bicycling

She had a job along the South Boston waterfront, but no parking space, so she parked in other companies' lots for eight months until she got caught and threatened with towing. Now she's commuter from the South Shore, pedaling on some of the worst, most bicycle-unfriendly roads in America!

At Neponset Circle while waiting for the light to turn green, I met a young guy who was running his commute home. He had his back pack on and we struck up a conversation. He was running from Brookline to Quincy and then he said he takes the Quincy train to Braintree where his car is and then a 45 minute drive home. "Wow" I thought, "he looks really pale with dark circles under his eyes."

Via Boston Biker.

Biking in Heels spots a Google bike in Kendall Square and chats to its rider about the company's fleet of bikes for its Kendall Square employees.

The Globe reports car traffic in Kendall Square is dropping even as employment is increasing. Credit goes to employer incentives for bike riding and T taking - spurred by city regulations that require landlords to foster car alternatives in exchange for permission to build new parking spaces.

In the early 1960s, MIT professor Kevin Lynch did a three-minute time-lapse movie of a car trip from Cambridge to Brookline. Now somebody's recreated the ride on a bicycle.

Via Bostonography.

Around 9:50 p.m., Dan Fitzgerald tweeted:

Anyone else see the naked man biking down Dartmouth St? That's one way I could solve issue of getting home in this weather via bike. Hmm.

Fitzgerald then responded to our query as to whether the bicyclist was a bear:

He was not a bear, that I can confirm. He was also wearing a helmet.

Bicyclists gather at Huntington Avenue and Forsyth Street at 8 p.m. tonight to install a white "ghost bike" in memory of Kelsey Rennebohm, a BC grad student who died after a collision with an MBTA bus Friday night.

After the installation, bicyclists will go on a memorial ride to BC. More info and to RSVP.

In 2007, another bicyclist died in a collision at the same location.

Meanwhile, Daniel Sullivan, who regularly bikes on Huntington Avenue, says enough is enough - the city and residents need to do something about the dangerous stretch of road - especially now that there's a Hubway station at Brigham Circle, in the middle of an area with no bike lanes.

Boston College today identified the woman killed in a Huntington Avenue incident late Friday as Kelsey Rennebohm, a graduate student in the Lynch School of Education:

Rennebohm was a gifted student and an experienced teacher who worked to provide high-quality instruction and support services for all children. A 2006 honors graduate of Barnard College, Rennebohm was enrolled full-time in the Lynch School's counseling psychology program. Prior to attending BC, she had worked for two years as a teacher in New York City.

BC said funeral arrangements were not yet available. Among her survivors is her father, Max, a United Church of Christ minister in Seattle.

Channel 5 reports the police investigation into her death, which involved an MBTA bus, continues.

UPDATE: Bicyclist identified as BC grad student.

A woman in her late 20s died Friday night after a collision on Huntington Avenue at Forsyth Street around 10:30 p.m. Boston Police report an MBTA bus was apparently involved but that investigators have yet to determine a cause.

Boston and MBTA police initially had some trouble locating the bus that might have been involved; by early morning, however, detectives were going over the bus at the Forest Hills bus yard.

Kevin Wiles, Jr. posts a photo of a deer that somehow wound up in a Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center bike cage today. Yes, in the medical area.

Penny Cherubino reports an epidemic of walkers and joggers using bicycle lanes instead of sidewalks, for no good reason she can fathom:

Is it payback for the bikes on the sidewalks?

Is it an adventuresome streak that hopes to play chicken with a two-wheeler?

The Tech posts copies of the reports into the death of Phyo Kyaw last Dec. 27 in a collision with an 18-wheeler at Mass. Ave. and Vassar Street.

Rush Hour Race pitted the three transportation modes in a battle to the death, um, fastest commute this morning between Davis Square and Kendall Square. LivableStreets reports bike won, followed nine minutes later by the T. The car sputtered in last.

Steve Annear reports that, yes, the bicyclist stopped for all red lights.

And that's not a good thing, say researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who had trained observers stationed outside Hubway rental kiosks last year.

Some 80% of Hubway users rode with no head protection - a far higher number than non-rental riders - according to their study, printed today in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

"Head injury accounts for about a third of all bicycle injuries and about three-quarters of bicycle related deaths, so these are some pretty shocking numbers," says lead author and emergency medicine physician Christopher Fischer, MD. "We were surprised to find that of all bicyclists, more than half rode without helmets. But it was even more concerning to learn that four out of five bike share riders were out there without helmets."

Researchers said helmet uses decreases the risk of head and brain injury by 65 to 88 percent. Their observers spent a total of 50 hours observing 3,000 bicycle riders outside rental kiosks in Boston and Washington, DC.

Last fall, Hubway and the city released stats showing no injuries in 100,000 rides.

Even when completely sober, you can see some strange things late at night in Downtown Crossing, Rob Bellinger discovers.

Copyright Rob Bellinger. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Mikesssss photographed the annual midnight bike ride along the Marathon route. Later, Photographynatalia photographed some of the survivors runners:

MQ took this photo around 6:30 p.m. at the intersection of Centre Street and South Huntington Avenue, reports:

I think rider got doored, bus stopped in time thankfully.

Roving Uhub photographer Andy Sellars took this around 8:40 a.m.:

I was just on my way to work and saw the Somerville emergency response out in force on Somerville Ave between Porter and Union, near the Samba Bar. They were putting someone on a backboard. I didn't see any cars involved, and there was a very concerned cyclist talking to the police, so I think it's a bicycle accident.

Wicked Local Cambridge reports on a Thursday incident on Mass. Ave. in Cambridge.

Boston Biker reports the launch this week of Chain Reaction:

Boston's Only Mobile, After-School, Youth-Run Bike Shop!

MassBike reports MassDOT has picked a design for the renovation of the Longfellow that features just one vehicle lane outbound and wider lanes for bicyclists and pedestrians in both directions.

Bikeyface illustrates getting hit by another bicyclist yesterday on Mass. Ave. in Cambridge.

Of course, where some people see an exciting way for Boston to cycle into the 21st century, lawyers see the potential for new business:

Boston's Hubway bike-share system will undoubtedly lead to an increase in the number of cyclists sharing the road with automobiles. Unfortunately, this increase in the volume of cyclists on the road will likely also lead to an increase of bicycle accidents in the City of Boston.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a bike accident, please contact the law firm of Altman & Altman, LLP to schedule a Free Initial Consultation with one of our skillful Greater Boston bike accident lawyers. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition to being available around the clock, all emails sent to the law firm of Altman & Altman receive an immediate response.

H/t Adam Castiglioni.

Boston Police are looking for a gray hatchback, possibly a Prius or a Mazda 5, for a shooting this afternoon on Harold Street near Homestead Street in Roxbury.

Police say the vehicle may have some scratches on the front from where it hit the bicycle before the shooting.

Police say the victim, 20, was taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital and is expected to survive.

Boston Police report that when a bicycle rider stopped into Alex's Chimi Restaurant in Hyde Square for some food Friday evening and spotted some guy riding away on his bike, he ran after him - and caught up with him:

As officers got closer, officers observed the male chasing behind the bike (the victim) take a punch to the head just before he regained control of the bicycle.

Carlos Tirado, 24, was charged with armed robbery for the incident shortly after 6 p.m.

Innocent, etc.

And this guy, spotted by a T worker at Back Bay station today, has probably just exceeded it: