Exciting Development

There is a free newspaper, The Boston Courant, which is delivered to our apartment regularly, maybe weekly? I don't read it much, but this week a headline caught my eye:

Space for Bikes Not Cars at New Building

It seems there is a new residential development in the former Renaissance School building. It appears this is right downtown, near the Public Garden and Back Bay.

I don't know if the bike parking will be sufficient or not. The article states that they have 767 square feet of storage for up to 80 bicycles. The building will have 128 units, broken out as 76 two bedrooms, 29 one bedrooms, and 23 studios. Certainly that's less than one bike per unit, so my family would have trouble taking only our fair share. Of course we could keep doing what we're doing - parking some bikes in the apartment itself. In any case it would be fun to live in such a bike focused building.

I wonder if they'll release photos of the bike storage design? I'd love to see how they have it set up!

Bicycle right from the Denver Airport

I wasn't prepared this time, but perhaps on my next trip to Denver I will be ready to avail myself of the designated bike route that has signs posted all over the airport.

Here you can see that the bike route starts inside the terminal!


Viewed from Passenger Pickup, these are the bike signs that mark the route (look at that hot sun and plan to bring water!):


This is the only bike parking I saw at DIA, making me think there is either an employee shed somewhere or they mostly envision this bike route for travelers.


Here are examples of the signage along the road:



This route is not for the faint of heart. People who have done it report that riding so close to cars zipping by at 70 is nerve racking (but something they would do again). Still, I'm just happy that some facility has been made to make a distant and rather inaccessible airport more accessible.

MassBike has information about riding your bike to Logan.

Back Bay Bike Parking

New bike racks are going in on Clarendon Street, in the Back Bay. This location is right across from where the Hard Rock Café used to be (empty now), and is very near the new John Hancock building and the Back Bay subway and commuter rail station.

The upside of all this parking is that there is certainly a lot of it, it's in an area with a paucity of bike racks, and the entire area is covered for protection from the elements. Downside is that the entire area is covered because it's a tunnel freeway entrance for the Mass Pike. It's a great use of space for a much-needed resource, but beware of "freeway-minded" drivers folks!

San Francisco Bicycle Parking

Sent in by a friend, this image was taken outside Public Cycles in San Francisco. I think this may be the most elegant outdoor bike parking I've ever seen. It's almost as if they're surfing bikes, paddling out to the break.

What do you think? Parking or sculpture?

UPDATE: Thanks to D in the comments I now know this is called a Bike Arc.

No Bike in this photo : 2

A follow up to the broken cable lock, here's a U-lock compromised outside Target this week.

Be careful, there seems to be a rash of thefts recently!

No Bike in this photo

Spotted in East Cambridge, on the sidewalk. Be careful out there.

Parallel Parking

She was looking summery as she parked her bike in front of the café. I think of this as an "extreme step-through" frame, is there a more technical term?

Parisian Personal Bikes

Lovely Bicycle asked how the private cyclist population in Paris (not on Vélibs) compares to the cyclist population in Boston.

I would estimate that it is a slightly larger percentage of a certainly larger population than Boston's. I offer as corroborating evidence, these photos of bike parking near the Hotel de Ville for a free summer evening concert by some unknown band. In Boston we only see this kind of bike density for bicycle-related events like the Redbones party. Here one would have trouble finding a spot to park, that's never been a problem for me in Boston. It's worth noting that the nearby Velib stations were also full.

Click to expand the photos; a prize of some kind for the first person who can count all the bikes!

Repair Station at MIT

Thanks to a tip from alert reader E, I got to check out the new repair station at the MIT Stata Center yesterday. It's located with the bike parking under a sheltered passageway, so you could work there when it's raining out. It's made by Dero, the same folks who make the racks we use at my office. This is the Fixit, and I wish the website showed how to hook your bike up there because I turned mine every which way and couldn't work out how it would stay up there (perhaps by seat tube they mean seat post?). Otherwise the selection of tools was nice, and I'm very grateful that MIT has provided this. Thank you MIT!

Next week I'll show you their new racks at the student center - they're really doing a great job of upgrading their bicycle infrastructure.

South End Knitters Strike Again

This time the street artists chose to leave beautiful handmade flowers festooning the bike racks next to some Community Gardens on the Southwest Corridor Park.


The flowers are all handmade to represent identifiable plants, and I particularly love the bee with the huge grin on his face:


I can only imagine what fun the South End Knitters had as they planned and executed this art installation. I wish I were a knitter, this group looks like a lot of fun!


I will have to put the flowers on my bike and return to take a photo of everyone bedecked in flowers!

New Bike Racks

Hmm, they have new bike racks over near Cambridge Brewing Company. Must have been installed in the last week.

I think I like them. Nice look. They seem protective but it could be tough to get in there if there are lots of bikes. Of course that's true of the old designs too. Not sure how space-efficient they are. What do you think?

Bike Parking

There is no doubt but that parking your bike outside in a Boston winter means that your bike will be ruined. If the snow doesn't get it the snow plows will. It is sad to go about town right now. I see so many bikes I want to rescue like little lost puppies.


