BU Bikes

I only recently noticed that the tread on my rear tire is starting to really wear down:

compared to my front one:

Which reminded me that I’ve never had a flat with these tires, and that it’s been over a year since the last time I had a flat with my old tires. (unless you count the valve break I had while pumping with a tiny frame pump). So Happy first Birthday and cheers to you, Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires, for putting up with the cruel and unusual abuse I put you through, from the pothole infested cities of Boston and New York to the beer glass minefields of Allston, and everything in between as you withstood a tour from Boston to New York without flatting once. It’s been a lovely first year with you, and I hope we ride many more flat-free miles together.

I bought these tires after deciding I wanted riding to be as enjoyable and hassle-free as possible. I became sick of getting flats from tiny shards of glass while riding through Allston. Browsing the commuting and touring sections of bikeforums.net, I noticed that pretty much every thread asking about “bombproof” tires turns into a Schwalbe Marathon Plus praise fest.
Even Schwalbe’s own description for them sounds too good to be true:

Punctures become obsolete with the MARATHON PLUS! The SmartGuard layer made from a flexible, special rubber offers particular resistance to shards of glass and flints. Even a thumbtack cannot penetrate this protective layer. The SmartGuard belt does not increase rolling resistance. The MARATHON PLUS rolls as easily as a tire without protection.

So it’s all in the super elastic, super thick protection layer, which also makes the tire a bit clunky and sluggish to ride. Granted, that’s not to say I will never get a flat with these tires, as every pneumatic tire is prone to flats. Even with these seemingly indestructible godsends, people have had flats, but usually only after several thousand miles of wear and from direct hits from half inch or longer nails. As most flats I’ve ever encountered were from much smaller nails and shards of glass, I’d be willing to bet that I’ll be safe from puncture and pinch flats for a very, very long time, and even longer before I’ll have to replace them-This bike tourist squeezed 25,463km(15,821 miles) and 15900km(9,879 miles) out of his Marathon Plus tires before the sidewalls finally blew on him while riding through South America.

The other day a friend told me he was sick of getting flats in Boston and that he was planning on switching to Continental Gatorskin Tires, the choice I often hear from those who recommend flat resistant tires around here. I chuckled and recommended to him the tires I had. Funny that only recently did Continental come out with their response to the Schwalbe Marathon Plus, their “Touring Plus” tire with an equally thick puncture resistant liner.

While the Marathon Plus tires were pretty expensive and ride slower than other tires ($45 each from biketiresdirect.com), for my purposes of commuting all over Boston and eventual long distance touring, they are perfect. I have a pair on both my road and mountain bike, and I’ve been extremely satisfied with the year they’ve withstood so far. My friend’s already excited about the prospect of not having to worry about getting flats in Boston.

Yesterday we had our first group ride to the Museum of Science for college night where admission was free!

We had a wonderful time riding all the way down the esplanade:



And arriving at the Museum:

We were less than thrilled to see the bike racks full:

so we locked up our bikes to the railings:

inside the museum, we explored all kinds of awesome exhibits, including a 3-D Sharks movie and optical illusions. I also now know what a Large Hadron Collider is and what it does.

It was pretty sweet to see some bike powered generator action at the lightning show:

powering a light bulb:

and the bicycle skeleton that shows skeletal movement as you pedal the opposing trainer, which I couldn’t actually try out since the area was closed for construction:

Glad to see he/she was wearing a helmet.

So thanks to everyone who showed up! It was really great to meet some new faces! Stay tuned for more group rides!

Dave Bellona went around to several of the PARK(ing) Space last Friday and took some awesome photos of our Park:

Natalie reading the morning paper on a quiet park bench:

Ted and Tony playing chess:

Nathan and Galen holding intense discussion:

while two BTD parking meter attendants walk by without skipping a beat:

and these passers-by smile as they wonder what’s going on:

The photo I should have used to portray that BU cellist actually contemplating whether he should sit and jam:

and a better photo of him sitting down and meeting the band for the first time:

This man sat down to draw:

And these guys were touring all the Boston PARK(ing) spaces with their bike “trailer parks”

In case you missed BU PARK(ing) Day, this video clip Dave took does a great job capturing the spirit of BU PARK(ing) Day, grass, music, bikes, Galen raving about bike lanes and all:

My favorite part is the confused BMXer who stopped in the bike lane.

