Conference noted::bicycle

    
    
    I've been riding this trail for the last couple months, it's GREAT for
    a leisurely ride, but it does get packed on nice days.  It runs, I
    believe, from Alewife Station past 128 to Lincoln...I believe it's 11
    +/- miles long.  It borders the back of many houses, so you'll quite
    often find little children with lemonade and water stands.  It also
    borders some DEP property...
    
    ...it's a nice place for a long leisurely ride (Of course, I live about
    5 minutes from it).
    
    If you ride this path be careful near Arlington Center.  It just ENDS,
    then picks up again all the way across the center...you have to ride
    through major traffic to get across the Center of town and people
    aren't always that careful driving there.
    
    kath

    I hope they finish the bikeway by October 3.  They'd have to make more
    progress in the next two weeks than they've made in the past three. 
    The bridge across Route 128, and another in Bedford, remain to be
    paved.  There are still quite a lot of rough edges, especially at
    intersections.  It appears that their way of keeping cars off the path
    is to put a large concrete "Jersey" barrier across the path at each
    intersection, forcing bicyclists either to dismount or to negotiate a
    narrow, unpaved detour around the barrier.
    
    Incidentally, the reason behind the "commuter" designation is that,
    until very recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation would fund
    bikepaths only under the premise of facilitating commuting.  (A friend
    of mine who is participating in the lobbying for the proposed East
    Coast Greenway from Boston to Washington said that, in their recent
    talks, the Department has jettisoned this requirement.)  Still, I hope
    to use it on occasion to get from my home in Cambridge to my current
    work site in Boxborough.
    
    Despite my criticisms of the path, and the inevitable necessity of
    sharing the "bikeway" with pedestrians, joggers, in-line skaters, baby
    carriages, wheelchairs, dogs, cats, and llamas (well, I passed *one*
    today), I really like the path.  It's tremendously safer and more
    enjoyable than Mass. Ave. to get from the city out past Route 128, and
    the section through Lexington is beautiful.
    
    The west end of the path is a little difficult to find.  It's on Loomis
    Street near the corner of South Road and Railroad Avenue.  South Road
    goes to the northwest towards Routes 4 & 225 (sort of "Bedford
    Center").  Railroad Avenue goes to the west, sort of turns into McMahon
    Avenue which connects with Route 62 towards Concord.
    
    The east end of the path leaves you at the Alewife MBTA station, where,
    if it isn't "commuting" time and you have a permit, you can take your
    bicycle on the Red Line.  You can get past Alewife Brook Parkway
    by turning left at the station, then turning right onto the brick
    sidewalk just before the Parkway, then turning left under the wide
    pedestrian underpass under the Parkway.  This will get you either to
    Rindge Avenue or to the path to Davis Square, after which you're on
    your own to navigate through the city.
    
Lew Lasher

    
    
    I just rode the Minuteman Pathway again this weekend.
    
    If you happen to be riding and you've got a mountain bike, consider
    detouring into the Marshlands on the north side of the trail near the
    Lexington/Arlington border.  
    
    There are LOTS of trails in there, many of them overgrown, narrow and
    quite challenging (at least for me they were). Plus there are marshes,
    and mud puddles everywhere....I had a blast (but my bike was covered
    in mud afterwards!)  
    
    I spent about 30 minutes in there and didn't even scratch the surface
    of what's back there....
    
    Be aware that there are some dead ends, and that a person could easily
    get lost for awhile back there (it's easy to end up going on circles).
    
    Anyway, I had a great time out there, I wouldn't suggest going there
    specifically for that, but if you're in the area, give it a whirl.
    
    kat

    
    Saturday I did a round trip of the entire bikeway starting and finishing
    at my home in South Sudbury.  It was a great ride.  Didn't see
    any Llamas like a previous noter, but did see all the other things.
    
    The bridge over 128 is still "closed" but an agressive person will
    have no problems using the catwalk for your feet and rolling the
    bike on an adjacent girder.  There was a flatbed full of rebars
    on the Bedford side of the bridge and a lone workman laying them
    down on the ironworks.  He was about half done but with only one
    person working, it will take a few days before they can pour the
    concrete.
    
    One question I have for those familiar with the Cambridge end of
    the bikeway:   Is there a way I can get from Alewife Station to
    the Charles River bikeways in relative safety - something that does
    not include the Fresh Pond Parkway? :^)  I looked down Rindge Avenue
    from the T side and was not sure it was a "good place" to ride
    through.  Ideas?  Thanks for any insights.
    
