To that end, come join Aaron Cohen (@UnlikelyWords), Josh Gans (@SportsFan4), and myself (@AdamPieniazek) at Boston’s first ever #BikeUp! We’ll be meeting in Davis Square at 10:45 AM and heading out for the Minuteman Bike Trail at 11AM. While technically not in Boston, we say close enough. Future city rides are being planned for along the Charles and along the beach and shore in Southie and Dorchester, as well as a few other rides.

Minuteman Bike Trail

For this first one, we figured we’d pick one of the easier trails to see how everything goes. For anyone who hasn’t ridden it, the Minuteman Bike trail runs from Cambridge to Bedford, going through Arlington, Lexington, and Concord. It’s relatively flat both ways and a fairly easy trip. We don’t plan on going all the way to Bedford this time out, rather we’ll see how everyone feels at a few rest stops.

It should be a lot of fun and a great way to meet some of the other bicyclists in the Greater Boston area.

Sign up for the Boston #BikeUp on the facebook event page or the eventbrite page. See you there!

So far, only one thing is certain, I do not miss driving, not even a little. If anything, cutting driving out of my life has actually improved my life! My transportation related stress decreased significantly, my health improved quite a bit, my wallet is fuller than it would have been and my general happiness has skyrocketed. I’ve carried items on my bicycle that I never imagined possible (a full size cooler for one, strapped across my shoulders), pedaled distances I would have once thought impossible (to Walden pond and back and then some), and carried my bike for miles at a time when it’s broken down on the road. Plus, there’s many small trips into and through the city that are actually faster than driving, saving me time and money.

The thing that really surprised me the most, however, is how completely baffled many people are by my car-free existence. There’s been many times when I’m out and about at a social gathering and once people find out I got there via bicycle and was planning on returning via bicycle, they start offering rides and asking three or four times if I’m sure I don’t want a ride. My insistence that I do not need a ride because I already have a vehicle, which I enjoy using, slowly sets in but they remain shocked and awed at the notion that I would rather propel myself a few miles while enjoying mother nature rather than sitting in a box tapping a pedal. I feel alive and energized when I’m pedaling while driving leaves me bored and tired.

My seven-eight year driving career helps me understand the appeal of driving but at this point, having experienced the sheer joy of cycling to my destinations, I really don’t think I could go back. I’m even planning on buying a touring bicycle and traveling up and down the east coast, across the country to California and possibly beyond! Perhaps I’ll change my mind as I grow older and the constant pedaling takes its toll on my body, but for now I’m sticking with my bicycle and no, I don’t want a ride, do you?

*Photo by Lukas Vermeer.

• Mr. Money, my new alter-ego over at My Last Name Means Money.com made an early debut to discuss why any bank bailout is bad.

Simply put it encourages poor business practice rather than punishing. Socialism for the rich and poor, capitalism for the rest of us!

What no one has really mentioned yet, is that since the first bailout we’ve only had more and more bailouts. Do bailouts beget bailouts?

Check with Mr. Money for the answer [hint, it starts with a "Y"].

• A bank robber in Monroe, Washington hired decoys on craiglist and made an escape in an inner tube on the Skykomish River with a sack of money.

No, that is not a story from The Onion, nor is it a viral marketing scheme for the Blu-ray release of The Dark Knight. It really happened. Though I in no way condone criminal activities, at least this guy had some creativity and put some thought and effort into his heist. Sure would be nice if he used his powers for good though!

• Speaking of stealing, check out this video of Homer Simpson attempting to vote for Barack Obama.

Must admit, The Simpsons have gotten a lot better recently. I heard they hired some new writers this year and if this past Sunday’s episode was any indication it’s already paying off. The clip above seems to be a leak from this year’s Halloween episode so check it out before it gets yanked! Hopefully our real elections don’t go the same way…

• Cube captive turns into cross country cyclist.

Before you leave your cube or office or classroom to enjoy the weekend, make sure you check out I Will Not Die, the blog of a former cubicle worker who quit his job to tour the U.S.A. on a bicycle, helping people along the way. You can Dereck was sitting in his cubicle one day when he realized he was tiring of coming into work the doing the same stuff every day. He then had an epiphany, instead of working so hard for himself he’d instead quit his job and travel the country helping others.