And don’t forget to check out the awesome photos of other PARK(ing) Spaces that happened around Boston:

Created with flickr slideshow.

If there’s one thing BU forgot to include in its Comm. Ave. beautification project last summer, it’s green space that isn’t just nice to look at, but nice for people to walk and sit on. So on Friday, as people all over the world transformed car parking spots into parks for PARK(ing) Day 2009, we, BU Bikes, took the opportunity with the help of Livable Street and Walk Boston to organize our very own PARK(ing) Day on Comm. Ave. These two parking spots outside Tsai Performance Center, instead of being filled with empty cars:

were filled with grass, bicycles, music, coffee, and people:

for Comm. Ave’s very own Public Park.

Which looked like this from above:

We invited friends, strangers, and student groups to come outside, relax, and enjoy the fresh outdoor air, and Amanda of BU Outdoors Club contributed her tent:

We set up a free coffee lounge with a couch and table:

Had our bike tools out for guest bike mechanic Dave Enos to do free tune ups and teach people about bikes:

BU Juggling Association juggled and taught others how to juggle:

Every hour a class let out, providing a steady stream of curious onlookers:

Alex, a unicyclist, rolled through our park on his way to class:

Dave decided he had just about enough with his shoes on the grass, so off they came:

Happily setting a trend for the rest of us:

This passerby sat for a while to read a book:

Tony took the opportunity to repair a flat tire:

We recycled an old cardboard box into a doodle box for anyone to draw on:

Which Nathan’s son couldn’t resist:

Just as he couldn’t resist going down the slide:

As the day went by and the grass filled up with people, several rounds of Apples to Apples followed:


Just Add Water, a student Jazz Trio from Berklee College of Music, came to serenade the park:

a BU cellist who stumbled upon our park:

joined in on the fun:

Japanese Public Television came to cover the entire event:

Later, Chordially Yours, BU’s all-female A Capella group, came to sing:

And our final musical guests, Cambridge-based The Big Drift began their performance just as the last Friday afternoon classes let out.

Not only did our grassy park fill with new faces happy to spend the start of their weekend outside listening to music:

but so did the steps with more BU students, faculty, and staff:

Six o’clock rolled around, and BU Park(ing) Day 2009 wound down. Even as we packed up, I was still overwhelmed with joy at the beauty of the sadly unusual event that had just taken place. From a simple idea we toyed with in our heads a year ago, we had created something tangible and truly wonderful for everyone to enjoy. And as we cleared our PARK(ing) space, the outbound sky turned a magnificent violet and the cool September breeze began to wisp away the warmth of the daytime sun. I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about all the people I talked to who stopped by and wondered why PARK(ing) Day didn’t happen more often.

Here’s a slideshow of all the photos from Boston/BU PARK(ing) Day:

Created with flickr slideshow.
If you have any photos, please feel free add them to the Flickr pool.

Lastly, but certainly not least, a special thanks to some non-BU Bikes organizations, businesses, and people, without whom BU PARK(ing) Day (or any other of the five Boston spots) wouldn’t have been made possible:

• Jackie Douglas of Livable Streets and Rosa of Walk Boston for coordination all the Boston PARK(ing) Day spots and obtaining permits
• Dave Enos of REI
• Gold Star farm for donating a total of 300 sq/ft of sod to PARK(ing) Day Boston, 50 of which came to us.
• Seth Peichert for driving all the way out to New Hampshire to pick up sod for everyone
• Espresso Royale Caffe for providing complementary coffee for Park guests.
• Musical Performers Just Add Water, The Big Drift, and Chordially Yours
• BU Womens Resource Center, BU Juggling, BU Organic Gardening Club,
• Friends and Strangers

