Notes from Bike Week

Went to the Harvard bike breakfast in the Holyoke center this morning.  The tuneup mechanic looked lonely in the misty drizzle, as everyone else was inside.  I was perusing the swag (bike maps, seat covers, little red blinkie lights that are great emergency lights of last resort)  when the woman organizing it came up to me and said,  "I'm sorry but this is only for people who rode their bikes"  Because there's no way a woman in a nice dress and heels could have ridden a bike right?   GRRRR.  I showed her my helmet and said,  "I bike all year round, almost every day."   I understand that she was running interference on free breakfast in an area where there are a lot of walk-through commuters, but I wasn't even at the free breakfast part of the setup, but at the information table.  God forbid someone who "doesn't look like they ride a bike" should have access to information about biking.

I "won" my choice of prizes in the little "raffle" they were running, and given the choices of a CO2 inflator, a mirror, and a cable lock, I chose a cable lock.   I don't actually own a cable lock, and maybe it would be good to have one for some occasions (locking to lamp-posts, locking my rear wheel,  locking to another bike).   Unfortunately it's likely that the times I'll need it, I won't have it, because I won't be in the habit of carrying it with me.

I sat down to a yummy breakfast of melon and chocolate croissant,  and was chatting with a nice lady at my table about panniers, when I saw a stereotypical "Bike Commuter" checking out my shoes.  He skeptically asked if I had riddenthere, and I said, yes, I had.  He asked, "how to you ride in those shoes"?  I said,  I ride using the ball of my feet, not the heel,  don't you?  He said, but don't you hurt yourself on the toeclips?  I said, I don't have toeclips, and he looked at me incredulously.

This kind of really clueless behavior IS becoming less prevalent.  At the Broadway Pancake breakfast, most people were in kind of hipster stuff,  the kind of clothes you could wear to an IT or biotech job without any comment.  The one guy at my table in lycra said, "Yeah, when I get to this part of town I feel like a bit of a weirdo because I'm the only guy in lycra."  He was riding about 10 miles each way from Winchester, so it probably makes sense for him to wear athletic clothes and then change.  But I think it's really great that people riding in "normal" clothes is becoming the norm, and I hope that I will not be an object of curiosity at these events much longer.

It started to rain as I headed off to work (a bit late).  I'd probably have been completely dry if I rode in at my regular time.   As it was, my legs and the bottom of my skirt got damp.  Legs are much faster to dry than any kind of pants,  and they work for me as "rain pants"  A quick brush off of road grit after they're dry and I'm good to go.   My shoes were fine for most of the ride, but by the end, my feet were slipping against the damp leather of the footbed a bit.  It was fine for biking, but when I arrived at work the elevator wasn't working, so I took them off to carry my bike up the stairs.  Fortunately our office is only on the 2nd floor, because carrying a 40lb bike up stairs is not much fun.

I'm testing a home-made skirt garter to keep my skirt in place while riding.  This is a beta version and has some issues.  It doesn't keep the skirt down really, but it does prevent it from flying completely up.

It tends to ride down, I need to create a version that's adjustable on my leg.  Am working on it, but having a hard time finding the right elastic. Need to try Windsor Button.

The rain is doing great things for my garden, if not for attendance at bike week events:

Tonight I'm going to the Ride Of Silence.  I don't like to dwell much on those killed while bicycling, because it's a pretty rare occurrence,  but I was very saddened by the death this year of a young MIT alum in an area I bike through regularly. He was apparently waiting at a light to turn left, when a tanker truck made a wide turn into his lane and ran over him.   The MIT Tech is doing a good job of keeping on the story, filing a Public information request for the records.  It incenses me that there will be no consequences for the driver for failing to stay in his lane,  when the consequences for the biker were so tragic.

I'm still processing my feelings about this, and hope to post on it someday, but in the meantime I plan to attend the ride.

Merrily we roll along

Had a great time at the Cyclofemme ride on Sunday, was great to see some familiar faces, and meet the organizers of the Boston Bicycle Belles.

