June 2009

I am now 24 hours away from my month-long stay in Paris. I’ve been busy packing, and assuring that I have as many art supplies that I can fit in my bag, as I’m going to be spending a majority of my time there drawing. I’ve also been preparing for my cycling adventures around the city, and came across a great bike map of Paris. I will be living at the southern edge of the city, and there are three bike paths in the immediate area. The first appears to be a ring road that encircles the city along the Périphérique, the second is a N-S route that terminates at the Pte de Clichy, and the third is also a N-S route that terminates at the Musée des Sciences et de l’industrie at the NE corner of the city. The bike route network appears to be very logical, with multiple ways to get around or through the city. As I don’t know Paris very well yet, I’m not sure why this is, but the Eastern portion of the city does not have much in the way of radial paths toward the center of the city, and instead has a number of circumabulatory paths. It will be interesting to see what it is about the part of the city that has resulted in this differing bike route development. I’m guessing that it is related to the socioeconomics of the area, but it may also be related to the manner in which the urban fabric is constructed here. We shall see!

I am now 24 hours away from my month-long stay in Paris. I've been busy packing, and assuring that I have as many art supplies that I can fit in my bag, as I'm going to be spending a majority of my time there drawing. I've also been preparing for my cycling adventures around the city, and came across a great bike map of Paris. I will be living at the southern edge of the city, and there are three bike paths in the immediate area. The first appears to be a ring road that encircles the city along the Périphérique, the second is a N-S route that terminates at the Pte de Clichy, and the third is also a N-S route that terminates at the Musée des Sciences et de l'industrie at the NE corner of the city. The bike route network appears to be very logical, with multiple ways to get around or through the city. As I don't know Paris very well yet, I'm not sure why this is, but the Eastern portion of the city does not have much in the way of radial paths toward the center of the city, and instead has a number of circumabulatory paths. It will be interesting to see what it is about the part of the city that has resulted in this differing bike route development. I'm guessing that it is related to the socioeconomics of the area, but it may also be related to the manner in which the urban fabric is constructed here. We shall see!

I am now 24 hours away from my month-long stay in Paris. I've been busy packing, and assuring that I have as many art supplies that I can fit in my bag, as I'm going to be spending a majority of my time there drawing. I've also been preparing for my cycling adventures around the city, and came across a great bike map of Paris. I will be living at the southern edge of the city, and there are three bike paths in the immediate area. The first appears to be a ring road that encircles the city along the Périphérique, the second is a N-S route that terminates at the Pte de Clichy, and the third is also a N-S route that terminates at the Musée des Sciences et de l'industrie at the NE corner of the city. The bike route network appears to be very logical, with multiple ways to get around or through the city. As I don't know Paris very well yet, I'm not sure why this is, but the Eastern portion of the city does not have much in the way of radial paths toward the center of the city, and instead has a number of circumabulatory paths. It will be interesting to see what it is about the part of the city that has resulted in this differing bike route development. I'm guessing that it is related to the socioeconomics of the area, but it may also be related to the manner in which the urban fabric is constructed here. We shall see!

I am now 24 hours away from my month-long stay in Paris. I've been busy packing, and assuring that I have as many art supplies that I can fit in my bag, as I'm going to be spending a majority of my time there drawing. I've also been preparing for my cycling adventures around the city, and came across a great bike map of Paris. I will be living at the southern edge of the city, and there are three bike paths in the immediate area. The first appears to be a ring road that encircles the city along the Périphérique, the second is a N-S route that terminates at the Pte de Clichy, and the third is also a N-S route that terminates at the Musée des Sciences et de l'industrie at the NE corner of the city. The bike route network appears to be very logical, with multiple ways to get around or through the city. As I don't know Paris very well yet, I'm not sure why this is, but the Eastern portion of the city does not have much in the way of radial paths toward the center of the city, and instead has a number of circumabulatory paths. It will be interesting to see what it is about the part of the city that has resulted in this differing bike route development. I'm guessing that it is related to the socioeconomics of the area, but it may also be related to the manner in which the urban fabric is constructed here. We shall see!

After enjoying the sites of Boston during Critical Mass last night, a few of us wound up at the Other Side Cafe. The primary problem was that we had three locks and four bikes, and this was compounded by the fact that there were so many bikes locked up in the area that we had limited options for our steeds. The picture to left was the solution that we arrived at; quite beautiful if you ask me.

I appreciate all of the new bike racks that have been installed in Boston over the past year, but there are way too few. Especially in the Back Bay, where the parking meters have been removed in favor of the window stickers, it can be very hard to find a place to park your bike. Why on earth they decided to remove all of the parking meter poles, and then install a limited number of bike racks is beyond me. They could have just taken the meters away, and installed some sort of loop at the top of the poles in order to turn them into racks rather than having to buy entirely new racks, and pay for the labor required in order to affix the new racks to the sidewalk. Bizzare.

