Woody bikes

Ducked into Landry's bicycles (a local chain that I think of as focused more on race/ sport bikes)  the other day looking for a new helmet.  I think the guys were a bit surprised when I wheeled my bike right into the store, past the service department and back to the helmet display.  One of them asked where I was going, and I explained that I had a new light that I was worried about getting stolen, and I just wanted to see if they had a specific helmet.

They had it, I bought it, and probably will post more about it later in the week.  But while I was checking out I noticed they had a new line of Civia bikes, the Loring which I had seen online, but not in the flesh.

I really liked the look of the bamboo fenders, and racks.  They evoke a classic woody station wagon.  Between the beefy racks and the double kickstand they seem like they could carry a serious load.  I rode one a lap around the store though (admittedly not ideal conditions) and unfortunately I wasn't impressed with the geometry.  The angle of the seatpost makes you want to sit up straight, but the length of the top tube and the height of the handlebars made me feel like I had to stretch forward.   Not a comfortable combination.  

I should probably suspend judgement until I could go on a real ride on a properly adjusted bike, but I'm not sure exactly what the niche for these bikes is.   The salesman was saying that he'd love to sell them to an institution to use as "in house" loaner bikes, and would be willing to offer a discount if you're in the market for such a bike.   They're expensive (the price range of a Pashley, not quite as much as an Azor,) They're stylized in a way that is appealing, although not necessarily my thing.  
I'm glad to see more of a market for "utility cycles" though,  and I'm especially impressed that Landry's which does a lot of student business that's not interested in $1500 bikes is trying to promote them.

Just One Cyclist

all day long i saw cyclists running red lights. i don't think this is a good thing. courtesy has nothing to do with infrastructure, it's all about gaining respect for cycling in Emerging Bicycle Cultures. just one cyclist obeying the traffic laws can make a difference.

i stop for red and signal in any city i cycle in and i've cycled in many cities that are far worse than nyc.

it's marketing. branding. and one cyclist obeying the rules can make a difference in selling cycling to the rest of the city.

From Mikael Coleville-Andersen's comments about his recent trip to NYC on Copenhagen Cycle Chic.

I'm trying to be that one cyclist obeying the traffic laws,  but sometimes it's really discouraging when others are zooming past me while stopped at a red light.   Unfortunately if you've ever read comments on a bicycle themed article in a major newspaper, you know that the negative example sticks in driver's and pedestrian's  heads more than the positive one.

Making Bicycling Dull

I really found this article thought provoking about the relationship between (macho) individualism and bicycle commuting on hostile streets.  I love this line :
"...policy is not to make cycling safer but to encourage more people to be brave"


The author goes on to suggest that by making cycling safe and boring though separated facilities,  it is opened up to a broad cross section of people who don't want to have to be alpha and aggressive every time they ride out their front door, just to survive.


Hear hear!


 I find it interesting that she cites a study that women tend to ride closer to the curb, more reluctant to take the lane, perhaps to make things easier for passing traffic.  Unfortunately it also makes them much more vulnerable to right and left hooks than riding in the lane.  There are all kinds of issues of social conditioning to get along and be compliant and not ruffle feathers that women internalize and bring to their bicycling, but that's not really the point.   The point is that it should be safe for anyone.  Dull, boring,  bicycle as appliance,  normal method for getting from point A to point B with the least amount of fuss and no worries.


The secret is,  that even if biking was "dull",  it would still be wonderful!  Don't tell the cagers how much fun it is to ride,  they'll start clogging up the bike lanes!!

And there was light!

And it was good,  and really, really bright!

I love how my hub dynamo lets me forget about batteries, but my halogen light was having problems and I had read about the new generation of LED dynamo lights.   So I finally saved up the money to buy a gorgeous new Schmidt Edeluxe light.
I took advantage of the lovely day Saturday to bike the 15 mile RT to Harris Cyclery in West Newton. Although this is my LBS of choice, it was made famous by having a comprehensive web site, before that was really common, created and maintained by the legendary Sheldon Brown.  Although Sheldon died in 2008, he created an incredible resource for people who love all kinds of bikes, especially old ones, and it's worth checking out whenever you have a technical question.

