DotBike Rules! They have been really busy, check it below!

—–

Lot’s of great stuff going on this month. As always check out www.dotbike.org for more info and updates.

Advocacy – see below for details

• Making Franklin Park Officially Bike Friendly – Sunday Sep/t 13th noon at the clubhouse – join us!
• Help out with bike and motor vehicle counts in Boston for Boston Bikes – now through Sept 25th.
• Things are looking up for Talbot Ave. bike lane, time to focus on Blue Hill
• Take the MassBike Survey if you haven’t already and spread the word.

Rides and Events – more info below

• Ride and Q & A with Lance Armstrong’s personal coach Chris Carmicahael – Thursday Sept. 17th 3:30 p.m. Belmont Wheel works
• Bikes-not-Bombs 25th Anniversary Party – Friday Sept. 25th 7:00 p.m. Spontaneous Celebrations
• 45 Danforth Street, Jamaica Plain
• TD Bank Mayor’s Cup Professional Bicycle Race & Concert – Saturday Sept. 26th 2:00 p.m City Hall Plaza
• Hub on Wheels City Wide Ride – Sunday Sept. 27th 8:00 a.m. City Hall Plaza

Save the Date for these events in early October

• Boston Tweed Ride – Sunday October 4th, 2PM – Save the date and plan your outfit.
• Somerville Arts Honk Parade – Sunday October 11th – 12PM

Making Franklin Park Officially Bike Friendly

We had a nice turnout and made a good start on mapping the numerous paths in Franklin Park as the first part in the effort to get the ‘no bikes allowed in the park’ regulation removed from the city’s book.  We need your help Sunday to finish the job!  Even though this is not enforced, both the Franklin Park Coalition and Boston Bikes consider this a very imp[ortant effort in enabling all kinds of improvements to paths and biking in the park.

Join us to finish the job this Sunday September 13th at noon.  Help measure paths and mix and mingle with fellow bike riders.  Meet in front of the Franklin Park golf clubhouse.  We’ll head out to measure, then meet back at the club house to socialize and snack.

Help Boston Bikes with traffic counts

Boston Bikes urgently needs volunteers to help count rush hour bike traffic into Boston. Every year Boston Bikes collects traffic counts of cyclists and vehicles at 20 locations throughout Boston. This data helps us track ridership and ultimately evaluate the effectiveness of our bike programs. Dorchester count locations include Blue Hill Ave. at Glenway and Dot Ave. and Columbia.  Volunteer to count (or ride and be counted!)

 
This volunteer opportunity is very flexible! The counts have already started, and will finish up by the end of September. Counts take place during weekday rush hours (7-9am, 4-6pm), and a few on weekend afternoons (1-3pm). Please go to the online signup sheet to volunteer for specific dates and locations.

 
The direct link to sign up is here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=tv9Uf0f_2fBg9AzJ6s14XvOw_3d_3d. 

Bike lanes in Dorchester

Recently we’ve been focused on advocating for a bike lane the length of Talbot Ave.  Well we’ve recently heard some positive news.  Repaving Talbot is going to happen as part of the stimulus money going to Mass Highway.  The city is pushing to adding a lane to Talbot going so far as to submit the design for a lane as part of the overall plan for this street.  While the state controls the project Boston Bikes is working hard to ensure that the lane is included as part of the implementation.  A promising step forward.

However, it’s also come to our attention that Boston Bikes would really love to get bike lanes on Blue Hill Ave. as part of road redesign resulting from the new 28X bus service.  But so far input from the community around bike accommodations has been lacking.  If you’d like to see a bike friendlier Blue Hill Ave. you can contact the MBTA, Transportation Secretary Alosi directly, or contact Dot Bike.  We’ll be organizing and effort to collect comments to submit to the relevant people and groups.

(more…)

Got this from Dotbike, they are awesome, go help them out. Go help them measure paths so that they can get bikes back into Franklin Park.

