Conference noted::bicycle

    You're moving to the state with the third densest population and the
    state with the worst congestion of secondary roads.  In general, the
    further west, the less congestion.  I'd rate riding inside of 128 as
    near suicidal, between 128 and 495 as ok, and west of 495 as nice.
    There are exceptions... a proposed Boston to Bedford bike trail will
    go right by or thru Burlington, and sections around Concord, Littleton,
    and so on have very nice backroads.  But you aren't going to find a Palo
    Alto or Seattle out here: bikers are pretty much considered secondary
    citizens by the drivers and, in general, towns and the state don't
    acknowledge the existence of cyclists.  There is a trial going on right
    now with a DWI accused of running down a little girl on a bike... I
    don't expect anything more than a slap on the wrist from the judge.
    As for towns that have a "bad" record: Stow manages to have a few
    cyclists killed in it each year with no citations issued.  .02 kb     

	I have to agree with .1. 

	I have lived in Burlington, Arlington, Lexington, and Stoneham over
	the last 15 years and I can say the only place I felt 'safe' on a bike
	was in certain parts of Lexington (Wood St or whatver road turns into 
	Paige Rd in Bedford) and that was 10 yrs ago so I won't even say that		
	it's OK now. Basically, if I wanted to ride, it was put the bike in
	the car and drive to Carlisle, Concord, etc.

	The good news is that Stoneham is close to Middlesex Fells where
	mountain biking was permitted. I know there was controversy over that 
	and you'll have to check as to what the current status is.

	I have since moved to Groton (outside of I-495 and much closer to LKG) 
	and the difference is night and day. Sure, there are some
	un-enlightened types (mostly in pick-up trucks for some reason) who
	don't like lycra but it's still infinitely more pleasurable than
	the greater 128 area.

	my $.02

	-tom

    
    The trial along the Charles River from Brighton to Boston is great
    place to ride the bike, roller skating, walking and you name it. It
    also has a very nice scenery view to Cambridge side. But there are a
    lot of paths for biking outside of RT 128 such as on RT 117. Cycle Loft,
    the Bike Shop in Burlington have the information on biking in Boston
    area book. It will at least help.
    
    Happy riding!
    Kevin
    

    AFTER READING
    
    "The trial"
    
    my first reaction was: "Didn't I just leave that notes file and come
    over here to this nice friendly place."
    
    Then it was, "OH! 'Trail'"
    
    :-)))))

re .3,.4

From what I've heard riding on the trail along the Charles River can be a bit of
a trial.  There are often too many people walking, pushing strolllers,
rollerblading, etc., to allow biking at anything more than a casual pace.

Rich

re: .1

>>> a proposed Boston to Bedford bike trail will go right by or thru Burlington

Any idea what the likelihood is of this happening, & when?
Thanks!

    
    re .3, .4, .5:  I HATE riding on this "trail".  It gets way too
    many users---you've got your novice rollerbladers who haven't
    learned how to stop yet, the jerks with the Walkmans who can't
    hear you coming, etc.  It's inhabited by too many jerks, IMO.
    Definitely NOT fun!
    

    Regarding .1
    
     The TRIAL is over and Mr. Alden got 4.5 years for DWI, Leaving the
    Scene of a Personal injury accident but was found NOT guilty of some
    charge relating to reckless endangerment(sp/term ?).
    
     In MHO he got off too easy...this guy has a record of over 5 DWI
    convictions!! If it was my son or daughter that he ran down and then
    split..4.5 years would just give me 'nuff time to plan his "accident".
    
    PM

    I disagree with .1 and .2.  I live in the western part of Arlington and
    have easy, pleasant, and safe access to Concord Ave, which connects to
    Trapelo Road and Lincoln and Concord. 
    
    Once you're out there, some great cycling is available if you know
    where
    to go.  My point is that there are some good routes out there that
    are not "suicidal" and lead to some great riding territory.
    
    Also, Boston's CRW (branch of the LAW) gives an excellent overview
    of the best riding in the Boston area.
    
    Patrick
    are not suicidal.
    
    Boston also has the Charles River Wheelmen, 
    
    
    
    
    
    

    Excuse the left-over words in the previous message!
    
    Patrick

    	The place you be talking about is called "The Esplanade".
    
