Hey Man, Wanna Go On A Klunk??

The inspiration for my first post of 2011 (pathetic I know) came from an unlikely source: a case study from a class on International Management I sat in on today at Sloan. The case study was about Shimano, the Japanese bicycle/bike parts company, the forces motivating them to expand overseas and the way they did so, very successfully.

To demonstrate the market potential in the US for Shimano products in the 1970s, when Shimano was first venturing out of Asia, the professor showed us this video:



Amazing! I was born in the complete wrong generation. Unless there is still an active gang of klunkers out there - is there? hello? - riding my little red bicycle around the city will have to suffice for me. Sigh.

Biking in Boston in Winter

No snow yet in Boston, but in case you can't tell by the fact that it gets dark at 4:30 (wtf) and is exceedingly cold, the dryness should be a signal to you that... it is winter.

I haven't been on any long bike rides lately but still bike almost daily to get around the city which, combined with the fact that I'm an obsessive hand washer, means that I have incredibly dry, chapped hands.

So yesterday since I was walking by I decided to stop into City Sports and get a pair of gloves. I looked at every pair of gloves in the store I could find and found the cheapest pair - City Sports brand - for $15. Don't try to find a cheaper pair in City Sports because you won't be able to. They're actually "running" gloves but seem to be adequate for biking. Some of the "biking" gloves are very serious - like three pronged mittens with lining, Gore-tex, and the works. So you can have a finger free to change gears. Hilarious looking though probably quite effective, and warm.

These are my new gloves:

There is a "terry cloth snot wiper" on the thumb!

So now that I've got my hands covered (hahaha) I'm wondering about my face. The wind is strong and cold enough/I ride so fast it might make sense for me to break out the ski goggles and neck warmer. Or maybe one of those face mask things. 

OR maybe I could cover my face in Vaseline the way my Granny used to do to us before we hit the slopes as kids.

What do other bikers out there do?

Biking in the Burbs!

My hometown, Dedham, is working on figuring out how to become a more walkable and bikeable community!

They're having an open brainstorm session with the Livable Streets Alliance on November 10th, 7 pm at the Town Hall.  Should be a great opportunity to meet other bicyclists in the area and help make the 'burbs a more bike-friendly place!!! Anyone who's interested is welcome and encouraged to attend.

Hope to see you there!

Twice the something.

Today is the first time I've seen people take a tandem bike on the train.

I'm not sure how to feel about this. I obviously support bringing bikes on trains but this bike takes up pretty much all the space.


On a side note, I've never ridden a tandem bicycle but imagine it would be terrible. 

Have a nice day!!

North Shore Adventures and a Sighting of the Bike Coach!!

It's been a long time since my last post. I actually wrote and published one last week but took it down because it was too negative (basically I was complaining about the MBTA).

At the beginning of this weekend's bike adventure I was tempted to put it back up. My sister and I took the Newburyport/Rockport Line out of the city to Lynn, where we got off to bike to Nahant. The MBTA advertises: Summer weekends you can enjoy our Greenbush and Rockport Line bike coaches. For the second time in a row I tried to take advantage of this (last time was Greenbush) there were no such bike coaches to be found. We made do but I was all ready to lambaste them for false advertising.

There was still space for our bikes but there weren't any of these bike racks to speak of. My bike only fell on someone once.

We got off in Lynn with plans to bike to Nahant.

Lots of people think Lynn is really sketchy. My sister told me though that one of our relatives got lost in Lynn a while back and when she asked an old lady for directions she replied "You're in Lynn - get out by nightfall." Hilarious. Actually Lynn is not that bad - they have some cute restaurants and nice old fashioned streets. I haven't been there after "nightfall" though so I guess I'm not a fair judge.

In Lynn

 From Lynn it was pretty much a straight shot to the causeway that leads out to Nahant. 

Before you get to the rotary you want to make sure you cross to the left side of the street so you can 1) avoid biking through the rotary and 2) get on the paved path by the beach. You do NOT want to bike across the causeway with the cars! 

 This is from the other side looking back, but coming out you want to make sure you get over to the left side of the street so you don't end up in the rotary and on the causeway

 

Unless you are a resident of Nahant, the only way you can park there is in one of the lots along the beach, which costs money and requires waiting in line. 

Like these guys 

 

Fortunately drivers there is a Dunkin' Donuts right there so you can get some while you're waiting to park.
 

 Biking is the other option.

Or running like this group of Marines

 Doro biking out

Some people think the bike path is too crowded, with walkers, bikers, roller-bladers etc., but it's actually fun to see the all the other units on the path. It's an eclectic group to say the least.

 

Once you get to Nahant on your bike you can swim at Short Beach, which is a lot less crowded than the one along the causeway people drive to. 

Short Beach

You can also go to Seaside's, Nahant's pizza and subs joint, which is worth the trip in and of itself.

Seaside's - really tasty pizza and best Greek Salad ever

In total it took us about 20 minutes to bike from the commuter rail station in Lynn to Nahant. Not the most satisfying workout, but if you're looking for something longer you can keep heading north along the ocean through Swampscott and Marblehead.

The point sticking out to the far right was hollowed out during WWII and used to house Nike missiles! Now it's a park.

Doro and I spent the day there, went swimming and picnicking with some family. The water was freezing! Don't expect Cape Cod temperatures.

THEN...

On our way back into the city later that day we got to ride on the bike coach! It was pretty packed - all the seats in the bike car were taken. I was really excited to finally see and use it after all this build-up.

The long awaited bike coach - there is a rack there with straps so you don't have to worry about your bike falling over

All in all it was a nice ride and a fast, easy way to make it to the beach. I highly recommend it!

Cool looking bikes

I'm not trying to get into bike promotions or anything but if I were to get a new bike I might get one of these, despite the fact that they are more expensive, heavier, and slower than my current bike. And much more hipster-y.

Public brand bike D3 bike in Powder Blue. Pretty.

Check out PUBLIC's website here.

National MS Society Cape Cod Getaway 2010: Behind the Curve

Lately I've been thinking about normal curves a lot. Not in any profound way but just about how simple yet cool and prevalent they are in day to day life.

Normal curve

People like Michael Jackson fall at least three standard deviations above the mean.

 Michael Jackson

If you go to Harvard Business School you might be considered Ahead of the Curve.

For some reason I thought our Bike for MS - Cape Cod Getaway ride two weeks ago would represent a normal slice of the population, with a few really intense riders way out in front, most chugging along in the middle, and a few people really struggling in the back. This was not the case. I should have realized the fact that it's a 150 miles weeds out most of those who 1) aren't in shape 2) don't have a road bike 3) or combination of 1) and 2) don't consider themselves fairly serious bicyclers.

We were not ahead of the curve. In fact most of the ride we were blissfully behind the rest of the riders, typically by at least one standard deviation.

One key contributing factor was that we were late getting to the start. This was not entirely our fault - we sat in traffic for 30 min. due to 2 broken down buses blocking the road to the event. But our late start leaving Boston and my forgetting my helmet (really??) did not help.

There are a few other excuses we could dig up, but there was no denying a big factor was we just weren't as hardcore of bikers.

The riders with puppies Sibi and Fergus at the halfway point in Bourne, not looking particularly hardcore.

 It was really hot!

Regardless, we had lots of fun and I highly recommend doing one of these bike rides! It was very well organized. There were lots of rest stops with snacks, water and Gatorade (key) as well as police directing traffic so we hardly ever had to stop at traffic lights, which made us feel like celebrities. There were lots of people cheering for us along the way, from their front lawns, at rest stops, or from cars.

We fell asleep at about 8 PM on Saturday, but were up at 5 to hit the road by 6AM on Sunday. Biking along the Cape Cod Canal in the early morning was one of the highlights for me.

Together, Ethan, Jessie and I raised nearly $3000 for the MS Society.

Here's a very rough approximation of our route:

Thanks for reading!