—————–

Hi Dot Bike,

Did you know that riding a bike is not allowed in Franklin Park? What!? you ask. Although the rule is unlikely to be regularly enforced, there’s no way to tell how the bicycling tides may turn. Multi-use paths in Boston parks can be designated by width, so if we get together and measure the many lovely paths in Franklin Park we can submit a request to the Parks Dept. to officially permit cycling throughout the park.

Help measure paths and mix and mingle with fellow bike riders on Wednesday Sept. 9th from 5:30 until we run out of light, and Sunday Sept. 13th from noon-2 pm ish. Meet at the golf clubhouse. We’ll head out to measure, then meet back and the club house to socialize and snack.

It’s great timing to take care of this lowest of low hanging fruit for expanding bicycling infrastructure since Circuit Drive is due to have a bike lane painted as part of an upcoming repaving project. Franklin Park could soon be *officially* one of the most bike-friendly parts of Boston!

Please come to the park on the 9th, the 13th or both to help out and meet others who enjoy riding bicycles in the park. It will be a great opportunity for all of us who love the park and love biking to meet and discuss how to continue to work together to support bicycling in the park.

Hope to see you there,

Debbie

P.S. Logistical support is needed and welcome – If you have any electronic measurers, can print a large format map from GIS, are an avid Google mapper, or can bring a clipboard, that would be super.

From the DotBike Site.

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MassBike Spins Series Presents: DotBike and RozzieBikes Farmer’s Market Ride

Join us Saturday, July 11 for the second annual Farmer’s Market Ride! This year Dot Bike is joined by Rozzie Bikes in leading this ride to five different neighborhood markets in Dorchester, Mattapan, Roslindale and Jamaica Plain. This will be the first ride put on jointly by neighborhood bike groups!!

This ride is a great chance to see the local markets, meet new people, meet all of your veggie buying desires and see different neighborhoods, all within a couple hours. The route will be about 15 miles and meant for all skill levels/riding paces- we’ll be stopping frequently and no stretch will be longer than 4.5 miles. We had a great time last year with bikers from Dorchester, Southie, JP, Roslindale and Somerville.

–If you’re riding through JP or Roslindale, we’ll meet at the Forest Hills T Station at 8:45 and depart for the Dot2Dot Café at 9:00 a.m.

–If you’re starting directly in Dorchester, meet at the Dot2Dot Café between 9:30-10:00- come early to hang out and eat Karen’s yummy breakfast items!

–The ride will leave from the Dot2Dot Cafe (1739 Dorchester Ave, Dorchester) at 10:00 a.m.

Approximate schedule:
10:00—All bikers leave from Dot2Dot Cafe for Fields Corner market
10:20—leave from Fields Corner to Ashmont market
10:50—leave from Ashmont to Mattapan market
11:30—leave from Mattapan to Roslindale market
12:10—leave from Roslindale market to JP market
12:40—finish at JP market- rides home depart

Optional- pre 10:00 breakfast gathering at Dot2Dot

To RSVP or for more info, contact Melissa at melquirk@gmail.com, or 617-308-8249 or Laura at laurasmeaton@mac.com or 617-818-2506.

DotBike has just recently turned one year old! Come and celebrate!

They’re kicking off the 2009 bicycling season with a get together at the Dot2Dot cafe on Thursday April 9th from 6:30 – 8 p.m.

Reconnect with old friends and make new ones. Hear what’s been going on over the looong winter. Find out about rides and activities for the upcoming bicycling season.

Meet Nicole Freedman director of Mayor Menino’s Boston Bikes program.

Most importantly, bring your ideas to share to help DotBike continue to grow and make Dorchester a better place to bike! Where would you like to see DotBike’s efforts directed? In what ways would you enjoy being more involved with DotBike? Do you have ideas for rides, advocacy efforts, community events?

Friends and family are welcome.

The Dot2Dot is located at 1739 Dorchester Avenue, a short walk or ride from the Shawmut and Ashmont MBTA Stations.

