Dot Bike

The next DotBike meeting will happen on Tuesday October 14th at 6:00 p.m. at the Dot2Dot cafe address 1739 Dorchester Ave.

Please note the slightly earlier than usual time.

Tasty food will be available for purchase.  We’ll go over a couple of upcoming October rides, discuss some advocacy efforts including Franklin Park and the Gap in the Harbor Trail and get a report on the ‘Moving Together: 2008′ conference happening earlier that day.

Dot2Dot is close to both Shawmut and Ashmont T-stations and with 2 new city bike racks located right nearby.

All are welcome and looking forward to seeing you.

Just a quick reminder.  Even though the weather is starting to get a bit colder and it’s getting darker earlier and earlier there is still a lot of riding going on.  There are several cool rides planned for October including Art rides associated with Roxbury and Dorchester Open Studios.  Several are listed on the calendar to the right so check them out.

Also, the Charles River Wheelers has rides going each weekend in October and going into November so check out their ride calendar for some great options.

Alas, I was not able to take part in the 4th annual Hub on Wheels City Wide ride this past Sunday.  However, I’ve gotten a few reports from those who rode and here are some highlights.

The DotBike team fielded 33 riders, including two groups of younger riders  - students from Codman academy and teens from the St. Peters Teen Center.   The Codman academy riders rode the 30 mile route and all reports are that the ride went well for them.  The St. Peters teens planned to ride the 10 mile route as a group.

There were also a number of DotBikers who rode the full 50 miles.   All reports were that is was beneficial to start near the front.  One speedster finished 50 in two and a half hours.  Being at the tail end of thousands of riders was reported to be less than ideal.  One DotBiker reported that he saw at least 2 mishaps (not serious) due to colliding cyclists.  Mass starts are always tricky and one needed to watch out for bobbing and weaving cyclists.

The rest stops were well supplied and provided goodies for hungry riders.  Reportedly if you were in the middle of the pack the first rest stop was a bit chaotic but volunteers were enthusiastic.  Things got much more organized and tranquil as the riders spread out.

Several riders reported that they heard many riders exclaiming about the great places that they didn’t know existed for riding and recreation that were part of the route.  Even if some of them weren’t quite sure where they were - e.g. when riding through Stony Brook Reservation a rider was “…thrilled with this lovely part of Brookline”.  Many commented on the Neponset Greenway path and the route along the Harbor coast.

And I heard that a couple of DotBikers rode places they had not before including Stony Brook and the Forest Hills Cemetary - bikes are allowed and its a lovely place to ride.

The festival at the end was enjoyed by all with various schwag and contests going on.

There was an eyewitness report of the aftermath of a fairly serious looking accident on or near the grate draw bridge on Morrissey - a noted problem area - but I haven’t seen any additional details.  And another report of a rider needing an ambulance near the Fenway.

All-in-all it sounded like a great day and a successful event.

If you have more to add, comments, suggestions or pictures you’d be willing to share either leave a comment or let me know via our contact form.

The Neponset Greenway and the Harbor Trail are absolutely fabulous trails to ride on with great views, relative quiet and generally good surfaces.  However, as many of you likely know there is a large gap (and a couple of smaller gaps) that break up on otherwise continuous path currently starting at the Milton/Dorchester line (but eventually to extend into the Blue Hills Reservation) and goint to Castle Island in South Boston.  One of DotBike’s advocacy missions is to work with the DCR, BRA and other stake holders to close the gap.  However, that will certainly take time.  So until then I’ve made a map of the whole path and an annotated close up of how to navigate the gap.

Here’s a map of the “complete” Harbor path:

View Larger Map

And here’s how to navigate the Gap in the path.

View Larger Map

Hope you enjoy the ride!

A special presentation sponsored by DotBike.

How would you make Dorchester more bike (and foot) friendly?

Northeastern University professor Peter Furth traveled to the Netherlands this summer with 18 civil engineering students to study sustainable transportation in a country where there’s plenty of it. When they returned, they applied their lessons to Dorchester, redesigning key sites to to improve access and safety for bicycles, pedestrians, and public transportation.

Come hear and critique their ideas on Wednesday September 24th, 7 pm at the Vietnamese American Community Center, 42 Charles Street Dorchester, MA (one short block from the Fields Corner T stop). Projects to be presented include:

1) Making Dorchester Ave. bike friendly
2) Transit oriented development around Ashmont Station
3) Better walk /bike access to the UMass peninsula
4) A bike rental station for Andrew and / or JFK / UMass station
5) Making the South Bay shopping center more accessible for walk / bike / transit

Prof. Furth is a transportation engineer whose specialties include bicycle route networks and urban transit. For more information email dotbike<AT>bostonbiker.org or call Andy at 781-367-9200.

