trip to cambridge bike

I had some time after a client meeting in Central Square yesterday and stopped in at Cambridge Bike. I was curious about the shop as I have seen plenty of their jerseys at the races so I wanted to see what it was all about. Great spot, mostly geared toward urban/utilitarian cycling with lots of single speed and fixers--fills a big need in Cambridge with MIT right down the road. It was refreshing to go into a shop where you don't see a single bike for over $1500.

Check it out if you are in Cambridge.

Mayor's Cup Pro Bike Race on Saturday

In case you haven't heard, the Mayor's Cup Criterium Bike Race is coming to Boston on Saturday, September 26, 2009. There is lots of prize money up for grabs including some hefty prime money, and it is sure to be quite a spectacle. TD Bank is a main sponsor and is billing the weekend as the TD Bank Cycling Celebration. Ok, so the name might be a little bit hokey but the racing will be great with many top pros expected to be there including Frank and Mark McCormack, Ed King of the Cervelo Test Team and Jake Keough from Kelley Benefit Strategies. Boston Bike Czar Nicole Freedman will be competing in the Women's Division, along with Kristin Davis, Samantha Shnieder and others. The organizers are still looking for course marshals/volunteers so click the title link for more info on that.

World Car Free Day

On September 22, people from around the world get together in the streets, intersections, and neighborhood blocks to remind the world that people don't have to drive everywhere. World Car Free strives to celebrate the day, but also change people's commuting patterns and habits. According to the World Car Free Web Site "[w]hen people get out of their cars, they should stay out of their cars. It is up to us, it is up to our cities, and our governments to help create permanent change to benefit pedestrians, cyclists, and other people who do not drive cars. Let World Carfree Day be a showcase for just how our cities might look like, feel like, and sound like without cars…365 days a year. As the climate heats up, World Carfree Day is the perfect time to take the heat off the planet, and put it on city planners and politicians to give priority to cycling, walking and public transport, instead of to the automobile."

Sylvia Bingham Memorial Ride 9/22

Sylvia Bingham, a 22 year old Yale grad, was recently killed while commuting on her bicycle in Cleveland. Her friends and family are organizing a memorial ride in her honor, and are asking for riders around he country to wear a white t-shirt when commuting to work tomorrow, 9/22. If you commute, please spread the word and wear white to show solidarity and draw attention to the safety issues that bicycle commuters face on a daily basis.

www.sylviabinghamfoundation.org

Boston Road Club Wells Avenue Criterium

Raced the last Wells Avenue Crit of 2009 yesterday. The field was pretty small, probably because of the Portsmouth Criterium being run on the same day. The A and B races were combined and we had about 35 riders in total. Not surprisingly, there were pretty large differentials between the "A" racers and the "B" racers, and a group of six riders was able to shake free at about the halfway point. I missed the break, so I and a few others tried to chase, but there were not enough of us who were motivated to catch the break. (OK I really wasn't that motivated myself--hard to get into the painful task of chasing down a break in a training race when you're not really training for anything any more.) It was immediately clear that this break was going to be very dangerous, as there were six of them and they were most likely all A level racers. Despite a few (half hearted) chase efforts, the break slowly moved up the road and once they were out of sight the main field settled into a somewhat slower pace. In chase mode we were all strung out averaging about 26-27 mph; once reality settled in and we realized there was no catching those guys, the pace in the main field slowed down to a very comfy 24 mph. In fact, we were so slow, we actually got lapped with about three to go. Not sure who won it but I heard he was 50 years old. If that's true it's pretty unbelievable. There was no field sprint as we did not want to interfere with the lead group's finish. Kind of an anticlimactic finish to the season, but still a lot of fun.

Any way, much thanks to my teammates at the Boston Road Club for putting on a very successful racing series at Wells Avenue this year. This series provides invaluable experience to beginners who are just getting into the sport and is a great training opportunity for everyone who participates.

Amherst Cyclist Killed in Hit and Run

Sad news this morning about Blake Goodman of Wakefield, Mass., a young man who was killed over the weekend while riding his bicycle in Amherst Massachusetts. He was riding with a friend, 24 year old John Deary of 310 Montague Road in Amherst, and it appears the hit and run accident happened on Montague Road not too far from Deary's house. Mr. Deary was also struck but it appears that he did not sustain life threatening injuries.

North American Cycle Courier Championship

Did you know that the North American Cycle Courier Championship was held in Boston last month? The competition included work simulation, sprints, track events, riders on track bikes competing to see who can stop the slowest, stand still the longest and go in the most circles, backwards, a track king/queen omnium competition and arm wrestling(!)

Congratulations to Christina Peck and Nico Deportago-Cabrera, the Champions for 2009! According to the NACCC website, Christina is the first female to ever win the event overall, and she won by a landslide!