Hat tip to Justin for letting me know about this story. It’s a good story and very similar to my own desires to buy a touring bicycle and start traveling this continent and others. I love his recent post giving a shout-out to his non-commenting readers. Let me take the time right here, right now to do the same and thank everyone who subscribes to my feed and reads this site. When bloggers first start out, there is always the hesitation of wondering if anyone will read their posts and find them intriguing enough to keep coming back. My regular readers give me the power to progress and develop my voice each and every day. Most of my posts here are zany and inane, but every now and then we come together and create an amazing discourse that reminds me exactly why I write.

You’re all a diverse group of people and I immensely appreciate each and every one one of you.

Virtual group hug!



Credit to Meffi for the cuddly photo.

OK, that’s a good note to end on. Check back here Monday for some big news about The 42nd Estate. Have a great weekend everyone!

I cleaned my bike up a few days ago and took the chance to snap a few photos of my bike before I went and gunked it all up again. Here’s a view of the whole bike from the side:

Sexy, eh?

Here’s a closeup of the crank:

Finally, here’s a view looking down the handlebars towards the rear of the bike:

Also, over the weekend I twittered that I got hit by an SUV. As I said via twitter, I’m 100% OK and so is my bike (the SUV had a small scratch). I was pedaling down Dorchester Avenue, and a block from the Savin Hill Ave intersection, the SUV to my left banged a sharp right to try to get into a parking spot as he did not realize I was pedaling right next to him. He quickly stopped as he heard my handlebar scraping his SUV and I quickly bounced to the right and swerved around his SUV, maintaining my balance the entire time.

No one was hurt and it seemed the driver learned a lesson of watching his blind side so no harm no foul. Everyone (bikers, pedestrians, drivers and others), be careful out there!

Next time I’m around the American Legion bike lanes I’ll snap a shot of them.

* The city formerly known as “Boston” has been formally renamed to “Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s Gracious Government of the City of Boston”. Fresh new signs to come shortly.

Apparently that commute only takes the bicyclist 15 minutes, a pretty good pace for a 3-4 mile trip!

As I’m pulling my bicycle outside, I catch a glimpse of another cyclist as he pops onto the sidewalk adjacent to our house and nearly plows into our chain link fence. It threw me off-guard but I figured he simply wanted to avoid biking on the always busy Columbia road and thus jumped on the sidewalk before our street opened onto Columbia road. After tightening my helmet and tying my keys to my shorts I took off in the opposite direction, keeping my road bike on the road.

With no set destination in mind I started pedaling down Dorchester Avenue away from the city. Since I was in no hurry I casually pedaled about barely using any energy. This pedestrian pace allowed me to watch the other night walkers and cyclists go about their business and pleasure. Some people stumbled around and out of The Banshee, a father and daughter parked and unloaded a moving truck, and the cyclist from earlier rejoined me at the East Street – Freeport Street intersection. He furiously pedaled across the treacherous intersection though he barely kept up with my speed even though I was barely pedaling. The vast difference between our pedaling motions yet similar speed made me wonder how many people were turned off to bicycling due to using a heavy mountain bike in the city when a slim, light road cycle would have them pedaling through the city quicker than most cars.

As I ventured further down Dorchester Avenue I began thinking where I should turn. As I swooped into Field’s Corner the skimp people traffic allowed me to get a good look at the newly redone MBTA station, something I missed during the day when I often fly down this street without taking in the sights. I’d yet to bike down Geneva Avenue so I banged a right at Park Street and then another onto the precarious way.

Going down Geneva Avenue was quite uneventful. As such I got a little bored and went full speed for a short distance, but not long enough to get tired. As I came up to Columbia Road I pulled over and drank some water. After half a minute, I turned onto Columbia Road and began the home-stretch, literally, of my little trip. By now it was around midnight. From where I turned, Columbia Road is mostly downhill to my humble abode in Edward Everett Square and with my nearly full gas tank I started flying down the street, feeling the wind and some road debris blasting me in the face and loving it.

HOOONK HOONK HONK HONK HOOOONK

Having been honked at too many times over the past two and a half months of cycling I slowly and nonchalantly look back over my left shoulder to see an old, rickety, black colored Honda Civic-esque box on four wheels weaving and bobbing behind me.

Before I proceed with this story let me drop some knowledge I’ve picked up over these past few months. When you’re riding a bicycle on the city streets, if you don’t take the lane when you need to cars will push you off the road. Further, a significant portion of automobile drivers are very, very, very incompetent at controlling their vehicle. These two facts cause me to own the lane by pedaling in the middle of it when I feel it’s necessary. A lot of car drivers will give me a gentle honk when they want to pass me in such situations or just wait and pass when it’s safe to do so. Another contingent of drivers fail to realize that a bicycle is a legal vehicle and honk and yell and swerve all over the road in an outrageous and dangerous attempt to show me that I’m in their way (duh, it’s on purpose so they don’t push me off the road).

If any such drivers are reading this, if I see you behind me and don’t move to the side to let you pass there is a good reason for it and no matter what you do I’ll continue to stay in the middle of the lane for my personal safety. I’m not an asshole, I’ll let you pass when it’s safe to do so. Please be patient the half minute will not kill you. So if you see a bicyclist taking up an entire lane, give a gentle honk and if they don’t move aside, just wait! There’s often a good reason for not letting you pass so just chill out. In most cases the car driver can use another lane but for some reason there’s a lot of people who are just not able to use 2-3 lanes to pass a bicycle. Personally, if you can’t maneuver your vehicle around a bicycle on a three lane street you probably shouldn’t be allowed to drive what amounts to a petroleum-fueled passenger tank.

Back to the story. So I see this car behind me and see that they are angry and in a huge hurry so I move to the right slightly so that I’m only taking up 25% of the lane now. Note, the second lane to the driver’s left is completely open and there are no other cars on the road. Also note the particular stretch of road I was on bends and curves so I took up a lane to make sure all drivers could see me.

WHAT THE F*CK A**HOLE!?!?!? GET OUT OF MY WAY IDIOT!?!?!

At this point I can’t keep quiet and as the car shoots past me simply reply back “I’m a legal vehicle”. Big mistake on my part informing this person that my taxes pay for these roads just as much as his do. The rusted dinosaur comes to a halt in the middle of the road and waits the few seconds for me to catch up to him. What happens next almost made me fall off my bicycle. Anyone whose seen the movie Super Troopers should get a chuckle out of this exchange.

As I pedal up to the car I get a chance to see the driver and his passenger. They both appear to be in their mid-twenties. The driver looks to be Dominican or Puerto Rican and is about 250-275 pounds and about 5’9 or 5’10. His passenger stares straight ahead during the entire exchange and doesn’t say anything but she too appears to be of Caribbean descent though lighter skinned and skinny.

At this point we’re both slowly rolling up to a red light and entering a part of Columbia Road that widens a little bit.

What? What is wrong with you dumbass!?!?!

Me: “Nothing, I’m a legal vehicle. It’s not my fault you can’t get your car around a bicycle.”

What? Just pull over and stay over idiot!?!?!*!

Me: “I’m already pulled over.”

Pull over some more!?!?! Asshole!?!?!

Me: “I’m already pulled over I can’t pull over anymore”

To the Super Troopers fans out there, at this point I fully expected someone to pop out from behind me and go “he’s already pulled over, he can’t pull over any farther”. If the dude’s girlfriend (more likely sister or cousin) said those words I would’ve fallen off my bike laughing.

For some reason this exchange just gets the driver even more livid as he bounces around his car and swerves his car about the road uncontrollably. He says a few more choice words and then drops this bomb on me:

Do you know where you are white boy?

Now, oddly enough he didn’t have a Bostonian accent and sounded like he immigrated here from a Caribbean island so I’ll assume that he wasn’t born and raised right down the street as I was. Up until this point I remained calm and cool headed but once he brought my race into it and assumed that because I’m white and in the ghetto that I must be lost, well, I got upset.