Yakkay Helmet- and it matches her ensemble perfectly!

Gold and White 

A specially built pedal for riding while the owner's foot was in a cast 

Po Campo trunk bag

And Po-Campo panniers

And More Po Campo bags!

 Had to turn around in the Fenway rest stop and head home though because I was trying to replace my instant hot water heater that I rely on for coffee making every morning.

  When my new-ish hot water heater died after about a year's use, my Dad and I thought we'd pull a fast one by installing another one by the same manufacturer that my Dad happened to have lying around (long story).  However the installation is a tiny bit different, and I can't seem to get it installed without leaking.   GRRR.  I was so sore on Monday- my quads and hip flexors were complaining about all the contortion under the sink.

Because I "sunk" so much time into that, there wasn't much left for other things on my "To Do" list, although I did manage to get Gilbert's rear wheel reinstalled (FINALLY)  while watching Sherlock.
It's handy to have the bike repair stand set up in the TV room!   I've become crazy addicted to Sherlock, to the point where I'm considering buying the DVDs so that I can see the 8 minutes they cut for "messages from our sponsors."  If more TV was like this, I'd watch TV, so it's probably a good thing because I really don't have time to watch more TV.

I've still been riding Minerva this week though,  because I haven't had the time or energy to do a shakedown ride on Gilbert.  I'd rather find out that I didn't properly adjust the brakes while riding around the block than halfway to work.  We also have an "interloper" in the bike shed, and I'm not wanting to figure out how to fit a 6th bike in there.  

 The Scientist's citified mountain bike has been lurking at his office for months, the tires slowly deflating.   I wanted to fix it up so that he had an alternative to his road bike for riding around our neighborhood,  but how to get it home?   This bike is a 22" frame, which is actually a bit small for him (6'5").   I ended up at his office on Saturday morning, and needed to get home, so I pumped up the tires, which seem to hold air just fine (knock on wood)  and then I pushed the seat all the way down, did a quick ride around the loading dock to make sure I could dismount without hurting myself ( I can just barely straddle the top tube without damaging myself.   Of course, I was wearing a skirt, but by tipping the bike sideways, I could mount reasonably demurely, and managed to ride, slowly and cautiously the 2 miles or less home.

Simulated panda shot on giant bike- have to really stretch

Now that we have it, I'm soooo wanting to give it a makeover to make it look more like a proper city bike (I'm thinking hammered fenders and  flipped albatross bars.)  But I'm not sure it's really that kind of bike, and I don't want to spend too much time and money on it, seeing as he really needs a larger frame.  I keep trying to talk him into a Surly LHT now that they're making a 64" frame,  but he's not really interested in that either.

I did drop by the Broadway Bicycle School Pancake breakfast this morning, but took no pictures because I forgot both camera and phone!   I saw a couple of familiar faces, and got a chance to briefly talk to a couple of new people before I dashed, off to work.   They had a barista from dwell time making pour-over coffees, but I didn't have time to wait in line, unfortunately.  The pancakes were sure good though, and I'll try to get there earlier next year so I have more chance to chat with people.

Rush Hour Race

Livable Streets Alliance, and the Somerville and Cambridge Bicycle Committees are sponsoring a commute challenge where three commuters- one in a car, one on a bike and one using the T race from Redbones in Davis sq to Genzyme in Kendall.   It's a "door to door"  race, so walking to your parking or to the train, and finding a parking spot at the other end are included in your overall time.
My money is on the bike, but at least the person on the T can read while they wait or ride :)

They've been doing this in NYC for many years, and the cyclist won for at least 10 years in a row. I know that the Scientist and I used to be neck and neck on our commute, but I know I'm a lot slower now that I don't filter.   If you can find a route that's all bike lanes, I suspect that the bike might well win though, especially since the parking time is negligible.   Who do you think will win? Do you think it's a fair "fight"?

UPDATE:   I hear a rumor that Josh from Bike Safe Boston has agreed to be the biker-  will he ride the Paper Bike?