To help plan for tasty snacks and refreshments from the Dot2Dot your RSVPs is very much appreciated.
email dotbike@bostonbiker.org or call Andy at 781-367-9200

The good folks at DotBike have sent me a great email…Check it out below.

—-

Hi DotBikers,

I wanted to let you know about a few upcoming opportunities to help
make Dorchester and Boston in general more bike friendly as well a
couple of fun events.

1. Community meetings regarding the Talbot Avenue train station
planning for the Fairmount Line. Issues to be addressed will include
green space, bike parking and adding bike lanes to Talbot Ave.
Meetings are scheduled for March 28, April 22, May 2 and May 30.

The first meeting is this coming Saturday March 28th from 12-2 at 193
Talbot Ave in the community room and will focus on traffic issues.
For more information see www.dhec.org.

2. MassBike is organizing a survey of DCR managed paths in and around
Boston and beyond on April 19th to get an idea of their condition.
They are looking for volunteers to lead and participate in small
groups of two or three people. Survey instruments and instructions
will be provided, Time and meeting place to be determined once
volunteers are identified. If you are interested contact Chris Porter
at cdptrans@gmail.com.

3. The BCYF Youth Cycling Program and Mayor Menino’s Boston Bikes is
offering FREE cycling programs this spring and summer for youth age
6-15. The cycling program teaches fun skills and safety instruction
which encourage youth to pursue cycling.

Each program consists of 2-4 outdoor sessions over two weeks, for
youth aged 6-15. At the conclusion of the program, participants are
invited to continue cycling at follow-up programs by partner cycling
groups. The programs will be offered at a variety of locations, either
after school or on weekends.

Volunteers are needed! The volunteer commitment is for a two-week
program. The 2-4 sessions over the two weeks run between 1.5 and 2
hours.

To find out about a program offered near you, or to volunteer, contact
Nicole Freedman, Boston Bikes, 617-918-4456,
Nicole.Freedman.bra@cityofboston.gov.

4. Last chance to provide feedback on the new Boston Bike Map!

In particular, take a look at roads you know well and how they have
been rated. For example, Gallivan Blvd. is currently rated as an
intermediate road. If you disagree, please send feedback as soon as
possible. The map will be finalized and printed within the next two
weeks.

Provide feedback:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=32_2f5JXAWyZzBwzspV3XLbQ_3d_3d

View map: http://www.cityofboston.gov/TridionImages/BikeMap_Jan09_tcm1-3455.pdf

5. Volunteer to help lead the Dorchester convoy for Boston Bike Friday’s.

It’s still early in the spring but Boston Bikes has all sorts of
events on the schedule already for 2009.

Bike Week Festival is 5/15/09
Bike Fridays are 5/29, 6/19, 7/31, 8/28 and 10/30

These events are police-escorted cycling convoys for a safe and fun
commute to work. As experienced cyclists we need your help leading the
convoys.

You can find more information about these and other Boston Bikes
events through our webistes: www.baystatebikeweek.org and
www.bikefriday.org. Please also sign up to volunteer through either of
these sites.

6. And just for fun Ferris Wheels Bike Shop and city councillor John
Tobin are screening bicycle themed movies on Friday Nights.

Spring is here! Get in the mood for the biking season and Bike Month
in May! FREE movies!

At Curtis Hall Community Center
20 South St., Jamaica Plain
(at The Monument)

Fri., March 27: Quicksilver
Fri., April 10: American Flyers
Fri., April 24: Lucky 7
Fri., May 8: Breaking Away

All movies start at 6:30 pm. Free Movies! With free popcorn & soda!

7; And finally don’t forget about the DotBike 2009 kickoff Thursday
April 9th at the Dot2Dot cafe from 6:30 – 8. Reconnect with friends
and make new ones while enjoying good food and drink. Let us know
what you think DotBike should be focusing on this year and see some of
the things we have planned.

See you there.

Got the following from DotBike. They are very cool, you should check them out.

——

The cycling season is about to kick into high gear and DotBike is getting ready. Here are a few upcoming events including a 2009 DotBike kickoff so read on.

