Some good news

At the street talk I went to on Tuesday,  it was announced that the striping on the BU bridge was "imminent".  While striping is highly weather dependent there is a good chance that the new bike lanes will go in next week.   I rode across the bridge on Monday night, and it was wonderful not to have that "shooting the rapids" feeling of taking the lane and pedaling like mad up between the jersey barriers and over the bridge while the car behind you follows with a varying degree of patience.
 
Having the striping down will be a nice closure on the battle to accommodate bikes on this bridge, which started many years ago, and has really reshaped the way that people think about the bridges and what kind of facilities should be expected on them.  The battle isn't over as we wait for the reconstruction of Longfellow, River, Western and Larz Anderson,  but this is the place it all started, and it's nice to think it's finally coming to fruition.

If the weather holds warm, and dry we'll get the markings before the new year, and Livable Streets is going to celebrate with goodie giveaways on the approaches to the bridge, as well as postcards to thank the head of DOT for this safer new crossing.

In other good news, I hear from the project manager of the Longfellow bridge work that the jersey barriers on the Cambridge side of the Longfellow will be gone, and the bike lane re-opened in a couple of weeks as well.   I don't ride the BU very often,  but the Longfellow is my daily route, and I will be very very relieved not to have to negotiate this closure in the dark any more:

Street Talk Tonight

If you're not totally overwhelmed with holiday obligations,  there's a talk tonight with an interesting concept.  Livable Streets Alliance holds a monthly "Street Talk"  and this month they put out a call for short talks by members of the community on various transportation related issues. There will be 10 seven minute talks, with a break in the middle.  6pm to 9PM at the Livable Streets Alliance offices on Sidney Street.
More info here

Oilcloth

Ok, so I should probably wait to post on this until I actually get it and make something of it, but I was so excited about the rain skirt, that I just couldn't help myself, especially when I found a pattern with bikes subtly embedded in it.

Can you see the little skeleton on a bike at the bottom?  

I actually ordered it in yellow, but shots of that colorway didn't show the bike

I also ordered some more straight ahead lace pattern if this ends up being too much.

I can always make panniers of the leftovers, right?

Rainy inspiration

I rode home in a bit of rain  a couple of nights ago,  and I'm happy to say that Minerva's hub brake passed with flying colors!  Even the Koolstops on the back weren't doing much of anything, but the hub brake worked flawlessly, even in a pretty consistent drizzle., and then rode in in a bit more rain than I would have liked to ride in.  I wore my butter yellow trenchcoat, and was perfectly dry.

 I don't love riding in the dark AND the rain,  and so I turned on every light at my disposal:  Superflash on my helmet,  steady generator taillight, backup blinkie on seat post,  "to see" light (IQ Cyo)  and christmas lights on my bike wreath.  Literally lit up like a Christmas tree.

I can't wrap my head around why anyone would ride without lights, and I saw a couple of them .  I wanted to ask them, in a sincere, non snarky way, why?  Did they forget them, or forget to turn them on?  Have them stolen and haven't replaced them yet?  Feel that they're too expensive?  Do they think they're not effective, or not necessary?
It feels like cyclists tend to divide into three camps.  Arms racers, (who tend towards the stereotype of the "bike commuter" in neon gortex)  who have the latest 1400 lumen Magic Shine, often in seizure inducing flash mode)  Ninjas,  who have nothing,  and the middle ground of citizen cyclists, who have a cheap set of blinkies,  probably don't identify as "cyclists"  and who are just getting from A to B on their bike.

I'm much less likely to ride TO work in the rain, because, as happened yesterday, I have to sit in my clothes if I get wet.  In my defense, it wasn't really raining (just spitting a bit) when I left the house, and I was running late, so I didn't have time to take the T.  I just threw on a shell and hopped on my bike, and got damper as I went along. My wool tights and leather boots are fine, but my cotton skirt got soaked below the hem of my jacket.  Should have pulled the trench coat off the rack instead.

I did however have what I think might be a very useful idea.   I've been flirting with raincapes, including the possibility of making my own out of waxed canvas.   However, they have a sail like tendency,  and I just don't ride in the rain enough to make them useful.  Rain pants seem like too much work, and too hot, and I have to change my clothes to wear them  but what if I made a rain skirt?  Something just below the knee,  full cut to slip over whatever skirt I was wearing,  and with a simple elastic waist to hold it in place. It would self-ventilate like a cape would (to some extent).  I'm really excited about the possibilities of this as something that wouldn't require as much pattern making as a cape, but which would protect me better if I do choose to ride in the rain.

Against my better judgement I'm going to post photos on the internet of the prototype- a drawstring garbage bag, from which I removed the end,  using the drawstring as a waistband.

the small brown dog looks on with curiousity
Works pretty well, but doesn't win any style points.  Stay tuned for further, and hopefully more fashionable developments.

And on a final note,  I stopped at the store tonight for this:

Yes, as a matter of fact that IS 7 pounds of butter.

Let the holiday baking begin!

Brief commercial interruption

I'm not a sponsored blog, but I'm a big believer in dynamo lighting, and the reason that most people don't use it the cost/ hassle of finding a pre-built wheel or having a custom wheel built up.

