16th Annual Jingle Ride

Put some antlers on your helmet, tie some jingle bells to your bicycle, and join fellow holiday merrymakers at the 16^th Annual Ciclismo Classico Jingle Ride.

On Sunday, December 9th, bring family and friends to Arlington for a leisurely and festive bike parade to Boston and back.  This 22-mile ride rolls through Harvard Square, the Charles River bike path along the Esplanade, Boston Common, and Newbury Street – we may stop and sing carols for passersby, or just parade along showing some creative holiday spirit.  We’ll also enjoy hot cocoa and cookies at Harvard Square, courtesy of the Harvard Square Business Association!

Join the Jingle Ride!

Date: Sunday December 9th, 2012 (ride will be cancelled if there is extreme weather)

Time: registration opens at 10:15 AM, ride leaves promptly at 11 AM

Distance: 22-mile leisurely loop from Arlington to Boston and back

Starting point: Jam N’ Java, 594 Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington Center, MA

Cost: Suggested donation of $25 (children under 18 are free if accompanied by an adult).  All proceeds go to Horizons for Homeless Children.

RSVP is required. Please RSVP at http://www.ciclismoclassico.com/jingleride2012 or contact Marc at 781-646-3377.

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Training And Summer Rides With MassBike

Trainings and Summer Ride with MassBike

Basics of Better Biking – Seaport District

The Basics of Better Biking class is designed for adults who want to get back into bicycling, improve cycling skills, learn to ride more effectively and safely in traffic, and/or participate in a large-scale benefit ride. This four-hour weekend session provides guided instruction with simple practice drills in a parking lot, easy-paced riding on local roadways for short distances, and group-discussion breaks along the way. Topics covered include bike and helmet fitting, starting and stopping your bike in traffic, shifting gears, scanning and yielding, choosing the correct lane position in the road, handling intersections, and more. This class takes place Saturday, June 23 from 1 – 5, and meets at South Station.

Bikeable Communities Training, Part 1 – Northampton

We are excited to announce our first Bikeable Communities Training! The focus of this training is to work with community members to improve infrastructure and policies which support biking as a means of recreation and transportation. Our first training will focus on effective citizen engagement, with case studies from signature undertakings from around the state. The first training is in Northampton, on June 30th from 1-4pm at the Forbes Library.

Summer Century And Family Fun Ride!

We can’t believe it’s been three years since the Summer Century and Family Fun Ride started out. Last year, everyone had a great time and enjoyed the Red Bones barbeque finishing their rides. This year promises to be everything that has worked well in the past, plus some route modifications to make it even better. We are welcoming riders of all levels to come out and enjoy a great day of riding, while supporting bike advocacy in Massachusetts.

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Beakaway Cycle Kids Charity Ride

I don’t usually list “for profit” rides, but this one sounds fun, and you can ride it without fundraising if you like.

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Bikes Can Beat Childhood Obesity – Join the CYCLE Kids Breakaway Charity Ride on May 20th

· Choose from a hilly 62-mile metric century (perfect for an early season challenge), a scenic 36-mile route, or a fun 5-mile family ride to nearby Codman Farm.

· After the ride, enjoy live music, lawn games, and a gourmet lunch under a tent at the beautiful deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA.

· Acclaimed Chef Paul O’Connell of Chez Henri will be grilling a fresh, savory lunch on site – we’ll bet this is the best you’ll ever eat at a charity ride.

· You decide whether to fundraise or not, depending on which registration fee you choose – it’s up to you!

Celebrate Bike Week 2012 in a meaningful way – give the gift of bicycling to the next generation of CYCLE Kids!

For more information or to sign up today, please visit http://conta.cc/breakaway-2012

PS: we also offer a fantastic “Wellness Sponsor” program if your workplace would like to reward employees with free entries to the ride. Please contact us to learn more about this exciting employee benefit.

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Ferris Wheels Ride Schedule

Also got a list of rides leaving from Ferris Wheels in JP, some of these look kind of fun.

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Ongoing Rides UPDATED

Looking for an easygoing neighborhood bike ride? Check out the Sundae Roll from JP Bikes. This ride meets Sundays, 8pm, at the Monument in JP and ends around 10pm with ice cream at JP Licks!

Rides leaving from Ferris Wheels Bike Shop:

Mountain Bike Rides - Sundays at 4 pm. These are intermediate-level rides. Ask John in the shop for more information. Beginner rides and night rides are also available by request!

Paceline/Road Training Rides - Tuesday and Thursday mornings, leaving from Ferris Wheels at 7 am sharp. Varied pace. 3-5 repeats of a 4-mile loop circling Brookline’s golf courses.

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Tweed Rides Are So Last Year

Béret Baguette 2011 from Benjamin Donadieu on Vimeo.

French rides are where its at this year!

ps. this looks like a hell of a good time

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Boston Marathon Rides

For those of you not in “the know” it is a grand tradition among cyclists to ride out to the start line of the Boston Marathon, and then ride back into town ahead of the runners.

Its become such a popular thing over the years that there are regular organized rides that have been going on for years.