April Ladies who Bike Brunch

I had a great time at Saturday's Ladies who Bike Brunch.   We went to Area 4 again, as it worked out so well last time.   We sat at the big communal table, and I think there were 12 people, although I think I lost count at some point as people trickled in :)  Was having too much fun chatting.

It was great to see some familiar faces and some new ones,  and as usual, the food was great.   I went straight to "lunch" instead of "brunch",  with one of their wood fired pies- YUM, and shared a basket of baked goodies with my neighbors.   

We milled around a bit afterwards, enjoying the wonderful warm weather,  and admiring Megan's bike- with "new"old chainguard.  Hers was the only bike parked close to the entrance- everyone else was either parked out at meters, or at the bike rack around the back of the building, so I didn't get photos of people on their bikes before everyone dispersed :(

Next month we're going to try a Sunday instead of a Saturday,  so we'll be meeting on the 20th of May,  location TBD.  I'm thinking we should try somewhere on the Boston side of the river for the ladies coming from that direction, but I don't know as many brunch places "over there".  Any suggestions for a place that can handle a group and not freak out if we linger for more than an hour?   A picnic would be great, but I'd like to have a backup if it's not great weather.  We might also do an earlier time (9?10?)  to stay out of the busiest brunch rush.  Would love to hear suggestions!

Also, for a future meeting, would people would be interested in any sort of bike maintenance clinic?   I dropped by Hub Bikes after the brunch, and Emily was more than willing to do a short demo- I just couldn't say exactly what kind of demo people would like.   I thought at the next meeting we could chat about it.  It might also be nice to connect people to Hub bikes, as one of the constant complaints at these brunches and with women bikers in general is issues with male-centric bike shops.   While Boston has lots of options, and I've learned pretty quickly to vote with my feet if I'm not happy my treatment as a woman at a shop,  I think it would be great to connect our group with Emily's shop.  

Women who Bike Brunch- April 21

Just a reminder, the next Women Who Bike Brunch will be this Saturday, April 21, at 11, at Area 4 in Cambridge.   If you're coming, please RSVP in the comments so I can make a reservation.

It was great fun last month, so I hope to see familiar faces, and new ones too this month!

Two upcoming events

Livable Streets and the "On the Move Coalition" are sponsoring a screening of "Boston Under"   a documentary about what happens at the T between 1:30 and 5am when all the maintenance gets done.

I'm a sucker for this kind of behind the scenes/ how things get done documentary.  Tickets are $6 and it's playing at the Central Square theater 450 Mass Ave, Cambridge.  More info here

Also another panel discussion about activism and creating more livable streets at Harvard with the slightly unwieldy title of "Become a Super Designer!  Redesign a Street, Plan a Neighborhood, Transform a City"

at the GSD (Harvard).  6:30 Monday March 26, at Piper Auditorium.  More info here. 

This is part of the "spring series on progressive urban planning" moderated by Aaron Naparstek who I met in August.

Bikey Brunch

I had a great time at the first Women who Bike Brunch on Saturday.  We had 12 grownups and a junior biker,  and the setting at Area IV was perfect for such a group- they have a giant long table that could probably seat 24.   I think that every time I've been in there they've been the perfect amount of busy- full but with one or two seats so that a group of 2 could be seated within 10 minutes.  So many of my favorite restaurants don't take reservations and also have a 45 minute wait,  which is a tough combo on a lot of nights.

Anyway,  the food and service were great, and we had a great time chatting for about 2 hours.  Topics included women-specific bike stores, and whether they could be successful,  the BU bridge bike lanes, the underpasses on River and Western,  family biking and why so many bike shops give such bad advice, and lots and lots of other stuff.