The next DotBike meeting will happen on Tuesday September 16th at 6:00 p.m. at the Dot2Dot cafe address 1739 Dorchester Ave.

Please note the slightly earlier than usual time.

Tasty food will be available for purchase.  We’ll talk about the upcoming Hub on Wheels ride, the sustainable transportation student presentations, the Green energy transportation alternative festival, advocacy efforts and other upcoming rides and events.  More details on the agenda will be forthcoming  to the list.

Dot2Dot is close to both Shawmut and Ashmont T-stations and with 2 new city bike racks located right nearby.

All are welcome and looking forward to seeing you.

Finally! After what has seemed a long wait since the start of the process the city has actually installed some of the promised racks in the neighborhood.  I had heard rumors that some racks were starting to appear so Debbie and I did a bit of reconaissance on our ride home last evening.

Of the 9 rack requests that had made it through all the bureaucratic steps of the process and been submitted to the contractor for installation we were able to confirm with our own eyes that at least 5 of them have been installed.

On Dorchester Ave. racks have been installed in front of the Dot2Dot cafe (1739), the Plaster Place (1730),  JJ’s Irish Pub (1130) and the Banshee (934).

Here’s a picture of the one near the Banshee and look it’s being used!

A rack has also been installed in front of the Dorchester YMCA at 776 Washington.

Not sure if the one planned at COB Inspectional Services 1010 Dot. Ave. is there as we couldn’t locate  the address and we didn’t check out the one slotted for the Strand Theatre in Upham’s corner.

The racks planned for 1452 Dot Ave. in Fields corner and the Ashmont Grill don’t appear to be installed as of yesterday.

It’s a start.  Thanks to Nicole and the City for getting this going and I am hoping to see more of the over 30 requested racks installed over the coming weeks.

Bike parking issues have recently been in the local news and have been keeping DotBike busy but not in the way that we would wish.  A couple of local business owners have been complaining and have prevented requested city post racks from being installed in Lower Mills near the Ice Cream Smith and Flat Black Coffee and jeopardized a rack on MBTA property at the Savin Hill station.  Not Good!  But the appearance of the new city racks in our neighborhood is all to the good.

The weather was beautiful for the crowds of cyclists that started off from various locations in and around the city and ended up at City Hall for the second Boston Bike Friday.  The Dorchester convoy again represented with 35 riders.  Alas we didn’t win the contest for the convoy with the most registered riders (this ‘honor’ went to Lexington).

Coffee, bagels, fruit and clif bars were breakfast (what happened to those tasty pain chocolat?) and there were plenty of booths giving away schwag and info.

A good warm up for the Hub on Wheels ride coming up on September 21st so don’t forget to register and join the DotBike team.

September 21st is the city wide bike ride.  There is still plenty of time to get in shape for the 50 miler and to register for the ride either as an individual or as part of a team.  In fact, you can join the DotBike team.

That’s right DotBike is registered as a team!  If you can ride with is, when you register, after agreeing to the waiver choose to “Join a Team” and then select DotBike from the list of teams.

This is a fantastic event that features 10, 30 or 50 miles routes entirely within the City of Boston as well as entertainment and food.  One highlight of the start of all routes is the opportunity to ride on Storrow Drive while it is closed to cars — though I’ve always thought the section right through Dorchester are also a key highlight.

All routes start and end with a festival at Government Center and there are fun stops with snacks and music throughout the ride.  Volunteers along all routes help with traffic.

Check out this video created by a group scouting the ride last week to see some of the scenic highlights.

The second Boston Bike Friday is coming up this Friday.  The weather is forecast to be great.  The DORCHESTER CONVOY starts in Peabody Square. Hope to see you there.

Check out the city’s Boston Bike Friday page and our event listing for more info.

WHAT: SAFE, GUIDED CONVOYS WITH POLICE ESCORT Lead by experienced cyclists and escorted by Boston Police, convoys follow a fixed schedule and route and originate at locations throughout metro-Boston. All convoys finish at City Hall Plaza Boston.

FREE BREAKFAST, BIKE EXPO AND MUSIC Whether you ride in with a convoy or ride along, join us at Boston City Hall for free food and fun, courtesy of 100.7 WZLX, Mass Commute, Mass Bike, and all our sponsors.