I just saw that Clever Cycles is offering an amazing deal on dynamo wheels- $99 for either 26" or 700c.  (unfortunately it doesn't look like it's the 26" that fits old Raleigh bikes- stupid tire conventions)

Pair that with a $60 Lyt and you'll never need batteries again.  IIRC my generator hub alone was more that $99, several years ago.  While this one is probably not the same line, it's a nice deal, and I thought it was worth passing along.

We now return to our regularly scheduled riding!

Day on a bike

This morning we raked the year's leaves, which even with out tiny backyard ends up filling 15 or so paper leaf bags.  We have a LOT of deciduous trees back there.   We ran out leaf bags mid-rake, so I ran to the hardware store for more, and also got an extra rake- we had one leaf rake and one fixed tine "rake"  which is more for breaking up clods of dirt than raking leaves,  so I thought things would go faster if we had two proper leaf rakes.

Raking complete, I puttered around the house cleaning a bit, and then made a Home Depot run to get a new snowshovel, some red loctite, and a square bit screwdriver for adjusting our french door, which is rubbing on the jamb.  I also just couldn't resist a giant poinsettia.  

After this photo was taken, I went to Target across the street, and got two grocery bags worth of toiletries, cleaning supplies and and general stuff,  including some solar powered LED Christmas lights for our front yard which has no outlets.

After unloading at home I turned right around and went out to the grocery store- where I got a lot of "stock up" items like flour, canned goods, etc etc.   40lbs of etc- I was a geek enough to weigh it.  Reverse weight weenie I guess.  Velouria posted recently about just how little you need to go on a ride.  My problem isn't what I take with me, as what I bring back!

 I've been using these Dutch "Fast Rider" panniers,  of the saddle-bag style a lot lately.  I bought them from Somervillain, some time ago, and didn't use them much because they're too big to sit comfortably on Gilbert's rack, and I wasn't using Minerva much for transport.  Now that I've got her brakes working so well,  I've been riding Minerva a lot, so I dug them out and have been using them when I need XXL carrying capacity.  Somevillain had a system rigged up to semi-permanently attach them to the bike using P-clips, with the idea of leaving them on all the time, as the Dutch do.  But I find that I like to take them off more frequently,  either to move stuff in them inside, or to strip down the bike a bit.  So for now, I've been attaching them with a little strap to the rack.

Scattered thoughts

Cambridge recently repaved and re-striped Mass Ave through Central square which is a huge improvement!   Interestingly along much of the distance they striped three lines-  the parking lane, a 18" or so buffer, and what looks like a 5' bike lane.   Where they found the space, I can't say, because the lanes were already pretty narrow.   The idea is to encourage bikers to stay further away from the doors (although if you rode the right of the lane, you'd still be well within the door zone).  Unfortunately this buffer disappears at the cab stand, where it might be most useful and is almost  completely absent on the eastbound side.  I think it's a useful improvement,  I just wish that they could find some way to extend the bike lanes all the way to Trowbridge/ Putnam.  I'm afraid the only way to get real lanes in would be to remove parking though,  which is an issue that Cambridge hasn't really attacked yet.

I was riding the Shogun on the Minuteman, and noticed a runner doing a head check before he passed someone who was in front of both of us.  When in turn, I passed him, I slowed and asked him if he ran competitively.  He said "Yes,  why?"  When you run in a dense pack, you learn pretty quickly to do a quick check before you pass someone, to avoid collision with someone coming behind you.
If you just jogged on the MUP by yourself, you might never develop that habit, so he had to have experience running in a pack.  I've also seen a lot more runners with head and/ or tail lights,  which is fantastic when they're using a MUP- makes them much easier to see and makes everyone safer.

Dec 6th is the last day to write a letter in support of the Casey overpass,  send it to John.Romano@dot.state.ma.us.   and he'll get it where it needs to go.  They're going to make a decision on it by Dec 15 I think,  which is amazing turnaround!

Transportation Alternatives in NYC is leading a new initiative to investigate traffic enforcement and accident investigation by the NYPD.  I think that this is very important work, and as I keep repeating here, liability, and holding drivers accountable for negligence is as important, or possibly even more important than infrastructure in creating safer cycling for everyone.

I see this biking family pretty regularly on my route- they look like they're on their way to school in a mini- bike train.

Bike lanes on Atlantic Ave/ The greenway!!!

They've been going in in stages over the last couple of weeks, looks like they've gotten as far as my office. will have to ride them soon to see how they work.  Now that Hubway is gone for the season, I don't ride that corridor as much,  but will make a special trip to investigate further

Finally I liked the effect of the wreath I carried home the other day so much that when I saw a mini- wreath for $5, I had to get Minerva her own seasonal decoration.  Held in place with zipties, which sneak between the rod brake rods and the handlebars

While I was taking these photos outside my office, a construction worker came up to ask if it was a new bike (perhaps thinking that's why I was taking pictures of it :)  ) and he said "I hear those old style bikes are coming back"   You heard right!   I told him that Minerva is actually a lady of a certain age,  but we agreed for a couple of minutes about how great the old heavy duty bikes are-  I said that she's like a Cadillac - she needs a V8 (patting my thigh) to get going, but once she's moving, nothing stops her, and the ride is fabulous.