Megan, the co-sponsor, in a very cool vintage cape

Dorea and H from Car free with Kids

Me,  Dorea and H and Bikeyface (Minerva was parked down the block)

almost the whole group

As you can tell from the coats it was still a bit chilly, but the sun came out and it warmed up a lot, and of course Sunday was a fabulous day.  It's supposed to be over 70 every day this week- so lots of great riding weather.  It was great to see everyone, and I look forward to seeing people again on Arpril 21st at 11.  We liked Area IV so much we're going back.  Hope to see you all there!

Bike to Basketball

Since we don't have cable, when we want to watch a sporting event, we often have to go to a bar/ pub/ restaurant that does have cable, and nurse our dinner and drinks as long as we can in order to watch the game. Being a former basketball player, the Scientist is pretty into watching the March Madness games,  so we made plans to have dinner at a local pub/ sports bar the Tavern on the Square.

After a bit of volunteer work downtown, I rode home in what started out as pretty heavy rain, but which fortunately stopped about 1/3 of the way home.  I neglected to check the weather this morning,  so got caught semi-unprepared- in a waist length softshell, instead of my longer Nau trenchcoat. So my skirt got pretty damp, and I got a bit chilly.  I let the dog out and fed him,  and  although my skirt had mostly dried by then, I changed my damp tights out for wool stockings, and then headed back out to meet the Scientist.

I got there first, but he assured me he was leaving the lab then, so I should go ahead and take an available table.  So I sat, and I waited and waited and waited.  Although it was a 5 minute drive, he spent 15 minutes driving around looking for parking, and finally parked in a pay lot.   To me that's one of the #1 reasons to bike in the city- it's almost always easier to find bike parking than car parking around here, even at places where there isn't great bike parking.  We left the pub at the same time, and I was home long before he was too, because I was parked right outside, and could just hop on and and pedal home, whereas he had to walk to the car, deal with the parking lot, and drive home.

Truly convenient parking- I used my seat cover just in case

Despite the chilly and damp weather there were a fair number of bikes out and about at 9pm on a Friday night.  There were two guys riding along the same way as I was, one of whom asked me about my Yakkay helmet, and there were at least 4 passing the other way on my short ride home, and they seemed like they were in pairs riding together  I think it's a good sign of a robust bike culture in a place that people ride their bikes to go out on a Friday night!

So this is my last Utilitaire: 12.12.  Although I wouldn't say the event has altered my behavior in any way, I think it was kind of fun to take on the challenge of documenting it in a more rigorous way.    It's also been really fun to read all the other entries in the contest, and I've discovered some new blogs to read in the process.  I doubt that it's changed the tone of the blog, or that the tone will change much now that I'm no longer doing it,  but it's been something to add excitement to the last dregs of winter!  And I've got to say that reading all of Chasing Mailboxes links has got me thinking about how maybe I can do some longer rides on the Shogun.   I may not be fast enough to be a real Randonneur,  but it wouldn't stop me from doing some centuries.....

Women Who Bike Brunch

Just a reminder- hope to see a bunch of you at Area IV tomorrow at 11!  I'm making a reservation for 16 (14 who responded and a couple of extras just in case) so it should be a decent sized group.

And they're Off!

On my way past Government Center, I saw a bunch of bikers and a couple of team cars, so I took a detour to check out what was going on:

Turns out that this is the start of the Ride on Washington and all these folks were getting ready to start off to DC

Nicole, the Bike czar in orange jacket on left

I like the idea that someone might do the whole ride on a hubway :)
They're raising money for a good cause, but it's not my scene really, and I felt a bit out of place just wandering through.  One of the security guards asked me jokingly  if I were riding with the group.  In my skirt and stockings and upright bike with basket I was obviously not going along.   Although I read that they're going to get a bunch of people on bikeshare bikes to ride along with them for the final miles,  which I personally think is a more effective advocacy message than just a bunch of guys in spandex.

Bike Socials!