A highlight of the ride was rolling into Central Square were there was some sort of Summer event going on, and the DJ who was spinning music in the street suddenly started playing the Rocky theme as the mass rolled through.

After enjoying the sites of Boston during Critical Mass last night, a few of us wound up at the Other Side Cafe. The primary problem was that we had three locks and four bikes, and this was compounded by the fact that there were so many bikes locked up in the area that we had limited options for our steeds. The picture to left was the solution that we arrived at; quite beautiful if you ask me.

I appreciate all of the new bike racks that have been installed in Boston over the past year, but there are way too few. Especially in the Back Bay, where the parking meters have been removed in favor of the window stickers, it can be very hard to find a place to park your bike. Why on earth they decided to remove all of the parking meter poles, and then install a limited number of bike racks is beyond me. They could have just taken the meters away, and installed some sort of loop at the top of the poles in order to turn them into racks rather than having to buy entirely new racks, and pay for the labor required in order to affix the new racks to the sidewalk. Bizzare.

A highlight of the ride was rolling into Central Square were there was some sort of Summer event going on, and the DJ who was spinning music in the street suddenly started playing the Rocky theme as the mass rolled through.

After enjoying the sites of Boston during Critical Mass last night, a few of us wound up at the Other Side Cafe. The primary problem was that we had three locks and four bikes, and this was compounded by the fact that there were so many bikes locked up in the area that we had limited options for our steeds. The picture to left was the solution that we arrived at; quite beautiful if you ask me.

I appreciate all of the new bike racks that have been installed in Boston over the past year, but there are way too few. Especially in the Back Bay, where the parking meters have been removed in favor of the window stickers, it can be very hard to find a place to park your bike. Why on earth they decided to remove all of the parking meter poles, and then install a limited number of bike racks is beyond me. They could have just taken the meters away, and installed some sort of loop at the top of the poles in order to turn them into racks rather than having to buy entirely new racks, and pay for the labor required in order to affix the new racks to the sidewalk. Bizzare.

A highlight of the ride was rolling into Central Square were there was some sort of Summer event going on, and the DJ who was spinning music in the street suddenly started playing the Rocky theme as the mass rolled through.

It’s warm and (partially) sunny; perfect weather for bicycle riding. Critical Mass meets at Copley Square on the last Friday of every month at 5:45-ish and generally leaves to ride around Boston at 6pm. It is loads of fun, and contrary to what you may have heard or read elsewhere, is completely un-intimidating. Come on out and ride.

It's warm and (partially) sunny; perfect weather for bicycle riding. Critical Mass meets at Copley Square on the last Friday of every month at 5:45-ish and generally leaves to ride around Boston at 6pm. It is loads of fun, and contrary to what you may have heard or read elsewhere, is completely un-intimidating. Come on out and ride.

It's warm and (partially) sunny; perfect weather for bicycle riding. Critical Mass meets at Copley Square on the last Friday of every month at 5:45-ish and generally leaves to ride around Boston at 6pm. It is loads of fun, and contrary to what you may have heard or read elsewhere, is completely un-intimidating. Come on out and ride.

The perfect combination of my interest in architecture and bicycling was captured in this roof that was designed and built during the 2009 Design Build Challenge that took place in Boston last week. My friend Andrea was involved with the project; go Andrea!

I was riding from JP to downtown yesterday, and came across a paving crew that had finally begun to fix all the cracks in the paving. The funny thing is that the one and only crack that I almost wish they did not fix was one of the first to get attention. This picture is of the workers repaving that area. There were a bunch of roots that had really messed up the path here, and in response cyclists had created a 5-foot long piece of velodrome along the embankment where one could get the sensation of riding your bike against a slope, just like at the track in order to avoid all the bumps…

Over the past week of riding between JP and downtown, I’ve notice some orange paint striping on the SW corridor bike path between areas where the roots are messing up the paving. As anyone who rides these paths often knows, this is a long overdue improvement on the part of the city. I just wish they would begin to look at the access to Forrest Hills Cemetery, as my walk there yesterday was along completely unmaintained “sidewalks”. It is positively treacherous to attempt to fight against the traffic in order to ride to the cemetery, and walking in only modestly better.

…on a brisk, blustery autumn day in Boston. This is where I will begin blogging about bikes, boston, and probably my cats.

Upon the recommendation of one of my favorite blogs, ecovelo, I decided to check out some pants from cordarounds.com that were just introduced at interbike. They have reflective tape on the interior seams of the legs and the back pockets, and are handmade in San Francisco. I just got them in the mail, and I’m so psyched. They fit great, even though I ordered them in the size with which I like to identify myself, rather than the size that I’ve become over the past year or so. I can’t wait to get out of work and ride around downtown to try them out. Hopefully the crotch of the pants will be more resilient than many of my other pants which have taken on a bit of an odd worn-in pattern twixt my legs…

The perfect combination of my interest in architecture and bicycling was captured in this roof that was designed and built during the 2009 Design Build Challenge that took place in Boston last week. My friend Andrea was involved with the project; go Andrea!