Some basic stuff you need to know about the Boston Marathon rides:

• If you are leaving from Boston, leave early, you need to be out to the starting point WELL BEFORE the first group goes out.
• The first group that goes out are the mens wheelchair racers. These guys are wicked fast, I hear they average 15mph+ for the entire route.
• Its important to know how fast the guys behind you are, because if you ever fall far enough behind that anyone from the race catches you, you will be removed from the route and the shame of riding home a different route will live with you forever. All the good roads home are closed because of the race so this really is a pain.
• The route will be open to traffic on the way out, but by the time you leave it will be closed to traffic, so you get a nice 26.2 mile ride back into the heart of Boston car free!
• You can beg gatoraid off of the side lines people, but I would highly highly suggest you bring your own food/drinks. For me its often a 60+ mile ride (depending on where I start from), with the later half done at a higher speed, you are going to need some fuel.
• You most likely will not make it all the way to the finish line unless you leave very very early. They close down the last part once all the media and people get there. Last year I made it about two blocks from the finish before they booted me.
• Train tracks, potholes, etc. For being one of the most famous footraces in the world, they don’t really do too much to make the route friendly, beware road hazards.
• That first big hill out of the start is FANTASTIC, bring a bike that coasts just to enjoy that nice downhill. I have hit 40+ mph on the decent easy.
• Heart break hill isn’t so bad on a bike, but you might be tired at that point, bring some snacks.
• Go with a group, have fun!

So far I have gotten word of two rides for the marathon (listed below), but there are dozens, if not more. Mostly people just meet at some spot out near BU and ride out as a group ass early in the cold cold morning. Then you make the turn, pee, and scream home, its a glorious day of riding usually followed by lots of eating.

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Boston Marathon Midnight Ride
(more here)

Sunday, April 17 at 10:30pm – April 18 at 3:00am

Not tough enough to run a 26 mile marathon, but awesome enough to bike it the night before? Then join the Boston Midnight Marathon Bike Ride, hosted by Greg Hum and BostonSOS!

Since the start/finish lines and fancy mile markers will be set up, you’ll feel just like you’re running the marathon, except without all that silly cheering, and on a bike! If you don’t have a bike, you can rent one from a place like Urban Adventours (http://www.urbanadventours.com/)

Put in for your vacation day at work NOW!

Itinerary:

1. Arrive at South Station with bike and bring bike with you on 11pm Commuter Rail from Boston South Station, arriving in Southborough at 12:01. (Commuter Rail Schedule: http://bit.ly/9Thmlo)
($6.75 for ticket from South Station to Southborough)
2. Ride 3.2 miles from Southborough Station to Boston Marathon Starting Line in Hopkinton, Ma. (about a 20 minute ride)
3. Ride 26 Miles, 385 yards to Finish Line in Copley Square, Boston Ma. (Depending on your group’s pace, this could take you anywhere from 2 to 3.5 hours)

Point A: Southborough Commuter Rail Station
Point B: Starting Line in Hopkinton
Point C: Finish Line in Copley Square

Official Course Map:
http://bit.ly/bLrPwZ

Even though we’re “organizing” this event, Please know that you will be responsible for:
-Your own safety (please keep this in mind)
-Directions (Print and bring the map/cue sheet)
-Flat repair preparedness (It sucks to be stranded, so at the VERY LEAST, bring a spare tube/patch kit. If you have them, bring some tire levers/pump or plan to stick with a friend/friends who has one and knows how to change a flat!)
-Water/snacks (Bring at least a bottle of water)
-Spreading the word and bringing friends! (The more, the merrier!)
-Meeting us with your bike at South Station/Starting Line
-Getting Home (please figure out how you’re getting home since the T doesn’t start till after 5am)

Last bits:

Weather: It’s up to you whether to come out or not.

Cost: your commuter rail ticket. This ride is being informally organized as just another awesome idea that begs to be spread, so come prepared to ride and have fun!

Pace: As fast or fun as you please. Bring your friends so you can ride with them! 26 miles is a lot to run, but easily doable in three hours on a bike if you’re used to riding everywhere. Most of the route (except for that hill towards the end) is slightly downhill.

Sticking together: This is a group ride, but naturally, people will split because of pacing. Last year over 50 people showed up with bikes ranging from road bikes, fixed gears, and dutch three-speeds, so you can expect several paces to choose from.

BRING A SPARE TUBE. In the event of a flat tire, you’d be doing yourself a huge favor by stopping by your favorite bike shop picking up the right size tube for your tires, just in case. You don’t want to be stranded with an unusable bike at 2 in the morning!

You are welcome to meet up with us anywhere along the way and part ways wherever and whenever you please.

Want email reminders or to be notified of other off-beat events? Register at our website, http://www.soscities.org/

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Hal’s 26th Annual Marathon Monday Ride

It starts early, really early, at the steps of the Boston YMCA (Huntington Ave) at 6am (arrive 15 minute early)and rides all the way to the start line and back (52 miles). It is a fun ride. By the time riders turn around (before the wheelchair class starts) the roads are all closed for the race and the barriers are up. No traffic, and lots of fans on the sides of the roads cheering you on to the finish line. There was about 100 people who showed up at the start last year and another 30+ or so that joined us at Coolidge Corner.

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