    George
    
    

    
    
    RE:  safe ways to get to Charles River from Alewife
    
    The short answer:  No.
    
    The alternative:  I tend to ride thru Belmont, then catch up with the
    Charles River bike paths at the junction of Fresh Pond, Storrow Drive,
    and Memorial Blvd.  I couldn't tell you the street names, but it is
    low-traffic, you'll have to look at the street map of the area to
    figure it out.  
    
    To get into Belmont, you would want to get off the Minuteman path at
    Lake Avenue (that's about 1/2 mile before you get to Alewife).  Go
    south on Lake Ave under Rt 2 and you're in Belmont.  
    
    Any other route would take you thru Cambridge and that's all fairly
    high traffic.
    
    kath

    Re: .4
        
        "Is there a way I can get from Alewife Station to the Charles
        River bikeways in relative safety - something that does not
        include the Fresh Pond Parkway?"
    
    In *relative* safety, yes.  I'll give you a route that I consider
    relatively safe, but you'll have to try it yourself to evaluate it
    against your own standards of safety.
    
    Re: .5
    
    	"The short answer:  No. ...
        "The alternative:  I tend to ride thru Belmont, then catch up
        with the Charles River bike paths at the junction of Fresh Pond,
        Storrow Drive, and Memorial Blvd. ... 
        "Any other route would take you thru Cambridge and that's all
        fairly high traffic."
    
    It's a tradeoff you'll have to make on your own, but I don't think
    the extra miles through Belmont and Watertown buy you much additional
    safety.  And you'd still have to confront the most dangerous aspect of
    the route, getting across Memorial Drive.
    
    Anyway, the following route through Cambridge isn't too bad:
    
    From the end of the bikepath, proceed to Alewife station.  Turn left
    just before the garage.  Turn right just before the Alewife Brook
    Parkway overpass.  Turn left onto the underpass beneath the parkway.
    Bear right at the athletic field to get to Rindge Avenue.
    
    Turn left on Rindge Avenue.  Go 4 blocks and turn right at the traffic
    light onto Sherman Street.  Turn right at the traffic light onto Walden
    Street.  Go past 2 traffic lights and 3 more blocks and turn left onto
    Vassal Lane.  Go 1 block to Huron Avenue.  Cross Huron Avenue onto
    Appleton Street.  Follow Appleton Street to the end to Brattle Street. 
    Jog slightly right onto Lowell Street.  Follow Lowell Street to the end
    to Mount Auburn Street.
    
    After you turn left onto Mount Auburn Street, you have to decide what's
    the best way to get across Memorial Drive to the Charles River bikepath. 
    There is no right answer, but here are 3 possibilities: (a) after a few
    blocks, where you can see the river, just cross blithely across the
    sidewalk and 4 lanes of traffic (this works on summer Sundays when there
    are no cars on Memorial Drive), (b - for those who refuse ever to ride
    on sidewalks:) stay on Mount Auburn Street another � mile, then turn
    right at the traffic light onto Hawthorn Street, which leads in one
    short block to Memorial Drive, where you cross 4 lanes of traffic,
    (c - for those willing to ride on sidewalks:) stay on Mount Auburn
    Street one more traffic light, and turn right onto University Road,
    at the end of which a narrow sidewalk leads to Memorial Drive, whose
    broad sidewalk leads to a traffic light where you can cross in relative
    safety.
    
Lew Lasher, veteran, Cambridge Rotary Club

    
    	I rode on the bikeway yesterday and thought it might be a good
    	idea to update this file.  While there has been progress in
    	the completion of bikeway, it is far from done.
    
    	The 128 overpass at least has a base layer of cement, but is
    	missing the final tarmac.  The approaches to the bridge are
    	bare ground and loose gravel.  This is an improvement over 
    	having to use the catwalk at the end of last season.
    
    	Several "gates" have been installed at the intersections of
    	the bikeway with significant streets to keep out motor vehicles,
    	but the intersections with back roads and dirt roads are still
    	very much under construction.  Each such intersection has a
    	trench six inches wide by six inches deep across the bikeway
    	on either side of cross road where they will no doubt insert
    	some form of large vehicle prevention mechanism.  In the meantime,
    	it is incumbent on the rider to go around these trenches or
    	risk a flat tire or bent rim.
    
