnerable- it was awful- I can't imagine why people would do it on purpose.
I rode home along the bike path to avoid as much traffic as possible- unfortunately that meant riding in the deep dark for most of the way- full of roots and potholes.  I really continue to love my Edeluxe, and how much it works "to see" not just "to be seen".

Robert goes to the game

Through the generosity of a friend with season tickets,  the Scientist and I went to a Celtics game last night.  (they lost in overtime- it was tough, but a good game- Houston is a scrappy team)
Since it's near my office, I just stayed a bit late and went directly there.  The Scientist was going to meet me there by bike, but it didn't work out and he ended up parking a long way away and walking there.

I've found that biking to a game (Celtics or Red Sox) is by far the best way to get there.  Both of the stadia for these teams are famously in the middle of the city, where there is no parking, and even though they run extra trains when the game gets out, the T is always a zoo afterwards.  Driving is a nightmare- you either pay $$$ to park nearby and inch along in a traffic jam before and after, or you pay$ and walk a long way before and after.

It's great after the game to unlock steps from the exit door and zip along past stopped cars.  The Scientist and I left the Garden at the same time, and we got home at almost exactly the same time (he passed me a block before we got home, but he had to hunt for a place to park, while I could roll up to the front door).

This makes me think about the "third leg" (or is it third rail) of bicycling promotion- auto parking!

People always talk about the chicken and the egg of biking-  if we get more people biking, they'll increase safety by making drivers aware and demand more infrastructure, vs if we build more infrastructure for bikes, people will be safer and more people will ride.  The Third Way so to speak,  is to make parking and driving a car a pain in the a$$.  The reason so many people bike to my office is that there's no place to park, and biking is more flexible and convenient than the T.    In Boston and other dense cities, it's often easier to get around by bike, partly because of traffic, and partly because "there's nowhere to park".  Most places (even a lot of the suburbs)  are dense enough that you do most of your everyday errands within 2 miles of your house, which makes biking ideal. 

Unfortunately taking parking away is a sure way to incense drivers.  Its tough to take a fantastic "free" amenity (as in people don't have to pay the external costs of parking and roads) and make life "harder" in order to make bicycling more appealing.    I know that once there's a robust bike culture it's easier as I see that in Portland OR,  there's a big movement to turn car parking spots into on-street bike "corrals". While it would be great if we could encourage denser development so that every place would be like Boston- I'm not going to hold my breath.

Bike Pods

I've seen these futuristic pods a couple of times as I ride by, and have never bothered to stop and get a picture.  They're covered bike parking outside the offices of Livable Streets Alliance.
I had actually forgotten about the Livable Streets talk, but saw a crowd of people, and someone trying the pod, so I decided to stop, and blew off my grocery run to go and hear the lecture about Human Centered design.
The pod in use-  I tried lifting it up and it's lightweight, and I think it has some kind of counterweight system that makes it easy to lift with one hand, while you move your bike into position.

Some of the cool bikes in a packed bike rack (we had filled up all the racks and all the nearby meters and street signs).

I didn't realize until I posted the picture that the Batavus had an olive frame and maroon fenders. Pretty slick

The talk was not bicycle specific, but was full of interesting pictures of people moving on all kinds of wheels through all kinds of urban spaces.  She had a lot of photos of South American public spaces, which is something that doesn't get seen a lot in planning and design magazines- there's much more focus on American and European public spaces.  The talk was thought provoking,  despite, or perhaps because she didn't have a real agenda or point to make- it was more about presenting data on all kinds of different ways for urban interaction to take place.

Mt Auburn Bike Parking

I was at Mt Auburn Hospital recently for some routine bloodwork, and I was very impressed with their bike parking.
There was a lot of it,  it was my favorite type (easy for big basketed bikes)  and it was covered, well lit and felt secure in that it was near the entrance and the valet parking station.

