Welcome, May! (How did that happen?) Just in time for National Bike Month, I happened upon new-to-me blog Bicycle Graphic Design, and from there, a series of sleek bike safety posters from Thomas Yang of 100copies.
When Nathaniel Fink caught Jack on the Southwest Corridor a few weeks ago, it came up in conversation that I bike as well. Nathaniel and I have been trying to find a warm, sunny day to meet up ever since, to counter his streak of wintry bike photos at Cycle Style Boston.
It was warmer, but not sunny on Tuesday morning when I finally caught up with Nathaniel on Fort Hill for a quick pre-work photo shoot. And, that shipping tube? A Boston via Hopkinton poster, off to a customer – don’t forget to enter our giveaway for one of your own!
Nathaniel had a few follow-up questions after we met, and as it turns out, I have no problem rambling about biking in Boston. (Who knew?) Head to Cycle Style Boston for the full scoop.
Thanks again, Nathaniel! It was a pleasure.
image credit: Nathaniel Fink, via Cycle Style Boston
Today, Jack’s making an appearance over at Cycle Style Boston.
Jack and I are both big fans of bicycles, but even I can’t match Jack’s dedication to commuting by bike all year long - I just get sick of the slop sometimes. And lazy. Nathaniel Fink, the local artist and photographer behind Cycle Style Boston, hopes to highlight biking as an everyday activity, and demonstrate the wide variety of “everyday” cyclists in our city. He caught Jack on his ride home on a recent snowy day – check out the full post for more about Jack’s gear and his thoughts on biking in the Hub. Thanks, Nathaniel!
In related news, Hubway stands are out and street cleaning starts soon; springtime riding, we’re ready for you!
image credit: Nathaniel Fink, via Cycle Style Boston
Happy Monday!
video credit: Stephen Meierding
It’s still (barely) National Bike Month, and we’re still feeling festive – it seems as if there has been more good news about biking this month than we’ve seen in a while (which is, perhaps, the point), and we’re all for it.
For anyone who has ever navigated Boston’s streets on two wheels, it’s painfully obvious that cars are king in our culture – but not so everywhere. In honor of National Bike Month, a peek at this terrific traffic garden in the Netherlands.
This space, built on a smaller scale and populated with pedal-powered cars, serves as a testing ground for kids learning the rules of the road as drivers, cyclists and pedestrians before they can even get behind the wheel. (It looks pretty fun to boot.)
Read more about America’s war between four wheels and two, and why the Netherlands doesn’t have one, over at the Atlantic Cities blog. Need to brush up to do battle on Boston’s streets this summer? Revisit our tips for better biking, too!
Our love of bikes is well-documented. Our home, however, is conspicuously lacking in any evidence of our two-wheeled ways – aside from the spare set of wheels temporarily living in the office. Despite having artwork in every room, we are completely without creative representations of our beloved bicycle.
Perhaps this is why the work of Yeong-Deok Seo caught my eye this morning.
That, and, it’s just incredibly cool.
This weekend, with weather better suited to August than October, we were fortunate to spend time outdoors soaking up some of the last mild sun of the season.
Relevant to the recent influx of Hubway bike share riders, CASA researcher Oliver O’Brien has a handy map to help keep tabs on what Hubway stations have available bikes, where you’ll find open spaces to drop your bike off after your ride and how many bikes are in use at any given time.
Not in Boston? Oliver also offers bike share maps for London, Barcelona, Miami Beach, Mexico City and a dozen other cities worldwide. Check it out!
Still not so sure you feel safe hopping on the bicycle bandwagon? Jump back to our primer on riding right to get a leg up.
It’s no secret that we’re pretty big on bikes. We think they’re pretty fun to ride (and are kind of like magic carpets ferrying you home in the wee hours when everyone else is fighting for cabs) and we love when friends ask us for help breaking into biking in the city. More bikes are better for everyone involved, in our opinion.
And so, though we’re a bit confused as to the target market, we really want to get behind Boston’s Hubway bike share initiative, which had its grand opening yesterday. Kiosks are up, bikes are out and locals are signing up – but what about that influx of new riders?
Biking in Boston is very doable, but there are some tricks and bits of knowledge that make things much easier and safer for cyclists, drivers and pedestrians alike. I have a date with a Hubway-enthused friend to ride with her and show her the ropes; not everyone compelled to hop on two wheels has this kind of connection. So, in honor of more bikes and less stress for everyone, here are nine tips that will turn you into a veteran Boston biker in no time, while keeping safe and annoying fewer drivers, pedestrians and other cyclists along the way.
Of course, the disclaimer is that this particular piece is geared only to the bike perspective (specifically to help newer riders), and we’re only two cyclists – what have we missed? What else should we consider?