I never met Sheldon (although I conversed once with him via email)  but I go there for Norm the master mechanic, who rebuilt Robert as the bionic bike,  and who keeps him in tiptop shape, and for Elton, the unconventional bike part maven.  Elton and I worked out a way to mount the light symmetrically (as an architect, I'm big on symmetry) fastened to the underside of my rack, so it's in front of my basket.  Because it's a very dense light (heavy for its size)  I read a couple of warnings against using a typical head bracket mount, but Elton found a rack mounting piece that had a 90 degree twist so that I could fasten it to the bottom of my front rack, and then attach the light to the front.
I went home and did some modifications to the strut (I love my new Bosch jigsaw!).  A little more work with the wiring, a hair dryer to shrink wrap the electrical connectors, and I was in business!

So far so good, although I  need to fasten my basket back down to its previously unshakable-load-me-with-two-six-packs- state.  I also am very nervous about leaving my new investment vulnerable to anyone with a phillips screwdriver, so I'm searching for a stainless steel vandal resistant bolt.

 I was biking to the post office after my first day riding it to work, and while stopped at a stoplight, a guy in a suit asked me if that was a Edeluxe.  He said that he had a halogen E6 schmidt light , and was thinking of upgrading.

While I had the bike in the basement, and up on the rack, I tightened up the fenders, the rear light, all the little connections, and it's really great- like having a new bike!  It's so quiet and smooth,  without the little annoying rattles.   And you can see me coming from quite a bit away!

What I carried-- weekend edition

The Scientist was away all weekend at one of those science conferences, so I was car-free all weekend.
I ran a bunch of errands Saturday morning mainly in East Cambridge and Somerville (Union square).  Although I've figured out a way to Uunion square that's pretty good, thanks in part to help from Filagree from Lovely Bicycle,  once I get there I admit to being flummoxed. Between the intersection of route 16 and roue 60 and the construction that has been going on forever, I threw up my hands and became a pedestrian.  Anyway, I finally made it to Target (where I finally found some of the elusive "Bell Elite" canning jars) stopped in at the fabric store,  dropped by the "regular" grocery for 5 lbs of onions and 5lbs of sugar (and another package of "normal" canning jars- I swear it's becoming an additction)  and then made a final stop at Mayflower Poultry "Live chickens, fresh killed" for 5 pounds of chicken backs and 5 pounds of chicken legs.   I was really impressed with how much the extra weight on the back really evened out the ride.  I often load the front basket and the rear asymmetrically, but today I loaded about 10lbs in each of the panniers, and the ride was SO smooth. I'm guessing that it's  like putting sandbags in the trunk of a rear wheel drive car, but I was surprised how smooth it made the ride.

Home for lunch and unloading.  I find that the only really annoying thing about running errands on the bike is what do you do to secure your purchases from stops A, B, and C at stop D?  Then I set out again, this time west to Harris Cyclery in West Newton.  I went mainly down the bike path along the river since it was a lovely day and I was in no hurry.  Although the eastern parts of the bike path are crowded with runners with headphones and families with strollers,  once you get past route 2 it's wonderfully empty of traffic.   I bought the new light I've been coveting forever,  chatted with Elton, and then headed back.  Since I was so far west,  I stopped off at Russo's wholesale produce market, and couldn't resist a giant ornamental cabbage to ornament my front porch. Evidently this was a common impulse this weekend.

Home again at last, I made  good use of my cleaver, turned the chicken parts into 3 quarts of chicken stock, made a big batch of fig jam, ate some instant polenta with goat cheese and wilted radicchio for dinner  and tumbled into bed, tired but happy.

Hang up and Drive

Yesterday and this morning there was a guy standing in the median strip between lanes of traffic at the (horrific) Charles station interchange at the bottom of the Longfelllow bridge.  He was nicely dressed in a sport coat and chinos and was walking back and forth with a sign which said "Please, Please Please, Hang up and Drive" on one side,  and on the other "I'll pay you $1 if you hang up that call"  He actually got a taker,  a woman who was laughing and being a good sport.  The freeway that she had just exited makes me tense to drive on it without distraction (it's narrow and curvy and people drive way too fast and merge like crazy people).  So it might be too little too late for her to hang up now, but better now than before she passes me on the next stretch of road!




