With the shift in Cambridge's dedication to safety, and the dangerous conditions on all roads out there, I thought it might be valuable to collect some effective safety techniques that actually help in making it safer to ride in this area.

To be clear, I'm not interested in legality. I'm interested in safety, and the two don't always intersect. Just being pragmatic.

Here are a few of mine:

• Get a loud electric horn. Cars can't hear a bell, get something obnoxious so they actually can hear you. Use it liberally.
• Don't be afraid to go out of your way for safer infrastructure, even if it adds time to your commute. The fastest way for me to commute from Porter to Back Bay is down Mass. Ave., but the safest is to take the GLX path and cut around the Charles path. It adds time, but is way safer.
• Do whatever you have to do to stay visible. This includes what you wear, but also taking the lane and being obnoxious. You might not gain any fans, but they will know where you are.
• Every intersection is different. Learn to evaluate the safest way to proceed through each one, whether that's waiting for the light, crossing at the red/ped walk, or getting on the sidewalk.
• Try to make eye contact with everyone you pass at intersections.
• Assume everyone is going to turn in front of you, and give yourself an out and/or signal loudly to cars that you are there.
• You are allowed to ride on the sidewalk in most places. Take advantage of that if you need to, just be respectful of pedestrians.

https://www.boston.gov/departments/boston-bikes/bike-work-day

I plan on blue bike to the Bike to Work Festival tomorrow. Just wondering, in the past years, will I find open docks to return my blue bike? Seems like it'll get difficult if so many people are coming.

Also, super stupid question but do I have to "prove" I biked to the festival? I hope to dock my blue bike and not wheel it around

I'm new to the Central area and biking in general. I live on the third floor with nowhere to store my bike, and carrying it upstairs where it's so narrow can get very tiring. Do people just leave it locked out on the street somewhere? Thanks!

I started biking back to work again this week. I get to the parking lot (Artesani) at 5:30 am and all the 14 reserved spots are already taken by trucks with crew guys, not commuter cyclists…
The website says to print a parking pass and put it on the dashboard… I thought this would make up for not being in one of the assigned spaces, but no.
I still got 2 $40 dollar tickets, one on Monday, another one on Wednesday.
WTF. How are they not enforcing people using those reserved spots to park for free all day and the people how need to park there get tickets?!? Beyond pissed. Assholes just ruining things for others.

Edit: I appealed the tickets, it went through okay, but I got the following email from DCR:

“Good morning. I have received your appeal and I will be dismissing these fine as a one-time warning. For future notice, people participating in the Park & Pedal program and displaying a pass must be parked in one of the 14 signed spots and not anywhere else in the parking lot. There is no overflow parking as the Park & Pedal website mistakenly claims. If a vehicle is parked in one of the signed spots and is not displaying a pass, it will be ticketed. If a vehicle is parked in the open lot and is displaying a pass but exceeds the 3-hour parking limit, the vehicle will be ticketed.

Although we at the DCR support the Park & Pedal program, we have set aside only those 14 for use by commuters using the Park & Pedal program. The parking lots in that area are not considered commuter lots. The intended purpose of the parking lots is for short-term use for people using the DCR’s recreational areas such as the playground, wading pool, spray deck and picnic areas. I hope this information helps clear up the any confusion.”

So basically anyone that gets there early enough and prints a free pdf off the internet can park for free regardless of whether they are biking or not. 🤬

Does this still exist?

Anybody else get stopped this evening? I think they were watching the Essex intersection, which is a pedestrian light, and waving cyclists down at the next intersection. (Correct me if I'm wrong).

I saw several stopped and all generally annoyed that they felt that they were essentially following the pedestrian signal (in the sense that no car had a green).

Anyhow, I got a written warning. The officer was not a dick or anything.

Anybody know how long they will be at this for or where else they hang out? I've been bike commuting year round through Cambridge for years and I feel like I've passed but did not get caught in these actions before.

Today I unexpectedly rode from Wellesley square to Cambridge due to an accident on the commuter rail that closed the Framingham line for hours. I wasn’t super familiar with the area. Curious if there’s a good way to navigate from Wellesley to Watertown bc the routes from the map apps were pretty scary. It was otherwise very nice and mostly downhill.

Does anyone know if there are bike racks/parking nearby? Google street view on the phone wasn’t helpful

I have a new frame with a T47 bottom bracket and the threads aren’t in the best shape. Obviously the cutters are too expensive to buy for myself, but I haven’t been able to find a shop that can retapp my frame to clean up the threads. Any one know of a shop that can do this service?

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https://imgur.com/a/kDr6GQk Hey friends, unfortunately we’re postponing due to a positive Covid test with the folks at WychWood. We will be rescheduling…

Given Salem joined Blue Bikes, why are Acton and Concord pursuing their own, independent bike share program? I saw the Minuteman Bike Share stations along the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail today but no one using the bikes.

https://www.acton-ma.gov/638/Minuteman-Bike-Share

Just want to hear some views on what the general consensus is on this subject.

I myself carry a very small JBL speaker on my pack. I feel like headphones are not just unsafe but are actually more dangerous. Being able to still hear vehicles coming up behind me, or another biker passing is great for me. I see people in the city using either or nothing at all. Does anyone have a preference? Or maybe you have modified either one of these to be a safer biker. What are the negatives to using a speaker?

We’re visiting the North Shore this summer from the West Coast — where we’re mostly car-free — and we’d like to be able to get around without driving. Anybody know of a place that rents cargo bikes? I tried googling but no luck. We’re two adults and two kids.

The southern part of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail has been extended down south of 117 now, and during the week last week it was open.

I went Saturday, and there were huge gates across the trail with signs that said "Authorized Personal Only". One gate was just north of the 117 intersection, and the other was about 3/4 mi south of 117. There were quite a few cars that showed up to the parking lot on 117, filled with people who wanted to try out the new pavement, only to find that it was all blocked off.

Updates should be shown on this page, but regarding the trail connecting Acton to Concord, it says "estimated completion date of Fall 2021", so it is clearly very far out of date. There's also "The Trail So Far" news page which has no news items past 2016.

There has to be some site that explains when parts open and close, right? I'm just not sure where else to look.

Mother’s Day Boston-area bike path ride. What is the best way I can connect these? :)

Only 2 days left! Code: MBTAREDMAY gets you 5 free rides till May 10. Great opportunity to try out the bikes if you don’t have the annual pass.

hello! I'm hoping to start building a touring bike this summer and I'm looking for the perfect 52 cm steel touring frame. not having a lot of luck on Facebook marketplace and I'm wondering if there's any "pick and pull" style bike scrapyards or donation-based shops within a reasonable drive from the Boston area. i've heard of something like this existing in Philly but I don't know if it's still around. Or any ideas on how to go about sourcing a vintage frame in the area would be greatly appreciated. TIA