DotBike 2009 Kickoff – April 9th 6:30 – 8 p.m. Dot2Dot cafe

DotBike has just recently turned one year old.

We’re going to launch the 2009 Biking season with a get together at the Dot2Dot cafe on Thursday April 9th from 6:30 – 8 p.m.

Reconnect with old friends and make new ones. Hear what’s been going on over the looong winter. We’ll let you know about some rides and activities we’re planning for the upcoming bicycling season.

But more importantly we want to hear from you! Are we doing a good job? Let us know where you’d like to see DotBike’s efforts directed. Do you have ideas for rides, advocacy efforts, community events. We want to hear about them.

The Dot2Dot is located at 1739 Dorchester Avenue, a short walk or ride from Shawmut and Ashmont MBTA Stations.

We’ll have free food and beverages. Stay tuned for additional updates.

Other upcoming events

MassBike Thirsty Rider’s club – Wednesday March 25th at 5:00 p.m. at Coogan’s pub.

Join MassBike members to share drinks, laughs, and winter riding stories at Coogan’s pub 171 Milk St. Boston from 5-8.

DotBike commute ride home – Wednesday April 15th – meet at 5:30 p.m. at Brewer’s fountain on the Boston Common.

Meet at Brewer’s fountain near Park Street station and ride home with fellow DotBikers along Dorchester Ave.

DotBike’s Shiny Green Dot ride – Saturday April 25th time and start location TBA.

After you’ve helped make your neighborhood shine, join DotBike for a tour of some of our neighborhoods parks and green spaces. The ride will be at an easy pace and will include several stops to hear some of the history and current activities going on in the great parks in our neighborhood. We’ll provide more details as the ride approaches.

For more info on these and other events see the event calendar at www.dotbike.org.

As anyone who has ridden over this thing can tell you, it can be a bit of a hard slog. It would be great to see some improvements made for bikes…and to have that f-ing HUGE pothole fixed (on the Quincy side of the river heading north…holy crap is it big). I would also be down with fixing up the sidewalks so people wont break a leg when walking over it…maybe some bike lanes….you know that sort of thing. If you think the same way I do get your butt to this meeting and let the DCR hear about it!

(thanks Dotbike for the heads up)

—

Replacing the deck on the Neponset River Bridge between Dorchester and Quincy will be on the agenda at a Department of Conservation and Recreation meeting next Tuesday. The rehabilitation is part of Gov. Deval Patrick’s Accelerated Bridge Program, which will spend $3 billion statewide and $906 million on DCR bridges. The work on the Neponset bridge is set to begin in late 2009. The public is invited to give input on the project on Tues., Feb. 10, 6 p.m. at Quincy City Hall, 1302 Hancock St., Quincy.

Dorchester Public Art Bike Tour October 25th, 10 am

Dot Bike, Common Boston, and the Dorchester Arts Collaborative invite you to join us for a ride to kick off this year’s Dorchester Open Studios. We’ll visit and learn about Dorchester public art, both new and historical, at sites including the painted gas tank, Arts on the Point sculpture at U. Mass., murals by youth and community artists, and more. Whether you have only heard of Dorchester or have lived there all your life, there’s plenty of art discover in our neighborhoods.

Meeting Place and Time: 10 a.m., Codman Square Health Center, 637 Washington Street, Dorchester, MA 02124, (free parking, or a short walk/from Ashmont Station)

What to bring: Water, a bike, a helmet, weather appropriate clothing

Degree of difficulty: The ride will proceed at a leisurely pace with several stops, but riders should be somewhat comfortable with biking up hills and on city streets.

No registration is required for this free community event – ride-ins welcome!
For questions or further information, please contact Dot Bike at dotbike@bostonbiker.org or call Andy at 781-367-9200

Special presentation sponsored by DotBike.

How would you make Dorchester more bike (and foot) friendly?

