Metro Pedal Power » Syndicated

Boston’s Unruly Riders

Pedal Power — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 04:58:21 +0000

Driver, Joe Myers – OK… I’m back from a week on the Cape. Didn’t get behind the handlebars of a bike at all… and didn’t miss it! I love riding, but it’s nice to get a break once in a while. So my first day back I put in a good chunk of miles for Petsi Pies and Zigo, but now I’m off again for a few more days. I love this job!
In my abundant spare time, I’ve come across a few articles about biking in Boston that might be of interest to fans of Metro Pedal Power. Two from the Boston Globe:
Boston’s Unruly Riders — Rule Breakers Challenge City’s Bike-Friendliness (Aug. 7)
Hub’s Bike Routes Beckon, White Knuckles and All (July 29)
and one from the New York Times:
Boston Tries to Shed Longtime Reputation as Cyclists’ Minefield (Aug. 8)
They’re all pretty good reads, but I particularly liked the “Unruly Riders” article. It kills me that bikers complain about cars. Everybody is out there for their own best interests. I don’t buy for a second that bikers ride the wrong way on one-way streets because they feel safer. It’s to save time and because they can. Car drivers would do it too, if they thought they wouldn’t get caught. I doubt there’s much difference in the psyche of an aggressive car driver and an aggressive biker.
My philosophy is that if you ride courteously, 99 times out of 100 people (car drivers, other bikers, pedestrians) will treat you with courtesy. Make eye-contact with people. Wave when someone lets you in. Let pedestrians cross in crosswalks, even when cars zip through. If you want to be an asshole, be an asshole… but don’t blame it on anyone but yourself.
Anyway, at the end of my delivery shift, I had to ride down to Braintree to pick up my car (gasp! — my wife’s car, actually), which had broken down on Route 3 Northbound on the way from the Cape to Logan on Thursday. When I returned to the shop, Erik (above) was outside drilling into the canopy supports for a special bike he’s building for Taza Chocolate. Very cool! I think Wenzday’s going to write something about it. Check the blog feed.

Metro Pedal Power makes the grade.

emearns — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:44:13 +0000

Tonight I was pedaling one of our cargo bikes to the farmer’s market at City Hall Plaza to rescue leftover food for one of our partners, Food For Free.
At a stop light, a scholarly looking gentleman wearing a necktie and eyeglasses pulled up next to me in his car, and asked me about the bike. I explained how the bike worked and told him about the mission I was on, to which he enthusiastically replied “Outstanding! Had this been a graded assignment, I would have recommended a score of 4.0!”
Thanks professor! Can we have an honorary degree in efficient transportation while you’re at it?

Early bird gets the scone

Pedal Power — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:36:35 +0000

Mearns was already on the scene when I arrived at 561 Windsor to check in with Taza Chocolate and Fiore di Nonno last week, so I parked in front of his trike and snapped this shot as the UPS guy walked by with a package. He’s gotta be jealous, don’t you think?
Well, I got the call for the coveted 6 a.m. Petsi Pies run today. Here’s a look at my day… before 7 a.m.
1:34 a.m. — Wake up to baby crying. Change Cam’s diaper. Hand him off to wife. Fall asleep instantly.
4:30 a.m. — Alarm goes off. Hit snooze.
4:35 a.m. — Hit snooze again.
4:40 a.m. — Turn off alarm. Get out of bed.
4:44 a.m. — Eat cereal. Drink coffee. Get dressed.
5:16 a.m. — Hop on bike, head to MetroPed shop.
5:36 a.m. — Arrive at MetroPed. Prepare trike for route.
5:47 a.m. — Depart shop for Petsi Pies.
5:53 a.m. — Arrive at Petsi. Load trunk with pastries.
6:01 a.m. — Depart Petsi.
6:06 a.m. — Arrive at Zing in Porter Square. Deliver 3 boxes of pastries.
6:07 a.m. — Depart Zing, headed to Equal Exchange Café on Causeway St.
6:31 a.m. — Arrive at Equal Exchange. Deliver 4 boxes of pastries.
6:34 a.m. — Depart Equal Exchange. Head to Zigo in Kendall Square.
6:47 a.m. — Arrive at Zigo for 7 a.m.-noon shift.

Lucky streak is over

Pedal Power — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:33:10 +0000

My bike odometer reads 800+ miles — mostly from 2009 commutes. 800 miles without incident — unless you count slipping on the ice a couple of times back in January. But yesterday my streak of safe riding ended.
I was on the way home, pumped about all the exciting things going on at MetroPed and about being off for a few days. Today is Baby McPhee’s due date — our first child — and I want to be around for it. So you’d think I’d be extra cautious on my ride home, right?
Not exactly. Riding down Sherman Street in Cambridge, I was paying more attention to wrapping my camera strap around my wrist than to the line of traffic waiting at the signal at Walden Street. Suddenly a green Civic pulled out of line — and right in front of me — to cut through the Masse’s Hardware parking lot. I mashed the front brake to avoid plowing into the side of the Honda. The front tire stopped, but the rest of the bike, including me, kept going, and there I was, in slow motion, somersaulting over the handlebars.
I wasn’t going very fast since the light was red and I’m not one of those “the rules don’t apply to me” bikers. The fall was embarrassing, at best, for me, but my camera suffered what appears to be a fatal blow. I was cradling that trusty Canon PowerShot A610 in my right hand, which I unfortunately used to break my fall, jamming the lens into the camera body.
So I leave you, faithful readers, with one of my loyal companion’s last photos, above, of Wenzday and John at the shop just before I left.
Rest in pieces, dear friend!
By the way, the driver did stop to make sure I was OK.