I asked him if there was a story behind his activism and he said that he worked for a non profit called Safe Roads Alliance
and although it was a bit of a publicity stunt, maybe it got people to be a bit sheepish about their phone use instead of just defensive.  Even better, there was a newspaper photographer taking pictures, maybe the organization will get some publicity and people will read about the dangers of driving distracted.

There's a lot of discussion in the transpo-cycling world about how MADD changed public perception of drunk driving from a an almost harmless "who hasn't driven after a few" activity to the sort of thing only a heartless sociopath would do.  There's a need to turn talking on cell phones while driving from a thing "everybody does"  into the kind of thing that no respectable person would admit to doing in polite society.

Although no one wants to be the victim of a distracted driver, pedestrians and cyclists who don't come equipped with airbags and crumple zones are much more vulnerable to the consequences of someone's inattention.
So keep up the good work man!  I hope you give away lots of $1 bills!

tweed

This person (somehow I assume it's a guy) is all ready for the  tweed ride.
I'm not that into fixies (too many bad experiences with obnoxious fixie riders blowing lights and such) , but this one walks the line between minimalism and old school style.  Wouldn't it be fabulous with wood fenders to match the rack and shellacked cork or twine grips!

Lovely old school leather toe straps, wonderful wood and wire basket, and what looks like a nicely done DIY tweed top tube cozy.

It seems like I've seen this bike (or photos therof) before,  maybe it's just a classic!

Ninja!

Can you see the bike in this picture?  I barely could, and I was looking for him- imagine if I were a car glancing that way before pulling out into the intersection. Please people, buy a crappy little light if nothing else.  It's less than a pizza at most EMS/ REI type stores.  Even if you don't care about being visible to cars, or your own safety, please do it for the individuals who don't happen to have blinding lights with them (i.e. pedestrians and most bikers).  I had a ninja salmon (riding against traffic) come right at me the other night- scared the bejeezus out of me when he suddenly appeared in my headlight, coming right at me.

Although I understand the appeal blinking lights - they're eye catching- be aware that they make it harder to gauge your oncoming speed because they're not constant.  I use one in really inclement weather to supplement my regular light, but I understand why they don't count as a legal light in most of Europe.

There's also some data to suggest that drunks are actually attracted to blinking lights, so I'm just as happy to avoid that possibility.

Although LED lights have been a huge improvement over the old battery chomping glorified flashlights that used to pass for bike lights, I'm a HUGE fan of dynamo lighting.  I've managed to accumulate quite a collection.   Robert has a built in bracket for a rim dynamo,  which I used in Italy, and which works great and is not much more than a cheapo LED.  However, I upgraded to a hub-dynamo, and it's so low-resistance that I run it all the time.  I don't even notice it's on, and hopefully, like daytime running lights on a car, it makes me just a little bit more visible.

Bring on the Merry Men!

I've seen this bike several times parked near the Petsi Pies on Putnam Street.  The top tube said "Robin Hood"  which was a Raleigh made brand
It's in slightly rough condition, (note the dangling shifter cable at the right handgrip)  but the headbadge is bright and colorful, with Robin himself in forest green like a tiny figurehead.

Bike Picnic?

Spotted on my way home Friday.

I searched a long time for my basket,  and tried several  "non bike" baskets in search of my ideal basket.
This one is just about the right size, and I like the whimsy of leaving the handles on.  My complaint about most "traditional" wicker bike baskets is that they are just a little bit too small.  I like to actually be able to carry stuff in my basket.  A lot of stuff.
Like this:

my work bag in the basket, filled with CSA veggies and tupperwares from lunch. More  CSA veggies in the pannier (dinosaur kale!), and on the rack a care package from my dad: an electric chainsaw, disassembled in a box!  It was all pretty heavy and I was a slow moving vehicle.  Went on the bike path because I didn't think I could really keep up in traffic.