Northeastern University professor Peter Furth traveled to the Netherlands this summer with 18 civil engineering students to study sustainable transportation in a country where there’s plenty of it. When they returned, they applied their lessons to Dorchester, redesigning key sites to to improve access and safety for bicycles, pedestrians, and public transportation.

Come hear and critique their ideas on Wednesday September 24th, 7 pm at the Vietnamese American Community Center, 42 Charles Street Dorchester, MA (one short block from the Fields Corner T stop).

Projects to be presented include:
1) Making Dorchester Ave. bike friendly
2) Transit oriented development around Ashmont Station
3) Better walk /bike access to the UMass peninsula
4) A bike rental station for Andrew and / or JFK / UMass station
5) Making the South Bay shopping center more accessible for walk / bike / transit

Prof. Furth is a transportation engineer whose specialties include bicycle route networks and urban transit. For more information email dotbikebostonbiker.org or call Andy at 781-367-9200.

Northeastern University professor Peter Furth traveled to the Netherlands this summer with 18 civil engineering students to study sustainable transportation in a country where there’s plenty of it. When they returned, they applied their lessons to Dorchester, redesigning key sites to to improve access and safety for bicycles, pedestrians, and public transportation.

Come hear and discuss their ideas on Wednesday September 24th, 7 p.m. at the Vietnamese American Community Center, 42 Charles Street Dorchester, MA (one block from the Fields Corner T stop, map

Projects to be presented include:
1) Making Dorchester Ave. bike friendly
2) Transit oriented development around Ashmont Station
3) Better walk /bike access to the UMass peninsula
4) A bike rental station for Andrew and / or JFK / UMass station
5) Making the South Bay shopping center more accessible for walk / bike / transit

Prof. Furth is a transportation engineer whose specialties include bicycle route networks and urban transit.

As a bonus, they’ll have a brief preview of an exciting Citizen Schools project that partners middle school students with professional architects and transportation planners. This year’s program focuses on plans for bike access and paths for Columbia Point.

For more information email dotbike@bostonbiker.org or call Andy at 781-367-9200.

DotBike reports that new bike racks (as part of the cities pledge to install hundreds of them) are starting to pop up. Have you seen any in your area? If so please send me a picture (shane at Bostonbiker.org) and let me know where you found it!

DotBike has done it again with another sweet food themed ride, I suggest you all check it out.

Saturday morning ride to the Haymarket: A vitaminised journey

When: Saturday August 30th from 9 AM to 11 AM

Where: Ride from Ashmont to the Haymarket and back along Dorchester Ave.

Join veteran cheapskates Vivian and Elisa on their quest to get the cheapest fruits and vegetable in town. For those who are not familiar with it, every Friday and Saturday a discounted produce market takes place in the Haymarket square area of downtown Boston. Fruits and vegetables are sold in outdoor stands at a fraction of what you’d pay for them at the supermarket.

They come by the full pallets from the Chelsea warehouses that supply many of Boston’s supermarkets and grocery stores. The quality can vary, but by choosing carefully, one can get enough fruits and vegetables for two weeks for under $20! It can be loud, crowded and a bit unpolished, but that’s part of the charm of the place. And nowhere else in town you will see such a diverse crowd in one location.

More info about the haymarket

We will meet in front of Ashmont Grill at 555 Talbot Ave. (intersection of Dorchester Ave. and Talbot Ave.) at 9:00 AM. If your bike needs a minor tune-up, you can show up 15 minutes early (8:45) and we’ll try to address that. We will ride on Dorchester Ave. at a leisurely pace and take a more scenic route once we get downtown. We should arrive around 9:45. We’ll take about 30 minutes for shopping and relaxing and head-back around 10:15, to beback in Ashmont around 11:00. It’s about 6 miles each way. You can also join at any point along the route by calling Vivian ahead of time at 617 290 5822.

Don’t forget your big backpack or a bungee cord if you have a bike rack (there are plenty of empty discarded cardboard boxes to be found to pack your fruits).

What if it rains? they’ll cancel and do it another weekend.

