Mason RR Trail

Since I became too familiar with my neighborhood trail I have to frequently venture out further away from home in search for more places to ride.

Last weekend I went to Townsend, MA to ride a short loop north into New Hampshire and back. 

I started just off Rt13 and followed Dudley Rd initially, to connect to Mason Railroad Trail. Being a former railroad, I didn't expect any major hills there but I was actually a bit surprised the trail was so... raw. It simply didn't seem to be used frequently. The surface was covered in leaves, branches and was pretty rough in general. Maybe I expected it to be wide and smooth like those other railroad trails in my area.

I didn't ride the full length of the trail since I wanted to move east and then back south. I took Mitchell Hill Rd to find entrance to another path cutting across Stephens Forest. It all started well...

but then turned out to be very rocky and pretty much unsuitable for anything else but a fat-tire mountain bike.

Finally, I got to the parking lot at Mile Slip Rd and when I thought it was all over, the worst part had just begun. The southern section of Mile Slip Rd is not much of a road at all. It's basically a fairly steep (6-10% grade) downhill section on very rough rocks, boulders and roots. The path seems to be shaped by rushing water during heavy rains and if you feel like riding there, bring your enduro bike with you. Don't make my mistake and try it on a cyclocross bike.

Even though the entire loop is only 24mi (38km) long and it would take about 2hrs to complete it, it's a fun place for bike riding. October weather makes it even better. It's still warm, it's dry, there are no mosquitoes nor flies in the deep forest and fall colors are just spectacular. To be honest, October should be 60 days long!

I will have to return here next year. On wider tires.

A bag of mixed feelings

I'm sure you have heard about Vision Zero - a noble program to reduce traffic deaths to zero (duh). The victims are overwhelmingly those unprotected road users - pedestrians and cyclists. The culprit - mostly drivers. Many cities in United States adopted Vision Zero, or at least claimed they did. It's because still very little has been done to make streets safer for everyone.

There is number of ways city streets can be made safer. Starting simply by reducing number of cars in the city (congestion charging) to a better street design such as physical barriers that separate heavy car traffic from unprotected road users (e.g. protected bike lanes). In fact, physical separation should be a preferred way, as distracted driving is on the rise. As it turns out, smartphones are killing Americans. Texting/facebooking/tweeting/instagraming has become so addictive that most drivers do that while moving. Starring at the smartphone screen is pretty much as prevalent as disobeying speed limits - even though it's illegal, everyone does it.

 

You would think that it should be in everyone's best interest to make streets safer for all road users. Unfortunately, there is always a group of idiots who will oppose it. The best example came recently from Minnesota where some people literally "lost their minds over a bike lane". I've seen many weird things in my life but calling bike lanes "Nazi lanes" is definitely new.

(Photo by Shane Morin)

But the worst things happen when the big opposition to Vision Zero comes not from a small group of local retards but a mayor of the largest city in America. Bill de Blasio - mayor of the New York City called for crackdown on e-bikes. I would never think that simple and relatively slow-moving vehicles that harm no one are the major problem to New Yorkers. As was quickly reported, "in 2016 alone, drivers killed 146 pedestrians and 18 cyclists. And in the first two months of 2017, city drivers have killed 18 pedestrians and one cyclist. (...) Meanwhile, e-bike riders have been involved in zero traffic-related deaths during the time that the city has collected data on their use."

This means one thing - e-bikes are not a problem to citizens of New York City. They are a problem to de Blasio, who, just like our mayor of Boston, is likely "a car guy". So either de Blasio doesn't understand what Vision Zero is, or he thinks it means "zero inconveniences to drivers".

Nevertheless, New York remains the most walkable large city in the United States. If only it would protect its pedestrians better, it could likely score higher on "Walkable Communities Report Card" issued recently by National Physical Activity Plan. Unfortunately, most places in America get a solid F grade, but what I found most shocking is this plot:

As it turns out, 30% of students in this country are being driver to school by their parent at a distance of less than 1/4 mile! That's a lousy 1300ft or 400m. I can't believe how some people's butts got permanently glued to their car's seats.