    	Unlike last fall, all bridges are now rideable without dismounting,
    	but they are all unfinished lacking final a layer of tarmac
    	and installation of railings.
    
    	In reference to my earlier question and subsequent replies on
    	getting to the Charles River bikeway, I discovered that Fresh
    	Pond Parkway from Rindge Avenue (directly across from the
    	Alewife T station) to the shopping center DOES have a sidewalk
    	protected by guardrail going over the railroad bridge.  Once
    	into the shopping center parking lot, I made 
    	my way around to Concord Street by the old Sozio store. From
    	there I went over Concord Street to Huron for one block, then
    	a quick left on Sparks St. south to Memorial Drive.  It all seemed
    	quite safe to my way of thinking. 
        
    	   
    	George
    

    Last night I called up one of the contact persons listed with the
    Boston Area Bicycle Coalition.  She said that the town of Arlington is
    planning to repave its section of the Bikeway by the end of this month,
    and that Lexington is planning to do its paving sometime in June.
    
    In the meantime, the Bikeway is quite the obstacle course, between the
    locked gates (9 pairs) and "speed bumps" (about 78).
    
    In other news, at least one other bicycle shop has opened along the
    bikeway, in East Lexington, and a Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream shop has been
    added to the Bike Stop in Arlington.  So there, Senator Dole, who says
    that bike paths don't promote the economy?!
    
Lew Lasher

    I have ridden the Alewife to Bedford bikeway a number of times. I do
    not think the surface is very bad, there are bumps, but most people
    ride around them. The bridge at 128 is tough on road bikes so some
    people get off.
    
    My perspective is to go out and enjoy the trail. The real problem is
    that it is getting crowded.

    It is open but not finished.  The next layer of pavement eliminating
    the bumps is due shortly.  People were handing ou pamphlets about it
    two weeks ago.

    I rode the Bikeway as part of my commute to work yesterday.  I haven't
    seen any progress in the last two weeks on the pavement, although it
    looks like they're putting up more wooden guard rails.  It doesn't look
    like they'll have even the Arlington section paved by the end of May.
    
    The latest newsletter from the Bicycle Coalition of Massachusetts
    (n�e "Boston Area Bicycle Coalition") says that paving work was held up
    because certain work on the Rte. 128 bridge and on two bridges in
    Arlington needed approval from high levels of the Massachusetts Highway
    Department.
    
Lew Lasher

    The Arlington section is all paved now, although they still haven't
    finished all the bridge railings.  The rest of the bikeway is still
    apparently tied up somwhere in the Massachusetts bureaucracy.
    
Lew Lasher

    Looks like some good news: while driving to work this morning on Route
    128, I saw what looked like paving work underway (truck pouring stuff,
    people spreading stuff around) on the Bikeway overpass.  Maybe they
    will finish this thing someday.
    
Lew Lasher

	While I spent most of bicycling hours riding in the Berkshires
	this summer, I was pleasantly surprised at my first ride on 
	the MCB since last spring - it's FINISHED!

	The top layer of pavement is down, all guardrails are in place
	where needed, warning signs are up, gates prohibiting motor
	vehicle traffic are in place and street signs and 'access to 
	street' signs are in place.  It is really first class.

	The warning signs are particularly well thought out telling all
	users that they should be prepared to experience cyclers going
	from "15 to 25 mph"!  ...that everyone should stay right, pass
	on the left audibly warning those being passed beforehand.  
	...that animals should be restrained on a short lease, etc etc.
	A separate sign below the main warning sign tells users to
	"YIELD TO EMERGENCY VEHICLES"  These signs occur near every major 
	intersection/access point.

	Now, when can we get the Framingham to Lowell railbed turned into
	yet another bikeway?

	George


	

    The pedestrians and strollers are really bad on the MCB, and an
    audible warning device doesn't do much to change their attitude
    on their right to walk anywhere in the bikepath.
    
    Instead, think in terms of Spike Bike: small, handlebar-mounted,
    surface-to-surface missles... ;-)

    
    I completed the minuteman bikeway 2 weeks ago!  I found the ride
    very enjoyable and pretty.  We went early, and had no trouble w/
    over crowding.  In the afternoon was a different story, very crowed
    but everyone was nice to each other and we had a good ride home to.
    
    Louisa