Crimes against architecture

Although I studied at a primarily modern architecture school,  though the vagaires of fate,  I ended up practicing traditional architecture/ historic preservation.
Except in rare cases, generally involving a lot of money or a person with vision (or both)  they really don't build them like they used to.
Which is why something like this (seen at the post office on Milk Street)  makes me sad. I see that art deco /Corinthian capital and  scrap of a beam with a reeded panel peeking out below the ceiling tiles, and
I just know that there's a graceful and detailed cornice above that dropped ceiling with its fluorescent lights.
There were probably once grand lights which hung from rosettes in the ceiling.  And all of it was probably gilded and painted to accentuate the details, before someone painted it a universal beige which doesn't look right with the stone.  Unfortunately when they dropped the ceiling they probably hacked and beat away at the mouldings.  I've seen it before-  moments with a sawsall can do damage that takes a lot of time and money to fix, but the guys who install dropped ceilings are always on a tight budget, therefore in a big hurry.

I doubt anyone but preservationists notice the scraps of the elegance of this lobby while they're waiting to use the automated postage kisok,  but there used to be a time when coming through those big bronze doors was an experience, instead of just another generic space for transacting business.

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.

biking fast is the best revenge

Biking home today I was stopped at a light, leopard print pump propped on the curb.
A woman pulls up next  to me, about 3 feet over, and she's kind of inching up, thinking about running the light., whatever.   All of a sudden a portly guy on a MBSO  (mountain-Bike Shaped Object) passed right between us.  No warning, and he was so close, I'm surprised he didn't brush my elbow- it was really startling.
About 10 seconds later the light changes, and this dim bulb is just barely through the intersection.  I pass him, and hit the next light,  He blows right through it too,  none of that silly stopping to check for traffic,  and I probably yelled "sweetheart,  it's a red light"  This pattern repeats a time or two.  Normally if there's someone a bit slower than me, I'll just slow down rather than play leapfrog in traffic,  but this guy was just crawling along, and I had my computer in my basket, so I wasn't that stable at slow speeds.  And Porky is weaving back and forth, pumping with his whole body like he's really pushing the pace, and going maybe 8 miles an hour-  really really slow.
Finally I've had enough and blow past him,  and perhaps it wasn't very civil, but I called out, "you run red lights and this as as fast as you can move your sorry ass?"    F-you was his response, but then I was gone.

He didn't catch me at the next light.
Must have been the leopard print heels.....

Exploitation.... throughout the Universe

And all I wanted was to grab some lunch at the Faneuil hall food court....

When Bicyclists Drive

Although I don't own a car anymore,  the Scientist does, and I borrow it about once a week or so to do big grocery runs/ errands. I also go out to job sites in the suburbs about once a week by zipcar.
Recently the Scientist and I went up to Maine for the day and it made me think about how bicycling in traffic has influenced how I drive.
Now the Scientist is a great driver-  very careful, not aggressive,  but I found myself a nervous wreck, to the point that I was disturbing his driving.
Part of it is that as a biker you are always on your guard for drivers coming into your path without warning,  so I have this ingrained sense of hyper vigilance, that people might swerve into our lane without signalling.  I'm always watching the wheels to anticipate someone's turning.
I find I have a strong physical reaction to being in someone's blind spot.  As a cyclist, I try to avoid at all costs being in the blind spot of a moving car.  The consequences of being turned or veered into are just so extreme when you're on a bike that I've found I'm paranoid and extremely anxious being in a blind spot, even when I'm in a car.

Not only do I have the experience of constantly feeling like people don't see me when I'm driving,  but because of the bike/ transportation websites I'm reading these days, I'm always getting vicarious reinforcement of the dangers of a bike/ car collision.

I think that when I drive now, I'm a lot more non confrontational.  Not that I was ever aggressive, but now, if I see someone driving erratically,  or if in order to pass someone I'll have to dart in and out of traffic,  I find now that I'll just slow down,  give them a lot of space,  let them get ahead of me so that I don't have to worry about them,  stay in the slow lane a couple more minutes to allow a generous passing interval.  Also I find errand running errands in the car really draining,  more so than I used to,  much more so than when I run errands on the bike.