Anyway, jumping to another topic, the end of year is coming soon and I have an impression that some towns are trying to spend money they have left before December. In Bedford, I noticed they are building a sidewalk on a quiet residential street that is rarely used by pedestrians. The sidewalk won't connect to anything on one end, because the next street doesn't have a sidewalk either. Not sure if this new sidewalk is really needed.

In neighboring Lexington they started to build a ramp connecting Minuteman Bikeway with Maple St. That's great. There is already a ramp on the east side, but now we will have one also on the west side of Maple St.

Lexington also started their first "bike share" system last Friday. It's based on Zagster, it has a number of nice, white bikes available from just... one station. That doesn't make it a bike share program at all - more like an automated bicycle rental station.

Well, let's hope this is just a beginning and the system will be expanded quickly in 2018. Although, since the Minuteman Bikeway connects Bedford, Lexington, Arlington and Cambridge, I would really like to see all 4 communities working together to unify the system. This will allow people to share bikes and commute from Alewife station or Porter Square all the way to Bedford. That would make much more sense.

Parking spaces

Let's talk about parking spaces. No, not parking for cars. There is too much of it anyway. I want to look closer at parking for bicycles in its simplest and cheapest form - bike racks.

Bike racks come in all shapes and colors and some are better than others. On my way to work I counted not less than 6 different racks. Here are some examples.

This pretty, leaf-shaped rack belongs to a local bank. Despite the funky shape, it's actually quite functional. There is plenty of space nearby to park all types of bicycles and the rack provides a number of locking points. The one little problem though - it's not set in concrete but just bolted to it, making it less secure.

This ugly, red "wheelbender" is a very popular place for bicycles in Arlington. That's because it's the only rack available at Trader Joe's and right next to the Minuteman Bikeway. Given its popularity, it's a real shame TJ hasn't replaced it yet with something larger and more secure. The biggest problem with this rack is lack of space. The only somewhat secure spot is the one on the side, where I parked my bike in the above picture. All other spots require locking bikes by the front wheel only and the other side of the rack is blocked by a concrete wall. If you come here with an u-lock, you can only use the side spot. Locking to the inner slots requires you to use a very long chain or cable lock. On top of that, the rack is not even properly bolted to ground!

A bit further down the bike path, in Lexington Center you can find this long, black rack. It may look similar to the red TJ rack but it actually avoids all issues of its neighbor. The top bar is high over the ground so you can push your bike in, far enough to lock frame with front wheel using an u-lock. There is plenty of space for many bicycles in the rack even though most of the time it stays empty.

In Bedford I encountered this beefy structure. It's properly secured to ground and has enough space for a few bikes. I guess it might be the best bike rack here, but that massive tube may not be compatible with some narrower or shorter u-locks.

Finally, here is another rack in Bedford. It works for me, although it could be better secured to the concrete slab than just using a few bolts. I actually like its unique flat shape as it works better with some mini u-locks. 

All the above makes me wonder if we need some kind of national bike rack standard. I know that more regulation is usually not the best answer, but what can we do when we desperately need a place to lock our bikes and all we get is a lousy "wheelbender"?

Finally, I noticed that from all of my bicycles, the easiest one to lock is my Xtracycle - as long as I'm leaving it for only a few minutes! That's because it doesn't need a bike rack at all! I can just park it somewhere out of way and lock the front wheel with frame using an u-lock. No need to lock it to anything!

That's because no one would be able to ride it, nor walk away with it. It's just too heavy to carry and too long to fit in car's trunk. Unless there are two guys nearby with a pick-up truck, I don't see easy way to steal a heavy electric cargo bike. Still, obviously I wouldn't leave my bike locked like this for the whole day.