Hub on Wheels from the beginning

By adamg on Sun, 09/26/2010 - 9:43am

Jeff Cutler reports from City Hall Plaza this morning:

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Bicycling

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Comments

The Back Bay was a parking lot

By bostonzest on Sun, 09/26/2010 - 1:26pm.

This event tied up traffic in the city so much that we heard from a newspaper vendor that the detail police called in and asked if they could open the streets up early because it was such a mess.

http://twitpic.com/2s7jpf

Talk about air pollution! Commonwealth Avenue was a parking lot on the outbound side with motors running on cars and trucks an buses. And, those commercial vehicles are actually not allowed on this part of Commonwealth Ave.

The inbound side was empty with a few bikes enjoying empty blocks. There were empty bike lanes on both sides of the street that certainly could have accommodated the few bikes that were there.

Hope this was not intended to make friends for and influence people to support bikes. If that was one of the goal, it did just the opposite.

Just about every day

By anon on Sun, 09/26/2010 - 2:12pm.

Cars are taking up so much space on the roads that it is difficult to get my bike through.

All these people taking up 5-10X as much space as they need for their oversize single-occupant vehicles, clogging things up for their special event called Rush Hour. Nobody ever tells them to get off the road early so a relatively few people can use the roads.

I was number 6,700 so there

By anon on Sun, 09/26/2010 - 4:03pm.

I was number 6,700 so there was definitely a huge turn out. You may have seen the tail end of the 10--mile group? (there was 10, 30 and 50 mile routes)

Also, why didn't the stopped motorists turn off their engines? I believe the rule of thumb is idling more ten seconds is worse than restarting the engine.

Event took a very long time to start

By Ron Newman on Sun, 09/26/2010 - 4:36pm.

The official start time was 8 am. I was waiting in line on Congress Street next to CIty Hall, and we didn't get going until at least 8:40.

I saw the traffic backing up

By anon on Mon, 09/27/2010 - 7:33am.

I saw the traffic backing up over the Mass. Ave. bridge coming from Cambridge... I thought there was an event for charity. Kind of disappointing to learn that it was a rally for cyclists with a low turnout.

Low turnout? Not for charity?

By Ron Newman on Mon, 09/27/2010 - 7:46am.

6700+ riders is a huge turnout. It already overwhelmed the logistics of at least the first rest stop (at the Arnold Arboretum) so I'm not sure how you can make it much bigger.

Also, registrations fees and donations benefit Technology Goes Home.

it was nearly 7000 cyclists, it's all for charity

By maria.v. on Mon, 09/27/2010 - 9:33am.

this event gets bigger every year, and it's always been a charity event.

I was wondering what all the white people on

By pilgrimm on Sun, 09/26/2010 - 1:44pm.

bikes were doing in Dorchester.

What - no bike lanes on

By NotWhitey on Sun, 09/26/2010 - 2:02pm.

What - no bike lanes on Geneva ave?

Can't say about Geneva, but there are bike lanes on Talbot

By Jonas Prang on Sun, 09/26/2010 - 2:30pm.

Very funny, NotWhitey, but there are bike lanes on Talbot.

—Jonas Prang

Also, they're already done on MLK. And American Legion Highway has them too, to add to the shortlist of neighborhoods of color where there are bike lanes.

Dot Bike blog

By anon on Mon, 09/27/2010 - 10:01am.

If you're interested in bike issues in Dorchester, here's a great look: http://dotbike.bostonbiker.org/