New bike lane on Beacon Street from Cleveland Circle around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir

Click the title of this post for a link to some video of the new bike lane around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. (Many thanks to the Newton Streets and Sidewalks Blog.) This has always been a pretty harrowing spot to ride a bike and it is a key entry point into Boston for bike riders coming from points west, so it is a welcome addition. This is a great step forward for Boston bicycle riders care of Nicole Freedman and Mayor Menino.

I think that the prominence of this bike lane will serve as a constant reminder to drivers of our presence, will increase the number of bicyclists and it will hopefully result in fewer bicycle accidents. Great stuff!

Burlington Vermont Man Sentenced in Hit and Run

Good news: Adam Desjardin, the Vergnnes VT man who hit and nearly killed UVM Cycling team member Rose Long and then drove off, was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday. (Click the title of this post for a link to the story.) Rose Long sustained severe personal injuries and required $500,000 in reconstructive surgery. It is good to see criminal conduct of this type being prosecuted.

Who Causes Cyclists Deaths?

I saw an interesting blog piece by the Freakonomics guys in the New York Times relating to bicycle accidents. According to the statistics, 52,000 bicyclists have been killed in bicycle traffic accidents in the U.S. over the 80 years the federal government has been keeping records. While cyclists are often blamed for these accidents--reckless or aggressive riding is frequently cited--the statistics paint a very different picture.

An analysis of police reports on 2752 bike-car accidents in Toronto found that clumsy or inattentive driving by motorists was the cause of 90 percent of these crashes. Leading causes were running a stop sign or traffic light, turning into a cyclist's path or opening a door on a bike rider. Also notable is that motorists cause roughly 75 percent of motorcycle crashes as well.

These statistics bear out what I have said in the past--when bicycle riders get hit by cars, it is usually not their fault. Unfortunately for cyclists and motorcycle riders who have been injured in an accident, lawyers can be just as biased as the general public. Choose a Boston lawyer who is informed and educated about cycling issues. Injured riders should not need to apologize for being a cyclist.

MBRC Wompatuck Training Criterium

Raced at Wompatuck for the third and final time in 2009 with Trish Karter, JP and some others from Blue Hills Cycling Club. Wompy is great because the course is in the woods, inside a state park. This is always a fun race, and very low key (but there is always the rare exception who treats the race like a tryout for Astana).

Most riders are from the south shore and seem to know each other pretty well (which is probably why it is so low key). Although the race is called a criterium, it has more similarities to a circuit race. The course is long for a crit, approx. 1.2 miles, and there is a brief rise on the back of the course before a long straightaway. The rise is not significant enough to break up the field.

The finishing sprint is just after a sweeping left turn, just after which there is a short riser. The rise is just enough to cause a selection, and it can get tricky here because there can be large speed differentials between those riders who've timed the sprint well and are still accelerating and those ahead who went too early and are starting to fade. The fade can be pretty dramatic when it happens right on the riser. In my last race the guy whose wheel I was on faded quite suddenly and I ended up needing to pass him very closely on his left to avoid hitting the brakes. After this short sharp rise the road continues to tilt up, but much more gradually for the remainder of the sprint. This is good because it is just enough to slow down the field.

The last few times I have raced there, there was a lot of jockeying on the final two laps to get good positioning for the sprint. Lots of fun. This coming Tuesday and Wednesday are the last two races.

Blount Seafoods Crit Winner

Congrats to Sam Morse of Corner Cycle, who won the Masters 45+ division at Fall River. I met Sam last week and this is the photo of him crossing the line first at Fall River. That is his brand new Boston Bike Law water bottle in his bottle cage!

Boston Bike Share Program

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Boston Bike czar Nicole Freedman recently issued a press release regarding the bike share program which is planned for Boston. According to the press release, the plan is to create a “green mass transportation system” by creating a “dense network of over 150 stations, making 1500 bicycles readily available through the swipe of a card”. The City of Boston’s goal is to expand the reach of this program to neighboring municipalities to make metro-Boston a safe and inviting place for Boston bicyclists.

According to the City of Boston, the bike share plan will result in a 300% increase in the number of bike trips. At bostonbikelaw.com we find this statistic to be important because we think that having more bicycles on the road will actually lower the likelihood of Boston bicycle accidents. Drivers will become accustomed to bicycle traffic, and a greater share of Boston drivers will come to identify themselves as bicyclists as well.

Also, according to the City of Boston, the program can lead to the elimination of 315,000 car trips annually, a reduction of 750 tons of greenhouse gasses and the creation of 50 new green jobs. Bike sharing programs have worked well in the crowded cities of Europe, many of which are laid out similarly to Boston, and there is no reason to think we cannot find success with such a program as well. This is a great concept and we wanted to acknowledge the efforts of Mayor Menino and Ms. Freedman!