Not one, but TWO bike socials coming up! As I mentioned last week Bikeyface and Megan,  (who you may know from Boston Three Speed Club) and I met up after the Boston Bike meeting last week, and we really wanted to start some social events for women who bike for transportation in the Boston area.  No particular agenda, just a chance to meet like-minded ladies and hang out.  Or as Dottie put it,  "women who bike are pretty much without fail smart, fun and cool"

Ladies of the Night Cocktail Hour  at Green Street Grill 280 Green Street, Cambridge, conveniently located on my route home.  This Friday at 6pm (drinks) with dinner following at 7pm.
info on facebook page linked above

Boston Women Who Bike Brunch.   We're stealing directly from LGRAB here, but we should have done it much sooner.  There are so many women biking in Boston/Camberville, and we should get to know each other.  We're thinking the 3rd Saturday of the month,  which this month is the 17th (St Paddy's day).
First one at Area IV Cambridge at 11AM.

Sorry, guys,  no boys allowed (at least to these).  If these are a success, we'll try to plan more mixed gender events for the summer.

RSVP in the comments, or if you do "The Facebook"  you can RSVP to this Friday's event there.
I'd like to let Area IV know we're coming so an approximate head count would be great.

New Years' Eve Ride

New Year's Eve in Boston was amazingly warm for this time of year- high in the 40's,  damp and overcast.  The Scientist and I took advantage of the warmth to take out his road bike, and my Shogun and ride to the next burb out (Belmont),  an area which we haven't ever explored much, and ride around in a new to us neighborhood.

First we aired up using another one of Christmas bike presents- a Lezyne pump with a thread-on chuck.  

While I have no problem with the pumping part, I've always hated the flip levers on most pump heads- it seems like either you whack your fingers on the spokes while trying to flip the lever, or that even after the lever is flipped, you have to wrestle the head off, all the while listening to the leak of air that you just squeezed in there.   So the screw on chuck of the Lezyne is a dream come true for me- so simple!

You can unscrew the gold bit from the silver link,  and the first silver link turns freely on the second silver link.  To change from Presta to Schrader, you just unscrew the gold bit, and turn it around.   The "Classic" pump has other nice features, like a wood handle, and substantial alloy feet,  but this screw on chuck is the real selling point in my book.

wore a rain jacket, just in case

 We rode out to Fresh Pond Reservoir,  and then took the new cycletrack on Concord Ave to the Belmont line.

This turns into a bike lane at the Belmont line, and we rode around a bit in the neighborhoods off to the sides of Concord,  just to explore a bit.  We had lunch in Belmont Center, and then did some more serious hill climbing in the neighborhoods between Belmont center and Arlington.  I was glad I took the Shogun, because I would have never made it up those hills on any of my other bikes!  I think that a combination of feeling more comfortable on this bike and riding the (slightly too big for me) DL-1 for the last two months means that I'm ready to raise the saddle another inch or so, to be closer to level with the handlebars.

As it is, I think I need to adjust the rear derailleur because it keeps popping out of the lowest gear, which is annoying when climbing a hill.  It also seems to want to switch more than one gear at a go, but that might be my imperfect technique.  First of all I need to figure out how to adjust a derailleur.   I have an old "Bicycling Magazine"  guide to bicycle maintenance  that my Dad gave me years ago.  It's old enough that it probably is about the same vintage technology as the Shogun.  Time to pull it out and figure out how that works.  I have some serious work to do on Gilbert first, (which is why he hasn't been featured on the blog for while now)  which I hope to do in these next early days of the new year.

I wished I'd had a handy reference book as I tried to replace the headlight bulb on the Scientist's car once we got home.   I managed to figure it out, but it's always an adventure the first time on a new (to us) car.  I wanted to get it done before we head out to our yearly appearance at what I call the Nobel NYE party.  It's held at a Nobel Laureate's house (the Scientist's PhD advisor), and the Scientist is always asking me on the way home "how did you like talking to "XXX" - did you know he won a Nobel prize in "XXX"  And here I'd been talking to him about the sweater his wife made him.  Sometimes it's better not to know to whom I'm talking, or I'd be too tongue tied to make conversation :)

It's been an exciting year in biking for me- I've gotten a lot more involved in advocacy in a more official way through the Livable Streets Alliance,  and there are a lot of exciting and challenging projects ahead in the next year.   I'm also looking forward to doing some real touring on the Shogun in 2012.   This year, I finally completed my upgrades of  Minerva the DL-1 from a Sundays-in-the-park bike to a daily rider, capable of carrying just about anything.  As mentioned above, Gilbert is due for a couple of upgrades,  and may get a new higher tech BB and modern crankset as well- continuing in his bionic bike evolution.  So lots to look forward to in 2012!  Hope everyone has a safe New Year's Eve,  and best wishes for great biking in 2012!