You’re invited to join BU Bikes as we host our very own PARK(ing) spots for Park(ing) Day 2009, an annual worldwide event where a parking space temporarily becomes an public space for grass, sitting, art, music, and more! Here at BU, two metered parking spots on Comm. Ave. right outside the entrance to CAS Tsai Performance Center, where this:

will look something like this for a day!:

Our Park Will Feature:

• Grass and chairs to sit on!
• Free Coffee! (Courtesy of Espresso Royale Cafe)
• BU CFA student Art
• Plants! (thanks to BU Organic Gardeing Club)
• Bike Tools!
• Live Music!:
  • Just Add Water Jazz Trio 2:00pm-3:00p
  • Chordially Yours BU’s female a capella group 3:30pm-4:00pm
  • The Big Drift – 5:00pm-6:00pm

So take a break and come hang out! Sit on our grass and have lunch! Read a book! Enjoy the company of people, fresh air, plants, art, and music.

Also check out this video of last year’s PARK(ing) Day here in Boston:

PARK(ing) Day is an annual, worldwide event started by San Francisco-based Rebar Group. BU Bikes has been working closely with Livable Streets and Walk Boston to organize and obtain city permits for this event. There will be four other awesome PARK(ing) Spots besides ours in Boston:

• Cambridge Street at Boston City Hall by LivableStreets Alliance and WalkBoston
• Newbury Street at Boston Architectural College by Seth Peichert, BAC graduate student
• Brighton Avenue at Harvard Avenue by Allston-Brighton Bikes
• Harvard Square in Cambridge by Harvard Graduate School of Design students
• Porter Square in Cambridge by Angie Tung in collaboration with Boston Hoop Troop

Be sure to check out all the spots as they’ll all be uniquely different and wonderful.

See you all tomorrow!

A few weeks ago The Freep published an article about promoting bike safety at BU. They not only quoted Galen, Sonya and me, but also used a photo I posted on here.

And yesterday BU Today came out with an article about biking at BU after interviewing Seth and me about our experiences as cyclists in Boston.

I’m going to clarify something I said that was quoted in the article. Referring to Comm. Ave safety for cyclists, I was quoted as saying that “it absolutely has improved in the past year and a half,” though on second thought, I probably should have been more specific by what I meant. First, I meant that in the past year and a half the city’s attention to cyclist safety has absolutely improved. Comm. Ave. can no doubt be a nightmare to bike on, but at least something is being done about it. Second, that as I’ve become a more experienced cyclist, one who has become extremely keen at looking out for my own safety when biking in a city such as Boston, cycling safely for me on Comm. Ave. has absolutely improved. What I did not mean was that biking on Comm. Ave is 100% safer now than it was a year and a half ago.

In the accompanying video BU Today reporter and BU Alum Katie Koch expresses what it’s like to bike on Comm. Ave. Not only does Katie show us the problems on video, you can also see her doing an excellent job taking the lane and signaling. Her feelings about biking on Comm. Ave sound about right:

“One of the things that makes comm ave such an Insane place to bike as opposed to anywhere else in the city is having the huge student population, having a train running in the middle of the street, and the fact that it’s a main thoroughfare for people trying to get out to the suburbs. It gives you the full experience of terror”

Back in June I submitted a (poorly worded) description of the Comm. Ave BU Bridge intersection into the NYT Freakonomics blog’s “Paved With Good Intentions Worst Road In America Contest,” which lost to other such gems as the Big Dig and the Cross Bronx Expressway in New York. I think Katie’s video and description of “terror” might have had a better chance than my entry at winning a spot as a finalist had she entered.

Her final advice to cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers alike was this:

“i would tell cars that it’s OK to go around a bike as long as you do it respectively. As you do when you’re driving, or walking, or on a bike, assume that the other person is less aware, and less considerate than you are. Don’t give anyone the benefit of the doubt.“

I’d agree. Taking responsibility for your own safety is the best way to avoid accidents. So what about those bike lanes? First, let’s not forget the benefits to having a bike lane: that it defines a space on the road for cyclists, and that it encourages more people to bike. While the city has the right idea in creating bicycle infrastructure, the Comm. Ave. bike lane was only a first step for Boston, and is by no means a perfect one; You really do still need to be just as attentive in the bike lane as you are when you’re not.