Sun, blogger go AWOL

Pedal Power — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:57:00 +0000

Another huge gap in blog entries caused by a combination of factors: Not taking any photos, not making time to write, blah, blah, blah… that’s all in the past now!
I noticed something strange in this photo of Erik and Wenzday from our Kickass cupcake feast a few weeks back. Look closely and see if you can find what I’m talking about.
You see that bright light in the background there. Yeah, that’s caused by that big ball of burning gas up in the sky… we call it “the sun.” It’s been hiding out for the past week, except for that brief poke through the clouds on Friday that turned greater Boston into a concrete rain forest. It only lasted for a few minutes, but it felt like being in a steam room… or Houston in August.
And we’ve been dodging a lot of raindrops lately. Not that I’m complaining. When it’s not 35 degrees out, I love the rain… Most people drive a little slower. I imagine we get pity points from some folks. (Today a woman gushed in appreciation for delivering her catering order in the rain). And the rain keeps us cool. It’s almost not worth bothering with rain gear. Just get wet and enjoy it. The only thing I’m not crazy about is the squishy shoes.

Let’s Go Surfin!

danpugatch — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:52:36 +0000

Ridiculous! I woke up before the alarm clock at about 447 this morning and started getting dressed in all my rain gear. Loki TAK Raincoat, Pearl Izumi AmFib Pants, Shower’s Past club booties. Well it was so wet out, I still got soaked (normally I’d be dry.) The day started off quickly with passing cars hurling large waves over my head while passing me. Then infront of the Musueum of Science my feet were underwater while I pedaled because the drains were clogged. It was something like this:

Well now that I’m dry, time to go back out in the rain and head over to the shop to work on bikes all day. Hope everyone stays dry today!!!

Pedicabulous

Pedal Power — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:04:19 +0000

Now there’s a simple idea… attach a small trailer to the back of a mountain bike and roll around town collecting fares from weary travelers. Apparently these guys ride 8 hours a day and work for tips, a third of which goes to their company. In contrast to a standard cab, these guys actually have to “hail” many of their passengers since folks aren’t really in the habit of hailing bicycles. I didn’t get a chance to ask what these guys pull in during a typical day, but regardless, what a great way to make a little cash, get some exercise and work outdoors in one of the coolest cities around.

Kickin’ it MetroPed style

Pedal Power — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:50:17 +0000

Wenzday walks past what’s left of a box of kickass cupcakes, courtesy of Kickass Cupcakes in Davis Square. Mearns was performing a test run with a box of miniature cakes to see how they’d hold up under the brutal conditions of greater Boston’s potholed cowpaths. The cakes did get jostled around a bit, so we’re working on a solution before we sign on to cart these tasty pastries around town. But none of the Kickass offerings were banged up enough to prevent eating. Needless to say, a cupcake feast ensued. Sorry you missed out, Dan…

International Man of Mystery

Pedal Power — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:15:17 +0000

Ran into Poo-Gatch this morning on Vassar St. He was headed to Davis for an art class. I was hustling back from one of Zigo’s satellite stores. Haven’t seen Dan in a while as he’s doing pre-dawn Petsi Pies deliveries, but he’s on board for a Monday Silverbrook Farm route or two this summer. Is this guy the quintessential messenger or what!? Hey Dan, nice rack! I need to get me one of those for the front of my commuter.
I did a couple of catering deliveries for Zigo this morning, the first one being a comedy of errors, but it ended well, with the client getting her lunch order, and me getting to the next job just in time. Seems like Zigo is an adventure every time I do it… like last week when I raked my finger against a door frame, peeling off a few layers of skin. Ouch!

Near-death experience

Pedal Power — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:35:37 +0000

This picture is already on the photo page, but I wanted to offer a closer look. I happened to have my camera pointed in the right direction last week when a commuter train hurtled past our building during our Friday afternoon BBQ. Jessie and Ann from Green City Growers were moving some lumber and got totally blindsided. In the photo, they’re laughing in that giddy you do when you’ve just barely escaped a violent, messy death.
Apparently you can’t easily hear the trains approaching. They sneak through Union Square, duck underneath Washington St. and then BAM! They’re right on top of you in our sideyard. And they’re LOUD! Kind of sublime to be a few feet from that huge, powerful, deafening machine as it rattles by… makes your heart skip a few beats.
Green City Growers is another start-up that shares an office with us in our Union Square space. They will come to your house or business, build a raised bed, plant some veggies, maintain the garden during the summer, then harvest the delicious produce for you, if you like. In a way, I guess they compete with us and our CSA farm deliveries, but we’re all working toward the same goal of local, sustainable food, and that’s a good thing!