For info, contact Vivian at Vivian335@juno.com or 617 290 5822

And keep an eye on the event calendar at www.dotbike.org for other upcoming rides and events like our next commute ride home on September 10th and the Hub on Wheels ride on September 21st – register to ride as part of the DotBike team.

DotBike is really doing a lot of great things in Dorchester, be sure to check it all out. Below is an email I got today.

—-

RIDE TO THE BEACH WITH DOTBIKE SATURDAY AUGUST 16TH at 10:30 AM.

The Dorchester Beach Festival is happening on Saturday August 16th from 11-4 at Malibu Beach in Savin Hill. Check out their web site for all the fun things to do and see: www.dorchesterbeachfestival.com

DotBike is leading a family friendly ride to the festival along the Neponset River and Harbor Trails. The ride is primarily on dedicated bike paths and low traffic streets. If you’ve never been on these paths you’re in for a treat.

There are two distance options.

* For a 4.5 mile ride meet us at 10:30 at the southern end of the Neponset River Trail near the intersection of Central Ave. and River St. in Milton.
* For a 3 mile ride meet us at 10:45 in Pope John Paul II park near the Hallet St. parking area.

At the festival DotBike will provide free valet parking for your bike, bike safety checks, giveaways and information on our efforts to close the gaps in the Harbor Trail. We will also be providing escorts by bike back to where you started.

And if you can’t make it to our ride at 10:30 but still want to ride to the festival we will have someone to meet you at Pope John Paul II park every hour on the half hour from 11:30 to 2:30 to provide an escort. Or you can check out our recommended routes on the map on our Beach festival page http://dotbike.bostonbiker.org/dotbike-dorchester-beach-festival/ or at the ‘Directions’ page of the beach festival site.

If you would like to volunteer to help us out or for more information on this event check out: http://dotbike.bostonbiker.org/dotbike-dorchester-beach-festival/, email dotbike@bostonbiker.org or call Andy at 781-367-9200.

OTHER PLACES TO FIND DOTBIKE IN AUGUST

* Representative Marie St.-Fleur Community Hot Dog nights;

Tuesday August 12th 6-7:30 p.m. at St. Peter’s Teen Center 294 Bowdoin St.
Wednesday August 13th 6-7:30 p.m. at Project Hope 555 Dudley St.

DotBike will have demos, safety checks and giveaways at these events.

* Our monthly DotBike commute ride home Wednesday August 13th at 5:30 p.m. from the Boston Common down Dot Ave to Dorchester.
see http://dotbike.bostonbiker.org/dot-bike-ride-home/ for more info

* Boston Bike Friday August 22nd at 7:00 a.m.

Ride with DotBike and others with a police escort up Dorchester Ave. to City Hall Plaza for free breakfast and bike expo. See http://www.cityofboston.gov/bikes/bikefridays.asp to sign up or for more info.

For more information on all these and other upcoming events check out our event calendar at www.dotbike.org or email us at dotbike@bostonbiker.org

Do you love the Tour De France? Come on down to the Dot and watch the exciting stage 17! Got this today from a DotBiker.

Hi all,

Come on down to the ASHMONT GRILL this Wednesday night, July 23rd to watch the monster 17th stage of the Tour de France. This stage includes three beyond category climbs – over 15000 feet of climbing ending on the legendary Alpe d’Huez. This will be a very exciting stage with final classification implications. Even if you’re not following the Tour come down for the fun of it and have some great food and drink at the Ashmont Grill, a local business that has been very supportive of DotBike and other community groups.

John Moore, a DotBiker and member of the Blue Hills Cycling Club made arrangements with Chris Douglas, the owner of the Grill, to have the tour showing on the big flat screen near the high tops in the bar area. The coverage starts at 8:00 p.m. but plan on arriving nearer 7:30 to get yourself a good seat.

Thanks John for initiating this fun idea.

cheers,
Andy

Got this great email today. I helped to start DotBike (and BostonBiker.org provides them with their website) so I am pretty proud to see them in Bicycling Magazine!

Got this email today.