If you’ve ever driven a car, you might remember getting behind the wheel for the first time, and feeling a “full experience of terror” as I did the first time I tried to merge onto a highway of cars moving at 75mph. But as with anything that is terrifying at first, you learn how to become better at it with experience-I’m proud to say that after some years of driving a car I can now merge onto highways smoothly and confidently. The same must be said for biking in a city. While biking, walking, or driving on Comm. Ave. can give you a “full experience of terror,” as it certainly did when I first started walking and biking here, the “terror” dissolved once I learned how to bike cooperatively with traffic, even in the nightmare that is rush hour. As it turns out, if you act like a car, drivers will treat you like a car: predictably and respectfully, meaning that stopping at red lights and taking the lane has on many occasions spared me from mishaps.

And for these reasons I’ve invited a League of American Bicyclists Certified Bicycle Safety Instructor to come to BU this semester and teach bike safety instruction, especially traffic maneuvering, but more on that later.

I was biking to work yesterday and came across this sight.  I just couldn’t help myself and snapped a quick shot with my phone. This was taken right outside University Grill on Comm Ave, yesterday, Sep 8, at around 4 pm.  There was one officer sitting in the passenger seat — I think his partner was either grabbing a burger or getting a haircut.  I waited a few minutes to see if they’d move, when they didn’t I continued on my way.

As of last month, it is a $100 fine to park in a bike lane in the City of Boston.  That may seem unreasonably high, but you have to take into account that cars in bike lanes cause bikers to swerve out into traffic, creating a very dangerous situation.  Also, what’s the point in having lanes if they are always full of double-parkers?  I suppose with increased enforcement people will learn to keep those lanes clear.  The question is: “who’s watching the watchmen?”

it’s car number 597, license BUPD7

Update: Here’s an e-mail response we received after expressing our concerns about this particular vehicle to the BUPD:

I will check into this. However, everyone must understand if an officer is on an emergency call, its is necessary to get to the call no matter what it takes. All officers are aware of the bike lanes and understand not to block them unless there is no other option when responding to a call. Again, I will check into this and address it. Thank you for your assistance.
Sgt Larry Cuzzi

A few days ago I mentioned hearing about what was probably the first dooring incident of the BU school year in the Comm. Ave bike lane. BU biker Eric Stratton was at the scene when he snapped this photo of the the aftermath:

According to Eric, the cyclist was mildly injured but is OK. The driver of this Mercedes “did the right thing” by taking responsibility for his actions. The driver stayed to make sure the cyclist was OK even when BUPD and the ambulance arrived and offered to pay for damages, etc. Eric also said the police will be ticketing the driver; according to those new bike laws that passed this year which allow ticking for dooring, police may fine him anywhere between $0-$100. We do not know what amount this ticket will end up being.

I was glad to hear that the cyclist was OK, and it was great news to hear that a driver took responsibility for his actions. I’ve heard too many stories where a motorist hit a cyclist and drove away, waving their fists in anger at a cyclist who has been flung to the ground and left with a ruined bike. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that such situations should be taken seriously, and to get the police involved.

Remember, biking in Boston can be extremely fun and practical, but just like when driving a car, safety should be taken seriously. Watch out for those doors, even in the bike lanes. And if you haven’t yet, check out this excellent Back to School Bike Guide put together by Boston Biker.

Today fall semester here at BU kicked off, and boy what a kickoff.

Heading to my first class of the semester had me biking through Kenmore Square, where I was extremely pleased to observe Boston’s finest doing a stellar job enforcing that new bike lane ordinance:

So i whipped out my phone to call the…oh. Unfortunately I didn’t have any fake parking tickets to offer.