At his point we arrive at the red light and he stops his car.

I stop my bicycle and for a split-second consider explaining to the driver the situation, particularly how this was my neighborhood! Instead I relied on my knowledge from Web Quotes V of how to avoid conflict like a samurai warrior, looked both ways up Glendale Street and booked it across the intersection. I made it a good way down the road before I heard the cars revving up behind me. At this point I pulled over so far to the side of the road that I was practically leaning against the parked cars and let the anxious and angry speedster fly past me.

Luckily earlier in the day I was browsing the City of Boston web-site and came across a very interesting form. On the site is a .pdf form for citizens to file complaints against motor vehicle operators! So as this guy drives past me I pay real careful attention to the back of his rickety box on four wheels and note the six characters comprising his license plate.

That’s right, I got your license plate buddy! Fortunately for him I’ve cooled off since then and would rather the incident draw to a conclusion here rather than be slowly and pointlessly prolonged through a court system. But I’ve got the license plate number saved and might give the DMV a call and see if they could perhaps send him a pamphlet explaining the rules of the road. Should I file a complaint? What about running the red light, was it called for considering I was trying to avoid conflict? After all, there is another pamphlet on the City of Boston web-site telling cyclists to not be a road warrior. Personally I feel my actions were justified but I am after all biased!

For the curious, here’s a Google map of my route.

Also, if anyone was walking down Columbia Road and wondering why a white kid was pedaling down the street laughing and confusingly reciting “Do you know where you are whiteboy”, well, now you know.

Now, all cyclists for sure do not act like that but it is a funny take on the stereotype. Best line ever: “Do not worry, he is biodegradable!”

Have a great weekend everyone!

In July, the city plans to unveil its first designated bike lanes, on Commonwealth Avenue between the Boston University Bridge and Kenmore Square. The city may also add bike lanes to Massachusetts Avenue between Albany Street and Huntington Avenue, Tremont Street along Boston Common, and on American Legion Highway, which runs past Franklin Park.

The bike lanes are good news for Boston bikers but unfortunately some ugly news concerning bike lanes comes from the Republic of Cambridge where two bicyclists beat up two car drivers for swerving into the bike lane. One of the car travelers was beaten so badly they fell into unconsciousness. The Cambridge police further described the events by citing that the bicyclists where also swerving into the car lanes as they pedaled in a group of ten bikers. Some of the bikers were also allegedly popping wheelies in front of the car as they pedaled down highly used Massachusetts avenue.

Yesterday I was biking through Cambridge and Somerville, via Hampshire and Beacon Street and noticed a new feature on the Beacon Street/Somerville side of the trip. Bike lanes!

I’m not sure how new these are but the Somerville side did not have these bike lanes a week or two ago.

In some spots the lanes look quickly painted which leads me to think the Republic of Cambridge invaded Somerville in the middle of the night and quickly painted these lanes. That or Somerville decided to act fast and paint their part of the street after a Boston Globe article last month publicized the difference between the two sides of the same street:

I’m biking down Beacon Street in Somerville toward Inman Square. This stretch of road has no bike lane, so I’m extra wary of turning cars and doors suddenly flinging open. I feel like a guerrilla cyclist.

But when I hit the Cambridge city line, it’s like crossing from the dark side of the moon to the light. A bike lane suddenly appears.

The MBTA is getting in on the increasing attention paid to bikers by installing a 50 bike cage at the Alewife T station. The cage will be accessed via CharlieCard and monitored by surveillance cameras to prevent theft. Good idea but if it was me I’d just continue the ride into town rather than taking the unreliable T.

Finally, gas prices rose to a record $3.73 today on the heels of a report that Iran might cut crude oil production. With rising gas prices, the coming emergence of bike lanes in Boston, and it being Bay State Bike Week, now is as good a time as any to buy a used bike, and get off the oil addiction and get some exercise, if you physically can pedal (consult your doctor if you’re not sure).