I don't think even covering the entire bike in shopping bags will protect it enough. I can't imagine dashing to the store on this bike, you'd spend more time removing plastic bags! Though I suppose then you'd then have them to carry your shopping...


I was surprised to see that Back Bay Station is filled to overflowing with bikes taking shelter from the elements. I photographed the orderly section, there are sections that look like tent cities, it's a real refuge camp for bikes.



I got to thinking (entrepreneurs, listen up!) that there must be a market for paid bike parking in Boston. And indeed there is, sort of. This fellow on Craigslist will store your bike for $25/month. That's better than letting it decay, but leaves your bike in someone's basement in Cambridge all winter. Not much use beyond preservation.

OK, it seems to me that parking garages and train stations can make some good money, and get some seriously good "green" PR by offering bike parking in their space. Most garages have dead space available along a wall or behind the pay station, but even if they had to dedicate a single parking space to the endeavor it would pay for itself and more. The bike shed provided by my employer hangs the bikes to a locking hook (pictured below) and by staggering the heights we get one bike per linear foot and a half, or something like that. If anyone is interested I can talk to Facilities and get details.

I imagine that a garage could charge something like $30+/month and easily fit more than 10 bicycles into a space currently renting for $300/month, making the garage money relative to a single car. In addition the garages could then hype their green credibility and the people of Boston could arrange to have useful, dry, accessible, safe bicycles to ride. Seems like a win for everyone.

Ode to English Bike Gear

Today is English winter weather - cool but not nippy with a cold, soaking rain. As I rode in, profoundly appreciating my

• Barbour Bedale jacket,
• my Carradice Bike Bureau waterproof bag,
• my wellies (which are not Hunters - yet), and
• my dear English Dawes fitted with mudguards,

I resolved to break my guidelines and post another photo of yours truly, soaking wet and not looking particularly chic, but still out there in weather that kept most bicycles at home, all thanks to timeless English design that knows this weather inside out and backwards!

There was a certain affinity among the cyclists who were out today - they mostly all smiled at me, and I was grinning and splashing in puddles the whole way in (and getting drenched by passing cars). I got into my office, peeled of my jacket, rain trousers, and galoshes, and was completely dry underneath. Today is a good day.

(photo taken by a colleague, bag is open to fish out camera from dryness inside, this is our bike parking at work - something I intend to post about on Thursday because I'm so very thankful for this wonderful space, which is the only place I could take a photo that wouldn't get my camera completely soaked)

OK, a bit of not-really-fashion advice: my Barbour dates to my more active equestrian days and it is perfect for a cycling posture - sitting on a saddle with your hands in front of you. The more modern ones have 'handwarmer pockets' which is an important improvement. Get that style if you can. I wanted to take off the visor on my helmet because that's what the cool kids do, however today it was invaluable in keeping the rain out of my eyes. And I say I don't have Hunter wellies yet because I don't think it would be possible for my English colleague to rave about them more. She clearly adores them and they're trendy enough right now to be on sale soon. I expect to pick up a pair. I'd be interested in additional datapoints if anyone has worn them. Thanks!

Boston Bike Parking

Notable because we're finally getting some!

This does have a distinctive "Boston" look, don't you think? (even if it isn't an ideal design)

Bikes on the Commuter Rail

As I get ready to leave town on my bike for the holiday weekend, I thought I'd write a bit about our bike/train infrastructure.

If you're lucky your trip on the MBTA Commuter Rail will be glorious, thanks to the ample parking offered by the bike car. It is nice to see that they have both the wheel-mounted racks and also a smaller number of frame-mounted racks.




Note, however, that just because you're riding in the allowable off-peak hours doesn't mean you're ensured the bike car. If you don't get it, be prepared to watch over your bike! These bikes were rolling all over the place.

It was worse than this on my most recent trip, I think we had more than twenty bikes in a car meant to hold zero. Note to MBTA: it's a good idea to send the bike car on the train that goes closest to sundown. That's when the cyclists are likely to be ending their adventures and heading home. I hear the 2PM bike car was completely empty, but bikes were spilling into the aisles of my 7:30PM train.

Can you design a better bike rack?

photo by stacyrosenstock

Bike Rack Design is an opportunity to show the world how much its cyclists are valued. As such, the city of New York has graciously decided that their bike racks need an overhaul.

Google has done the same project my office has - scoured the earth for good indoor racks for employees and found nothing suitable.

Recently the two of them have paired with the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and Transportation Alternatives to create a bike rack design competition. The winners will be announced in October and their racks installed on the streets of New York (outdoor design) and in the Manhattan offices of Google (indoor design).

I cannot wait to see the results! In the meantime my office went with my preferred choice - hooks on the wall. In this way I don't have to worry about my colleague's poorly secured bike falling on my precious. I haven't heard about Boston offering any new or additional parking, but perhaps our new Bike Czar will help make that happen?

I have enjoyed the many bike rack photos at www.copenhagenize.com, particularly the rack with the integrated pump from Studio HiMom.