    	Like, the Hatch Shell, where the Boston Pops play every July 4th?
    
    	The Esplanade is good for putting along at 5 mph or less, but it
    	does run for about 7 or 8 miles between Watertown and The Science
    	Museum in Boston.
    
    	Regarding Burlington, I recently took a coworker/bike-nut on one
    	of my usual training rides in the local area. It was a thirty mile
    	loop out around Walden Pond (where Don Henley walked recently).
    	To me, it's a nice ride. As for Mike, he claimed to have brushed
    	death no less than three times, with each incident progressively
    	worse than the previous.
    
    	It's really up to the individual. I actually can pedal into Boston
    	easier than driving into Boston. But riding with traffic flowing
    	next to you (as in inches away from you) affects different people
    	in different ways.
    
    	The previous notes mentioned the CRW. The Charles River Wheelmen
    	are usually listed in The Boston Globe on fridays, the weekend
    	section. I would recommend participating in some group rides.
    	The people in the CRW have always been friendly to me, and I'm not
    	even a member, I just show up for a ride once in a while.
    
    	But if you'd like, I can take you on the "death loop", as my friend
    	Mike calls it. Walden Pond is a BEAUTIFUL destination, and when the
    	weather gets warmer, the swimming is absolutely THE best. BUT, no
    	mountain bikes allowed near the pond. There are all sorts of other
    	trails around Walden Pond that are great for MTB "abuse".
    
    	BTW, this area is the birthplace of America! Pedal up to Lexington
    	green, and there's the Minuteman Statue staring you in the face.
    	There's the old Battle road, and the path Paul Revere rode to pass
    	the word on to his comrades...
    
    	To be brief, there are plenty of nice, shouldered roads all through
    	Concord, Bedford, Lexington, and around Hanscom Air Force Base.
    	Hanscom occupies four townships, all of which have some decent roads
    	for bikin'...
    						Regards, Patrick

     I agree with Paul... It's unbelievable that a guy like that can
    get 4.5 years for that. The proven track record on the guy shows 
    a totally irresponsible human being.
    
     My guess is he'll be out in 18mos... Another insult to the family.
    A loss that will never be vindicated.
    
     Chip

I moved to the Hudson, MA area from Austin, TX about a
year and a half ago.  I was worried that the roads would
not be very safe for biking, but I have really been
pleasantly surprised.  In Texas there were some really
remote roads that were great for riding, but those were
all out in the country.  It was pretty difficult to get
around in the city.

Now I live in Concord, MA, and the riding around there
is great.  I have about a 15 mile commute to Hudson, and
can stay on small rural roads with very little traffic.
That would have been very difficult in Texas.

While MA is densely populated, most of that is inside
128.  Outside of that, there are some very busy roads,
but with a good map (I can recommend one), it is pretty
easy to find great roads for riding.  There are nice
roads from Concord/Acton up to 225, and I believe that
goes pretty close to Burlington.  There are many roads
with vey little traffic all around that area.  I really
can't say what you will find inside 128, though.  BTW,
it is a very easy commute from Concord to Burlington -
you might look for housing in that area.

Admittedly, there are some jerks on the road who have
no respect for bicycles.  But, these people really have
no respect for cars, either, it's just that we are a
little more vulnerable.  For the most part, I find 
people in this area very tolerant of bicycles, partly
because the speed limits are often close to speeds that
you can do on a bike.  In Texas, the cars were always
going much faster than bikes, which made it very
dangerous even though the roads were bigger.

If you want any more info about the Concord area, let me
know.  Maybe I can take you on a ride around there
sometime.

Bill

    re: .6
    
    The proposed bike trial follows an old railroad right-of-way.  It is
    supposed to start out near the Alewife "T" station in North Cambridge
    and head out to Bedford.
    
    The town of Arlington has been working on the trail for the past few
    months.  They look about ready to put down some pavement on sections of
    the trail between Arlington Center and the Lexington town line.
    
    I was riding though Lexington earlier this week.  It doesn't look as if
    they've even started clearing debris from the railroad bed.  Too bad. 
    Once this trail is completed, it will offer great riding though some
    really nice suburbs.  I'm anxiously wait for it to be ready, especially
    since I live just about 1 mile outside of Arlington center!
    
    As I get more info, I'll post it here.
    
     - Ron  (aka  Q)