Salem Witches Cup Race Report 2009

2009 Salem Witches Cup Cat. 4/5

8-11-09

This was the 30th anniversary of the Salem Witches Cup race. I remember reading about this race in the 1980’s in Winning Magazine when Team 7-Eleven raced there. The race was defunct for a long time but was resurrected a couple of years ago, so I made it a point to get there this year for old time’s sake. Notwithstanding what happened there, I’m glad I made it.

I got an early start from my office so I’d have time for a good warm up on the rollers, but a claw foot tub fell off a truck on 93 and traffic was backed up almost all the way from Boston to 128. By the time I pulled into Salem I was minutes from the number pickup cutoff, after which all remaining numbers were to be released to standbys. I parked the car and hauled myself at terminal flip flop speed to the registration tent. I made it just in time, and there was more than one disappointed standby waiting there.

By the time I had the number it was 20 minutes to race time. The only warm up I’d be getting today was the race back to my car to get kitted and numbered. Thankfully I did not flip while intending to flop, and it actually made for a pretty decent warm up.

I managed to get in about 2 laps around the course before the riders started lining up for the start. We had a maximum field of 75 riders and most of them were on the line by the time I got there.

We were scheduled to race for 45 minutes today around the Salem Green, which is a scenic and historic park in the center of town. The park is lined by brick row houses on the outside and wrought iron fences on the inside. The loop was .75 miles in length and somewhat triangular. Turns 1 and 4 were 90 degree angles; turn 2 was very gradual and sweeping and turn 3 was the tip of the triangle. I suspected from my review of the course map that turn 3 would produce the most accelerations and my suspicion later proved correct.

Personally, turns 1 and 4 ended up being more problematic.The problem with turn 1 was the manhole cover. It was before the apex so it was not a safety concern; it was just that for some reason I kept hitting it square on lap after lap. My aging anatomy was in full rebellion after 40 or so of these “kerplunks”. Then, just after turn 1 there was 10 seconds or so of full blown headwind which I found to be extremely draining.The problem with turn 4 was the crash, but I haven’t got to that yet.

We started fast and the field strung out. I expected massive pain for the first 10 minutes, but I have been racing a lot lately and I came through it ok. I kept an eye on Michael Brier and tried to do what he was doing, which was staying up front. After 20 minutes or so I began noticing more of the racers watching from the side of the road. Of the 75 starters, 31 ended up as DNF’s.

We congealed into a smaller and tighter group and I kept finding new and interesting ways of hitting the manhole cover.The prime bell was rung on several occasions and although the prospect of some new Tifosi sunglasses or a floor pump was tempting, I thought better of it. I spent most of the race fine tuning my entry and exit from turn 3 as I felt it would ultimately be the decisive area of the course. For the first 20 minutes or so I was getting swarmed on the approach to this turn. By the last 10 minutes I pretty much had it nailed down to the point where I was able to block the swarm and pick my line through the turn. I figured I'd at least be in the hunt come finish time. The legs felt good and I was on my game from a technical standpoint.

The lap card said 2 to go and there was no detectible change in the pace. I nailed turn 3 and was in good shape entering turn 4. In the apex of turn 4 two riders just ahead and inside touched wheels and one of them went down. I was in no danger and my reflexes told me to accelerate. This is when my ride got a little bit strange.

The rider who didn’t go down slowed up and pulled to the outside. I was still outside of him, just behind. He was clear of the crash by now, hadn’t lost much speed and I could not figure out what he was doing. With 35 riders in tow he could not possibly be stopping. That was in fact what he was doing and I was now getting squeezed into the curb. I hit the brakes hard and skidded. I broadsided the curb and heard my rims and spokes crunching against granite. I slowed to a stop just before touching the guy’s bike. Just before falling over I unclipped and put a foot down. He was alright, I was alright and the pack was gone.

I had a few words for the guy about pulling off the course in this manner before my sense of sportsmanship kicked in and I asked him if he wanted to try to chase back on. As I uttered the question I realized how ridiculous it was to think we could catch the pack.We both took off in a sprint.

I looked back after 15 seconds to see if he was there and saw one of the strangest things I’ve witnessed in a race. He was about 40 yards back riding up the middle of the road and he was crashing. His hands were out and he was in mid air. As I turned around and looked up the road I heard the unmistakable sound of metal on pavement. I saw race officials sprinting toward the two crashed riders and someone yelled if I was alright.

Meantime, all of this happened within view of the announcer’s platform and the crowd at the finish line. I crouched my aging body into the drops and put my head down as I passed the platform. I heard the announcer say my name and he was definitely playing up the drama. I finished out the lap and never caught the pack. Of the 75 starters, 44 finished and I came in 44th. The officials were kind enough to list me as "same time".

Crack o' Dawn Video

This is my morning ride group. This video was embedded in a recent article on the group on Boston.com.