Some of my behavior is probably good-  I'm very good about checking to my right before making a right turn in case a bike has come up behind me,  and it probably is better to go slower and stay out of blind spots.   However, the Scientist thinks that my hyperconsciousness is possibly a problem.  Not only does it make me a total Nervous Nellie (which is obnoxious and distracting) when he's driving, but he's worried that I might actually get in a wreck from overreaction to a perceived threat. For example, I worry that someone is veering into my lane and slam on the brakes when someone's tailgating and get rear ended.  

I try to keep reminding myself that our new car is designed with all kinds of safety features, and that helps a bit,  but seriously,  I'm wondering if I'm going to need to do some kind of cognitive behavior therapy to relieve this anxiety.
I hope someone's out there, because I'd love to hear other cyclists thoughts.

The baba ganoush disaster and other stories

I've been trying to take more pictures to document other cool cyclists on the road.
Today I tossed my camera in my bag along with my lunch and headed off to the doctor's and then to work.
On my way in, I saw an elegantly dressed woman who reminded me of the women I saw biking in Milan: Pressed chinos and the kind of perfect white shirt I only dream of,  black cardigan, driving loafers, stopped at the light.
I whipped out my camera, only to realize that it was covered with Baba Ganoush!  My tupperware had come undone in my bag and the inside of the bag was liberally coated with eggplant.
It looked like someone had thrown up in my bag.  Not a good way to start the morning.

Unfortunately it got worse, as when I arrived at work, I found that my computer had crashed so badly (on it's automatic 8am startup)  that it had to go to the apple store for replacement RAM.  Hopefully that will make it all better, but it was a slow day between trying to figure out the problem and waiting for it to be fixed.

On the way home, I stopped off at a vintage store looking for something to wear to the Tweed Ride
http://chiccyclist.blogspot.com/2009/08/boston-tweed-ride.html.)
I've struck out so far at a couple of spots now, and am planning a full scale shopping expedition this weekend.

All's well that ends well, though,  as we had leftover lobster that had to be eaten (what a shame)
and I took the occasion to make the Arepas  recipe from last week NY Times.

 Corn and Jalapeno  arepas with crema, melted leeks, lobster and cotijo.   Good food makes it all OK!

I've had arepas a couple of times, but the fresh made ones with corn kernels and cheese were amazing.
The Scientist thinks they should be added to the rotation as a way to use up tasty toppings. Mini-cornmeal pizza muffins. Hmmm.  On the other hand, I bet they'll be good for breakfast.

The delayed green

Went to see Tom Vanderbilt speak at the Harvard book store in support of the paperback release of Traffic the other night.

You could tell it was a transpo crowd, as the bike racks outside were packed, and about half the folks there had bike helmets.  Maybe surprisingly I only saw one person in lycra shorts.

Although there was one cranky guy (not wearing lycra, so I don't know what his problem was) , in general it was a supportive and interesting audience, and I had a great conversation with a couple of folks outside after the talk.  If I hadn't known The Scientist was waiting at home (and very pleasant surprise, cleaning the kitchen)  I would have encouraged everyone to go out for a drink  instead of taking up sidewalk space.

Anyway,  I think one person introduced Tom to a what I think is a uniquely Massachusetts invention, "the delayed green" that seemed to baffle him.  In case you don't know it,  it's when one side gets a green light, but the other side has red, or "delayed green"  It gives the people on the green side a protected left, with the interesting complication that they have no way of knowing when that  left will no longer be protected until cars start speeding toward them!  Just a little more uncertainty out on the roads!

Out of state plates

I have a confession-  I’m from Texas,  land of big oil and George W.  (but also Ann Richards and Molly Ivins!) Although I’m a Cantabrigian now,  My body will always have a craving on a cellular level for a margarita and a combo plate.

There’s this stereotype of a small town bubba muttering ominously to the northerner unlucky enough to find himself in small town Texas “You’re not from ‘round here, are you, boy?”