Halloween Bike ride

I will probably not make it this year, since it's a weeknight, but it's a fabulous time!  More information here 

If you're going, you really should go in costume,  you'll stick out like a sore thumb without one,  lots of people spend lots of time on fabulous costumes and decorated bikes.  (link with bonus shot of old kitchen- wow it's even worse than I remembered it!)

Biking = convenient

Although this is often true, it was doubly so in Cambridge this weekend, as the annual Head of the Charles Regatta snarled traffic and made parking impossible in my neighborhood.  I had to borrow the Scientist's car to take Gilbert out to Harris for an emergency pedalectomy,  and it was pretty awful.

Adam at Harris was pretty certain that the crank I had bought at Broadway was french thread,  which would explain why it devoured my pedal so quickly.   He managed to scrounge a compatible (if not matching) crank from a Robin Hood parts bike,  and even was generous enough to swap out my stripped but otherwise perfectly  good left pedal with the left pedal on their display model, which doesn't need to do anything except flash.

Interestingly my thought about "permanently" affixing the pedal to the crank wasn't that crazy, as he felt like the (worn) threads of the new old crank might be a bit wobbly, and installed it with red loctite,  the kind that you need to heat with a torch to remove.   Luckily, I have a torch,  but Adam gently suggested that perhaps for an everyday year round workhorse bike I should bite the bullet and spring for a Phil Wood BB and singlespeed crankset that would be a bit less finicky and more robust than a cottered system.  Raleighs of this vintage having an odd 26 tpi bottom bracket threading so it's either a Phil wood, which makes a special Raleigh cup, or one of the "universal" threadless sleeves. I know that Velo Orange sells the latter, but I don't know how well they work (Adam suggested not that well).   I have certainly considered swapping systems, and he's probably right about a more durable and simple system for a workhorse bike.  Will put it on my future plans list.

When I finally fought my way back home, and found parking many many blocks from home, I spent a couple of much needed hours organizing and cleaning house in preparation for dinner guests.

When I was finally ready to start cooking, I needed some ingredients, and Gilbert's red loctite was still setting, but I wasn't about to drive.  I had ordered special axle nuts for Minerva, but through a warehouse error, they sent me the wrong size.  The new ones won't arrive until next week (they're sending them for free in apology for their error)  but I decided that the front wheel was stable enough for a couple of quick stops.   Riding down Prospect street, the cars were so far backed up that I felt comfortable filtering, and soon found myself in a little crowd of  completely unrelated riders.  We joked that we were a mini-mass,  and as the lane narrowed at the intersection, we took the lane together- 6 riders in approximately the same footprint as a midsized sedan.  I managed to whip out my phone and catch a couple of shots before the light changed.

Bright smile and cute flats!

At Trader Joe's people had decided it was easier to bike as well- there was this aggregation of interesting bikes- AVelorbis with a cool front wine box, a longtail, and a bike I'd never heard of called a Von Backhaus (that Google tells me is a Danish brand), all locked together in a giant nugget of transport bike goodness.

The "Von Backhaus"  had a unique skirt guard that I'd never seen before.  My first thought was DIY,  but with all the snaps across the back and the difficulty of sewing that kind of cordura nylon, it's probably storebought.

At the head of the Charles, the road was closed to cars, and there were tons of bikes everywhere, locked to anything that wasn't moving.   They did have some temporary bike racks, but only in one location,  so people locked to whatever they could.