After reviewing the course syllabus, class let out at 10:30, which left me thirty minutes to wander before my 11:00 class, and wander I did, to check up on our friends the bike racks. You may remember last year bike parking outside CAS was insufficient for the sheer quantity of bikes parked there during the day, so the trees, tree rails and fencing became the everyone’s go-to bike rack. So what’s changed? Well, on the east wing of CAS near the corner of Comm Ave. and Granby St, another “hanger” style bike rack has been added to accommodate 14 more bikes:

It appears that this rack may have been just enough to keep the tree rails completely bike-free at this end:

As I headed toward the Tsai Center, where no new bike parking has been added, bikes were parked to the clock fence:

And then at the other end of CAS nearest to Marsh Plaza, where the only bike parking were three “bike loops” to accommodate six bikes, things were looking pretty grim for the beautiful paint jobs on those poor tree rails:

Of course, people still parked their bikes on the Marsh Plaza railings:

Swinging around to the back of CAS, the hanger style rack was full,

and one brave man was locking his bike to the gold mine of bike racks in the CAS parking lot he found.

Needless to say, it’s time to start parking your bike in these racks and stop using the tree/hand railings. Remember, CAS has almost as many entrances in the rear as there are in the front. As a matter of safety, please don’t bike the wrong way down Granby or hit an pedestrians as you walk your bike through Marsh Plaza or the GSU.

I was happy to see people using the new bike rack bars in the GCB garage:

though with these racks people are putting their front wheels over the tops. The wide spaces in between the vertical bars are supposed to allow you to roll your entire wheel in, but my bike, for one, didn’t fit in because my handlebars got in the way and my seat was too tall, so I joined the club and put my front wheel over too so I could lock my frame.

After class finished, I found myself amidst the Comm. Ave. evening rush hour I do love so much, where I ran into El Putnam of A-B Bikes, who told she had just witness a cyclist get doored while riding in the Comm. Ave. bike lane. Looking east at the bike lane to see what I could see, I saw a bus in the bike lane. Just then I looked to my right and Professor Nathan Phillips rode by and into the fiery pit of gridlock that is Comm. Ave. and University Drive, seen from the opposite perspective of the photo I put up a few days ago.

Traffic jams are nothing new. I’ve spent a lot of time in New York, but at least there the grid makes gridlock somewhat predictable. Here, you can’t really tell whether cars are jetting for Storrow Drive or the BU Bridge, which is problematic since both paths cross the bike lane, creating opportunities for a cyclist to be right hooked:

So how do you safely navigate this mess, you ask? Here’s what I do: Ignore the green painted bike lane at this intersection and instead pretend I’m a car. Before approaching the intersection, change lanes into the car lane by signaling with my left arm when the coast is clear, so that by the time I’m waiting at the light my bike and I are planted right where that silver Toyota Highlander shown above is. This way, when the light turns green, I’m in front of the Toyota and it can’t right-hook me when it turns to either University Rd or BU Bridge. (diagram of this maneuver coming soon) Once I’m clear of being right hooked, I’ll switch back to the bike lane.

I only checked out one part of the campus today, but as I’ve mentioned, new bikes racks are being deployed all around campus; the GSU has some new racks as well. As a courtesy, keep the railings (except the GCB garage bike railing) free of bikes. If you’re biking to a class in CAS, check out those spacious bike racks around back. I’m sure you’ll find them and walking through the BU beach just lovely.

As for those cars in the bike lanes, I was pleasantly surprised to find these cards at every table in the dining hall.

I, for one, will be putting this number in my phone. Maybe it’ll come in handy. Just remember, a car parked in a bike lane is against the law, as the BPD were so kind to demonstrate today, and for cyclists, a definite safety concern. School just started and I’ve already heard of a dooring incident on Comm Ave. Even in the bike lanes, you need to stay alert and watch out for doors. I hope BUPD is serious enough about bike safety to respond to complaints about cars illegally parked in bike lanes because it would really be great to see more of what I saw last April:

a BUPD officer writing a ticket for a car parked in a bike lane, a beautiful sight indeed.

At least I know this BUPD officer is ready to set the example for safe bike lane use:

In other news, my slow but steady bike move out of Allston is going well, as I was able to fit my entire laundry hamper in my homebuilt trashcan pannier: