I've been distracted recently in the nicest possible way. First I went to Scotland. The Scientist was giving a talk in Edinburgh, and we've always wanted to go to Scotland, so I tagged along and we made a vacation of it. The landscape was fantastic, the weather was cold, the newborn lambs were adorable, and we did rather a lot of driving to see a lot of territory in a short time. It's a gorgeous place, and next time I'm there I think I want to camp out in one place and just get to know a smaller area.
I was kind of surprised that there wasn't more of a biking culture in Edinburgh. I didn't see much in the way of infrastructure, and most of the people on bikes were in hardcore commuter mode with spandex and fluorescent rainwear. I saw an old rod- braked Pashley, and a brand new Pashley poppy parked across the street from one another. The Scientist met someone at the university who had a bakfiets, so maybe it was just cruddy weather and the wrong part of town for it.
Then we got back and I've been working like crazy on an exciting project that's the subject of another post....
But now it's bike week, and I've been celebrating as I do most weeks, by riding my bike!
I met with Velouria from Lovely Bicycle on Monday to discuss my project, and then we ended up swapping bikes, with her trying my bakfiets and me riding her Brompton.
Today I just did a boring old ride to work, with bonus compost drop off, because the main "event" in my area, the Broadway Bicycles pancake breakfast gets going too late for me to make it and have a hope of getting to work on time. Tomorrow (Wednesday) though is the Harvard sq bike breakfast, which always has good food and the best swag (sponsored by the university). Thursday is the Kendall Sq area breakfast, which is right on my normal route, so I see a lot of familiar faces. And finally Friday there's the big breakfast at Boston city hall, which is always fun.
Hope to see more familiar faces these next couple of days. I'll be riding the Bakfiets if anyone wants to check it out!
Edinburgh isn't the pedestrian-and-cycling city that it really wants to be. But it's better than it was when I first came here nearly 6 years ago. Most of the casual cycling still happens in the student-y areas of the Old Town (I think most of the Edinburgh Cycle Chic photos are taken from around there edinburghcyclechic.wordpress.com). I commute from the train station North into the new Town -- most of the cyclists on my route are the aggressive-type, racing to get to work on time (myself included, sadly).
ReplyDeleteBummer that you're not here tomorrow -- it's the second Pedal on Parliament (pedalonparliament.org). Last year, there were 3000 people and we're hoping for more tomorrow (even if the forecast is rather grey). After last year's turnout, the council promised money towards sustainable transport. They've done a bit, but it's slow going.
Next time you're over this way, maybe it will have improved. I can only hope!