Lately with all our local colleges ramping up for the semester there’s been a plague of inattentive-don’t know where they’re going-driving stupidly-not looking for bikes drivers,  mostly with out of state plates.  

They're not from 'round here.

I try to keep way clear,  be prepared for them to do boneheaded things,  and hope that they learn quickly.  I try to remember how hard it was to figure things out when I moved here 10 years ago and be patient.   

I do think that Cantabrigians in general look for and respect bikes more than Bostonions.  People don't see what they don't expect,  but here they’re just used to bikes and used to looking out for them, and that’s half the battle.  Or maybe a quarter of the battle?

I wonder how long it will take the newcomers to adjust? 

The fruits of my Labor (day)

My canned food pantry is nearly filled back up, and boy does it look pretty!  Ok maybe I’m biased.

Last year I canned tomatoes, peaches and some pickles with a water bath canner.

This year I decided that I would be a little more ambitious and invested in a pressure canner to be able to can low-acid foods safely.  I canned 35 pounds of hatch green chiles (carried home from Whole Foods very slowly on poor Robert’s rack),  15 quarts of tomatoes (so far),  4 pints of spicy pickled green beans and 8 pints of cooked heirloom beans. Canning tomatoes is much easier using the pressure canner because you don't have to hot pack (cook the tomatoes first). 

 I use a lot of cooked beans,  but I often don’t use a whole pound batch at once,  and don’t have the freezer space in my tiny fridge for the rest.   I’m excited about being able to can my own, adding flavors and spices and then pull them off the shelf whenever I need 2 cups of chickpeas…

Introducing Robert

Robert is my bike.  He's ethnically dutch but we met in Italy.
I lived and worked in Milan for a year, and although technically my apartment was public transportation accessible, my route to work included a trolley ride (or a long walk) two changes of subway and a walk on the other end.  On the advice of other expats, I went to a notorious flea market where in one section "used" bikes could be found.  OK,  it was probably stolen.  I'm not proud of it now,  but I was poor (my apartment building featured communal squat toilets on each hall)  and having a bike transformed my experience of the city.  Suddenly, not only was my work commute cut in half, but it became a way to relax after a stressful day.  I could get just about anywhere, in a reasonable amount of time,  and I saw areas in the city I never would have known otherwise.

I spent probably $50 to buy him, and probably twice that to ship him back to the USA,  but it was worth every penny.  Until very recently, you couldn't find bikes like him in the USA,  and as anyone who's ridden an European city bike knows, the simple details like enclosed chain case, and upright posture, make it the perfect bike for everyday city riding.

He's a bit of the bionic bike, as I've been slowly replacing parts over the years.  After about a year of commuting I thought about buying one of the fancy new city bikes that are starting to be imported here, but decided, that I like the frame geometry, and I'd just upgrade.  First an 8 speed internal hub gear (that required spreading the rear dropouts (ouch!)  then a dynamo hub,  a longer stem and Nitto Albatross bars, and a brooks saddle were all upgrades. I had to order a new bottom bracket from England,  eventually had to replace the fenders (when one fell off in motion!), and spent much of my recent trip to Spain looking for a Steco rear rack.

This kind of transformation is always a work in progress.  On the current list- the fenders rattle and I need to figure out how to stop that,  and I'm coveting one of the new super bright LED lights. I've also been thinking of a new paint job for a couple of years,  but can never find a time when I can be bike-less for a month or more!


For now: a picture of the gent as is.  He's carrying his most recent load- a 12 pack of quart canning jars, that I need to fill with the  tomatoes filling every surface of my kitchen!

....because it's easier than walking in them

I bike to work in my work clothes.

Maybe that doesn't sound revolutionary, but I work in a professional office, and almost all summer and much of the winter I bike in a dress and heels. Often, sitting at a stoplight pedestrians or people in cars will ask- how do you bike in those heels? My standard answer: "because it's easier than walking in them"

For me biking is easier and faster than walking, taking the train, and MUCH easier than trying to drive and park in Boston. I'm writing with the hope that I can show people that it's really not that hard. If you've suffered blisters from walking a mile in high heels- maybe you should try it too!