MAPC 2012 Bike Map

Don’t know why I didn’t see this sooner, but still pretty awesome!

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MAPC is proud to present our walking and cycling map with a nearly complete inventory of the regions bicycling and walking facilities.  This map includes on road cycling facilities including bike lanes and cycle tracks, rail trails and other shared use paths, plus hiking trails.

Access our online map, download a copy of our print map, or pick up a free copy of the print map at the MAPC office in downtown Boston.

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Hungry For Miles

I have written before about some longer bike rides I have taken, and with the weather getting better that hunger for getting on my bike and heading off into the distance has been returning. Lately I have been feeding my desire for more and more miles by going out after work and doing 20 and 30 mile loops, buts its not working.

The feeling lately has been more than just a normal “hey lets go for a ride feeling” but a physical desire for going on long fast rides. I was in Harvard Sq. sitting in the sun, thinking about cycling, and without realizing it my feet were doing little pedal motions, like a dog dreaming about running through a field. I have never wanted to ride my bike this much before in my life…

There is just something so magical about loosing yourself in a long bike ride, something pure about the physical and mental experience of self propulsion. The magic for me only happens at about mile 50 or 60, that’s when my brain sorta flips over, my legs sort of go away, and I can really enjoy the feeling of flying.

The problem is I am running our of good routes from Boston to someplace and back. Does anyone have any good routes that start in Boston, go out 20-30 miles and come back? I have done the minute man loop, the neponset river greenway loop, the minuteman-concord-walden pond and back loop, any other suggestions? Links to maps would also be awesome.

Do you like long rides? How do you feel on them? What makes them magical for you? Are you interested in starting some longer rides? So many questions!

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Emerald Necklace Bike Path Under Construction

I have gotten reports that the emerald necklace bike path between longwood and park st is under construction (see map here).

Anyone else notice this? Anyone got a good detour route for people?

(thanks Geoff for the heads up)

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Who Says You Can’t Get There From Here?

Apropos of nothing really, just some food for thought next time you get lost on the road…

Some time ago, I was meeting up with a friend who instructed me to take the 57 bus to the stop at the corner of Tremont and Park.  “That’s easy,” I thought to myself.  “Why take the bus at all, when the subway goes straight there?”  Or, I could even bike to the Common up Cambridge Street by MGH, or head up Washington Street through Downtown Crossing from the South.

I never got there.

Yup, turns out there is a Park Street and a Tremont Street — and they intersect — in Newton.  And to get there?  The 57 bus even goes down Cambridge Street.  In Allston.  And Washington Street.  In Brighton.  Eep!

Whether it was a practical joke played by our forebears or just lack of communication across town borders (no…make that even within town borders themselves, sometimes), the same street names seem to pop up willy-nilly all across the region.

Soooo… I thought it might be interesting to see if I could plot a route through greater Boston in which one could bike entirely on a limited “set” of streets, even if those streets were in completely separate areas.  Although I did have to “cheat” a bit here and there, I did amaze myself by coming up with a 31.3-mile route through Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville and Newton… using only streets named Park, Tremont, Washington, Cambridge, Beacon, Harvard, Brookline, and Boylston.

How to ride 31.3 miles on 8 streets... (click for detailed map)

Let’s begin the madness in the bowels of Newton… Read more »

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New Project: Great Rides

I am starting to collect great rides in and around Boston, head on over and check it out… submitting your ride can win you a prize!

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One If By Land, Two (Wheels) If By Sea

Seems that Winthrop now has a boat that will take you from East Boston to Downtown. Got this in the email.

I have to share my exciting commute. For years I’ve been trying to find a land route from East Boston to downtown that doesn’t go over the cavernous craters of Chelsea or travel with the hell-fired cars that speed down Route 99. Up to now, I’ve relegated myself to locking up my bike at Orient Heights and taking the T downtown. This is all because the T doesn’t allow bicycles on board during standard commuting hours.

As of last week, I now have a land sea route! Winthrop now has a ferry! And I just have to say it’s been awesome. They welcome bikes and I can grab a beer on the ride home if I want. I met the project manager for Boston Harbor Cruises. He may consider getting some bike hooks or stands for the bikes to use while en-route. Check out the schedule: here

While this seams like a pricey option if you were going to do it daily, for the occasional jaunt out that way its not bad.

Thanks Marcie for the heads up.

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Google Adds “By Bike” To Google Maps

Swwwwweeeeeet!

Whenever I meet someone who finds out that I work on the directions team for Google Maps, the first question I’m asked is often “So when’s Google Maps going to add biking directions?” We’re big biking fans too, so we’ve been itching to give you a concrete answer. I don’t want to keep the good news a secret any longer, so the answer is: right now!

Today we’ve added biking directions and extensive bike trail data to Google Maps for the U.S. My team has been keeping close tabs on all the public support for biking directions that’s been steadily coming in, but we knew that when we added the feature, we wanted to do it right: we wanted to include as much bike trail data as possible, provide efficient routes, allow riders to customize their trip, make use of bike lanes, calculate rider-friendly routes that avoid big hills and customize the look of the map for cycling to encourage folks to hop on their bikes. So that’s exactly what we’ve done.

Let’s say you want to bike to work, or maybe you want to drive less and spend more time outdoors. Biking directions can help you find a convenient and efficient route that makes use of dedicated bike trails or lanes and avoids hills whenever possible. To find biking directions, select “Bicycling” from the drop-down menu when you do a directions search:

Read more here

* Dark green indicates a dedicated bike-only trail;
* Light green indicates a dedicated bike lane along a road;
* Dashed green indicates roads that are designated as preferred for bicycling, but without dedicated lanes

This is actually pretty awesome, and you can help it get better by using the report a problem link (bottom right of the map), basically this is what Boston has needed for a long time, a dynamic, user editable bike map of the city that can be collaborated on by thousands of bikers at all hours of the day and night.

Just to be silly I wanted to see what this could do so I typed in Boston to Ohio and low and behold in a mere 3 days and 11 hours google say I could be enjoying the midwest…As this grows it could be a boon to bike riders the world over.

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Give Matt A Hand

Anyone know any info that could help this guy out?

——

hi, I am a longtime area resident but new to biking.

I ride in from the south with MIT as my destination. This morning I came in on the Washington St. bike lane to the Pierre Lallement trail and then to Columbus Street. I turned left on Mass Ave and crossed the bridge. All was wonderful except for Mass Ave, which was somewhat terrifying for a first-timer like me.

On the way home I instead crossed the Longfellow Park bridge, and then took Charles St. to Dartmouth and then back to the Columbus Street bike lane. Neither Charles nor Dartmouth was as scary as Mass Ave but still not great.

I’m wondering, are there other/better ways to get from Columbus to the bridges? Alternatively, I could come up the Jamaicaway bike path and try to get to the B.U. bridge (once it reopens) though I don’t know the best connection to do that.

Thanks for any advice!
Matt

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