Hi all,

We knew that Steve Madden, the editor of Bicycling magazine,
is from Dorchester and that the magazine had routinely ranked Boston as
one of the worst cycling cities in the country, so Debbie said “let’s
send Steve a shirt to let him know that we’re trying and besides he’ll
love the shirt”.  So she did.

We came home yesterday to the new issue of Bicycling magazine in our mailbox
and in a sidebar of Steve’s editorial there was this – and I quote:

“There was a time when to ride a bike in Dorchester,
Massachusetts, my hometown, was to take your life into your hands. Not
anymore, thanks to the hardworking advocates at dotbike.org, who are
making the streets of Boston’s coolest neighborhood safe for things
besides hockey and loitering. Cool T-shirts, too.”
Steve Madden August Issue Bicycling Magazine

So thanks Steve and Bicycling magazine for the shout out, Andrew and
Urban Adventours for helping us with the shirts and Debbie for the
fantastic idea to send Steve a shirt.

And for those of you who aren’t bike geeks like us this magazine is by far the most popular bicycing magazine around with a circulation of 410000 (according to their site). 

And by the way, a couple of issues ago in their annual Best Biking Cities piece Boston
was no longer grouped with the worst but instead was given an “Heading in the right direction – future best” designation. We don’t think that the t-shirt had anything to do with this but you never know.

cheers,

Andy

Everyone like cruising the Dirty Dot, be sure to check out this sweet ride, presented by my Homies over at DotBike.

Dorchester Recreational Ride on Sunday June 22th, 6:00 PM

This is a relaxed 10 Mile scenic ride in Dorchester with about 4 mile on street, and 6 miles off-street with an all important stop for ice cream at the end. It is welcoming to riders who have little or no experience riding a bike on the city streets, and would like to get more confident in doing so as well as experienced riders who want to explore neighborhoods and enjoy biking with others. The pace will be slow, (about 10 miles an hour), the route is flat, and we will do our best to make all riders comfortable and safe.

The ride itself will start at the intersection of Dorchester Ave. and Talbot St., in front of the Ashmont Grill restaurant, next to the Ashmont train station.

We will start by riding North on Dorchester Ave., then take a right in Savin Hill. Those who wish to test their bike climbing skills will have the option of climbing Caspian Way, (a short -300 yards- but steep street leading to the summit of Savin Hill), and be rewarded by one of Dorchester’s most scenic view. People who find it too challenging to climb Caspian way on a bike will be able to walk their bike to the top, or just take a break and wait a few minutes at the bottom of the hill.

From there we will bike along Malibu Beach (yeah, Malibu!), down to Tenean Beach, port Norfolk, and then follow the very scenic Neponset Bike trail to Lower Mills where we’ll stop for local homemade ice cream at the Ice Cream Smith! Then we’ll ride back to Ashmont on Dorchester Ave. We expect to be back in Ashmont between 7:30 and 8:00 PM

The ride will be led by experienced Dorchester riders. People who want to learn how to fix a flat tire can show up at 5:30 PM in front of Ashmont Hill. There will be an impromptu “How to survive a flat” seminar starting 30 minutes before the ride.

If you would like to join the ride or have questions, please contact (Melissa at melquirk@gmail.com, 617-288-5548) or Vivian at 617 290 5822. Maps will be provided. We’d like to have an idea of how many riders to expect so please RSVP!

More info here.

DotBike Green Dot Ride

Join us Saturday April 26 for a relaxed bike tour of Dorchester’s parks and green spaces. We’ll meet at the back (Giraffe) entrance to the Franklin Park
Zoo at 12:30. Check out www.dotbike.org, email dotbike@bostonbiker.org or call Andy at 781-367-9200 for more info.

This looks to be a very fun event.

We have been working hard on our new bike map, check it out and let us know what you think!

The map is a record of improvements we would like to make, hazard areas, and cool bike stuff we want to point out.

This map is still a rough draft, and will be changing often. If you are interested in adding things to the map join our Google Group and follow the instructions on the map page.