The perfect combination of my interest in architecture and bicycling was captured in this roof that was designed and built during the 2009 Design Build Challenge that took place in Boston last week. My friend Andrea was involved with the project; go Andrea!

I was riding from JP to downtown yesterday, and came across a paving crew that had finally begun to fix all the cracks in the paving. The funny thing is that the one and only crack that I almost wish they did not fix was one of the first to get attention. This picture is of the workers repaving that area. There were a bunch of roots that had really messed up the path here, and in response cyclists had created a 5-foot long piece of velodrome along the embankment where one could get the sensation of riding your bike against a slope, just like at the track in order to avoid all the bumps...

I was riding from JP to downtown yesterday, and came across a paving crew that had finally begun to fix all the cracks in the paving. The funny thing is that the one and only crack that I almost wish they did not fix was one of the first to get attention. This picture is of the workers repaving that area. There were a bunch of roots that had really messed up the path here, and in response cyclists had created a 5-foot long piece of velodrome along the embankment where one could get the sensation of riding your bike against a slope, just like at the track in order to avoid all the bumps...

I was riding from JP to downtown yesterday, and came across a paving crew that had finally begun to fix all the cracks in the paving. The funny thing is that the one and only crack that I almost wish they did not fix was one of the first to get attention. This picture is of the workers repaving that area. There were a bunch of roots that had really messed up the path here, and in response cyclists had created a 5-foot long piece of velodrome along the embankment where one could get the sensation of riding your bike against a slope, just like at the track in order to avoid all the bumps...

I lived in Portland, Oregon for 5 years and for the most part I loved my time in the city.  However, as everyone knows it tends to rain there now and again.  What most people don’t know is that the Summer tends to be drought-like and beautiful.  June tends to be one of those really nice months in pdx, and the sunshine generally lasts into October before it becomes obscured by the pacific northwest clouds until the Spring.

This June in Boston has reminded me of a typical March in Portland, and it’s safe to say that I am officially “over” the whole rain thing.  Besides what it does to one’s mood, it also makes your bike a complete mess.  I cleaned my bike a few weeks ago, and this is what my chainring looks like now:

It seems odd that my first post for this blog would be about Paris rather than Boston, but C’est la vie. On July 1 I leave for a month-long program for my M.Arch degree in Paris. I will be living on the boundary of the 13eme and 14eme and the Périphérique (map!). I am getting toward the end of my Master’s degree (that I am earning from the Boston Architectural College-or BAC) and it was the perfect time to go away for a month, as I am currently unemployed. I’m obviously very excited about the architecture-related experiences that I’ll have, but just behind that is my anticipation for all the bicycle-related Parisian tomfoolery that is sure to ensue.

I hope to make extensive use of Paris’ new bike-sharing program, the one that the proposed Boston program is based on. I have read on the internet that you may need to have a credit card with a special chip in it (one that American-based cards generally don’t have), and that without one it may be between completely impossible and extraordinarily difficult to utilize the program (Times article). If that doesn’t work out, I’ve found a place up in the 8eme 18 Velo Vintagethat appears to sell some nice 70’s and 80’s steel steeds that should do the job (27″ wheels or not…) Otherwise it seems like there are a smattering of cheap bikes on Paris Craigslist that I could pick up for $100 and sell for that much if not lose a few bucks, in which case I get a bike to ride in Paris for a month for $25, sounds like a deal. It appears that in Paris they rock the Critical Mass schedule a bit differently than we do here in The Bean. They roll on the first Saturday of every month. Personally, I like that we roll on Fridays here (the last of the month to be specific) because there is generally a larger exposure of the mass to the rest of the vehicular-commuting populace. That being said, it will be really interesting to ride in CM’s that are so close temporally, if not geographically.

Over the past week of riding between JP and downtown, I've notice some orange paint striping on the SW corridor bike path between areas where the roots are messing up the paving. As anyone who rides these paths often knows, this is a long overdue improvement on the part of the city. I just wish they would begin to look at the access to Forrest Hills Cemetery, as my walk there yesterday was along completely unmaintained "sidewalks". It is positively treacherous to attempt to fight against the traffic in order to ride to the cemetery, and walking in only modestly better.

Over the past week of riding between JP and downtown, I've notice some orange paint striping on the SW corridor bike path between areas where the roots are messing up the paving. As anyone who rides these paths often knows, this is a long overdue improvement on the part of the city. I just wish they would begin to look at the access to Forrest Hills Cemetery, as my walk there yesterday was along completely unmaintained "sidewalks". It is positively treacherous to attempt to fight against the traffic in order to ride to the cemetery, and walking in only modestly better.