They even had a card reader accessed fenced parking area for staff that seemed like it was being pretty well used.  I've seen a nice Azor workcycle parked there on previous visits.

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Unfortunately there were some small issues. In order to get to a curb cut up for access to the parking you have to get past the parking ticket barrier,  so for most people that means lifting your bike up or dodging the boom.  Not such a big deal unless you have a big heavy bike.

Also,  I know that they want you to access the place through the lobby garage entrance, but I preferred to walk directly across the courtyard.  Strangely, there's a sidewalk, but it stops abruptly.

I don't know why they even bother pouring a sidewalk that leads into a brick wall.  Either concrete is cheaper than planting bed, or someone just wasn't thinking.

Speaking of not thinking, on the connector between the bike path and the hospital I found this lovely sidewalk condition in a brand new sidewalk.

If you got out your tape measure, there's probably exactly 36" of space between the post and the edge of the sidewalk (the legal minimum), but it just seems like someone wasn't thinking.  Clearly pedestrians are cutting the corner there (looking at the dead grass),  and it would have been simpler to form the concrete as a bevel instead of a curve and create a truly generous way to pass the post.  There's a assisted living facility and a playground right near here, so you'd think that they'd be paying attention to the needs of wheeled vehicles on the sidewalk..

Vision in purple and green

I decided that it was just too much work to shoehorn my bike in at the "close" racks at the grocery store, so I walked the extra distance to park in the deluxe,  well lit bike racks in the attached parking garage.  I was glad I did too, because otherwise I wouldn't have seen this vision in purple and green.  I'm not in any way shape or form an expert on fancy custom fixies- does anyone recognize the skull and crossbones as a maker's mark, or is that just customization?  Forgive the picture quality- all I had was my iphone.

Anyway,  What initially drew my eye was actually the Yakkay helmet left hanging off it.  I was a little bit tempted to take it off and try it on, although it might have been awkward if I had gotten caught.
I've been thinking of getting one, but kind of wanted to see the different styles on my head before committing to that expensive a piece of headgear.  My attempt to sew my own was a dismal failure not worth the electrons or embarassment of blogging about.  The best the Scientist could say about it is "It kind of looks like a Cossack's hat."

I like the sot of acid green on the chain,  pedals and tires,  and the sewn up grips. (sorry, truly awful photo of the grips)

All in all a bike with a lot of attitude

Bike parking

I'll preface this by saying that I'm incredibly lucky when it comes to bike parking.
My boss is a cyclocross racer in his free time,  and we have enough space in my office that Robert can hang out in an open space between flat files.   This probably has a lot to do with why nearly 25% of our office ( OK, that's just 3 people)  bike nearly every day.
I also have a great bike shed under my front stairs.  It locks,  it's almost tall enough for me to stand up in, and it's right at the front door.

When out and about however, parking is a bit tough because the giant basket makes it difficult to use a lot of "typical" racks unless there's an end spot.
A couple of interesting spots I found lately:

Covered parking!  I got caught in the rain last week downtown,  and I was trying to decide whether to just keep going, or stop and run my errand.  I tried a new cut- through, and lo and behold- tucked into an alley, covered bike parking!!  And so elegant with those brackets/ seismic buttresses above!

When I take a zipcar,  I often end up at the Charles Hotel garage in Harvard Sq.  The parking there is really pretty lousy,  although there's a lot of it.  The racks are up 3 steps from the plaza (!)  and the antique " front wheel only" type.  They're not even fastened to the ground!  I lock up there anyway, because there are always 5 or 6 bikes locked to each rack at any given time,  and I don't think anyone would get very far with the 12' long rack and 5 bikes.  I did realize an unexpected advantage of them today though.  The flat top is perfect for setting down a cup of coffee!

When out and about I always feel safer locking my bike next to a bike so poorly secured as this one.

No thief is going to bother going after my Ulock and O lock when they could practically cut through the cable on this bike with a pair of scissors.