jimmuller 

Hi, mr_bill. You stalking me again? Or rather, was that you called out hello on Tuesday as you passed me? I rarely have the brain cells to notice who is who when I'm focused on getting to work.

Traffic was intense on my commute today. But the ride was great!

rumrunn6

saw a boy on a bike get hit by a car today. actually he ran into the left front quarter panel & was knocked down landing on his knee & hand. he popped up & appeared largely undamaged. I called the police & gave his father my #. the woman driving the car stopped & was tending to him trying to cheer him up & recover from the shock of it all. after stopping she came running horrified

I watched the family, 1 Dad & 2 kids, a boy & a girl riding the Assabet Trail thru Maynard behind CVS. I was driving parallel to them on the short service road behind the shops. they were on my left. as I approached the cross street, Summer St. so did they. the boy was leading. they stopped at the corner on the left but the boy kept going crossing in front of me as I stopped a considerable distance from the stop line. the father & daughter did not keep riding they stayed at that left corner watching for traffic? after the boy reached the corner to the right of me he crossed Summer St following the marked crossing. I see from this pic there is no direction to dismount & walk bike. & the sign clearly shows this is a bike trail. however some cars had crossed in front of me blocking my view & the boy's view of cars coming from the right. and so after he passed the rear of those cars, as he crossed, he was unaware that the woman was approaching at a far speed. I watched & the Father & Daughter watched the horror. in slow motion, but in real time. we were powerless to help. fortunately the car was passing fast enough that the boy didn't cross in front of the car. instead he ran into the car as it passed & was knocked down, falling to his left & hitting the ground hard on one knee. as he popped up he shook one hand. I hope he didn't also break his wrist or something. the Father & daughter were in shock & slowly walked over to where the woman had walked the boy out of the road. I looked for something to write on & jotted down my name & #. as I crossed behind them, as I passed I call to the Dad & told him I saw everything should he need a witness & told him I saw the boy land hard on his knee, should it need attention. then I pulled over & called the police. gave the location & other info like what I saw & the victim's condition. the police knew the exact location, no surprise I guess there have been other incidents there? these kids were 8-11 yrs old?

in my opinion, this trail, in this town, has numerous BAD road crossings. I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before something truly horrible happens





https://goo.gl/maps/jyNN7vMvQUB7amiMA




@JoeyBike

rholland1951

That must have been disturbing. Sounds like you did a good job as a witness. Things can go bad very quickly at crossings.

rod

NomarsGirl

Looks like I'm done for the year. 5 miles into my ride on the nashua River rail trail on Saturday, I got forced off the path by someone who decided to pass the person in front of her as I was passing her. I went off into the woods to avoid a collision. Stayed upright. Got thrown off the bike getting back on the path - wheel got stuck on the lip. Had some pain and finally decided to go have it checked out. I broke my clavicle. 6 - 8 weeks.

rumrunn6

that's awful, sorry to hear that. that's a classic cycling injury I think. lot's of the greats have been injured that way. Girl’s got street cred now. JK, get well soon!

mr_bill

Oh, so sorry. Have you checked in with orthopedics, and have you checked in with physical therapy? Listen to the folks who know a thing or two because they've seen a thing or two.

-mr. bill

NomarsGirl

I have a consult with orthopedics next week. For now, I'm wearing some sort of sling they gave me at urgent care. Managing the pain pretty well with Aleve.

mr_bill

Great news.

Just to let you worry less, the orthopedic surgeon didn’t want to operate on my tendon, but then I curve-balled them and they had no choice. And then when ortho referred me to plastic surgery, the plastic surgeons said no.

So, bottom line - they are on your side. The will do what’s right for your individual case.

(And the hellacious bruising will get less ugly, maybe not as quickly as you’d like, but....)

-mr. bill

jimmuller 

Ooh, sorry to read that. Get well quickly!

ZIPP2001

Hope you heal up quickly.

Archwhorides 

Nice dinner with my son in Kendall Sq tonight, crazy tailwind home 😺

Archwhorides 

Sh*t, so sorry to hear this, healing thoughts!

livedarklions

I count myself quite lucky that I've never had someone do that close enough in front of me that I couldn't scare them back into the lane by screaming at them. I literally scream! I don't even bother with words.

I'm a bit shocked that happened to you on the Nashua which I think of as kind of a mellow path (I probably do about 100 round trips a year on it), that's an awful stroke of bad luck.

Speedy recovery! I look forward to reading about your triumphant return to the saddle in the spring.

I've got a good lunch tip for that path if you want it. Might be a good way to celebrate your return.

NomarsGirl

We love that path! There was a very large group ride out there that day. And they ride REALLY slow. I'm sure I shouldn't have tried to pass all of them, but they were making me crazy - and I'm not at all fast. Of course, a couple of them stayed behind to make sure I was alright and they invited us to join their group (on a future ride). Nice people. I just don't know if I can ride their pace. I've been wanting to find a group just a little bit faster than me to ride with because they will make me better (in theory). A group that rides 9-10 mph? I might kill them. If I got a jury of cyclists, they might not even convict.

I'd love to hear the lunch tip! Our previous ventures to that path were always on Sundays and absolutely nothing was open in Ayer.

livedarklions

Salt and Light Cafe in Groton, about three blocks off the path. Really good imaginative food. Alas, they no longer seem to be open on Sundays, but great choice on Saturday. Tiny's in Ayer is a really good diner judging by the burger I had on a Sunday. You take a couple right turns at the end of the path and go about a half mile.

Charlotte's in Pepperell is about 10 feet away from the path. Good food and ice cream.

At the right time of day, I can ride that path like a maniac because the sight lines are generally great, and I can see pedestrians and cyclists well in advance. There's a couple of blind curves where I slow down to not catch someone in the wrong lane -- is that where it happened?

rholland1951

Yikes! Sorry to hear that, best wishes for a speedy recovery. MUPs: where the carless meet the careless.

rod

rumrunn6

rode to Spy Pond, Arlington from Bedford. just a super day & no wind. sunny 49-52 degrees

mr_bill

Short errand today. Also served as shakeout for a few of the last bits.

One, with the frame and brake caliper specs at max 28mm tires, that’s what frankndale is now wearing.

Put on raceblade pro xl fenders late last night. (Mis-delivery last week where they shipped the raceblade pro, which are 3 silly mm too small.) So you may blame me for all the rain last week, but also thank me for the clear weather for the next few days. Slight toe overlap on extreme tight turns with the fender, but not a problem.

What was a problem is that I went too many clip ins and clip outs on the new cleats before I re-torqued them. The good news is I had a problem clipping in on the right boot, which is a far better and infinitely less embarrassing way to diagnose the issue than having a problem clipping out. A few minutes sitting on the curb tightening the cleats and I was back on my way.

Finally I put on a Tile Sticker which proves very easy to install on the bike very stealth. So stealth that when I looked for it on the bike after the ride I couldn’t find it. So I pulled out the app to see where I’d lost it. Huh, it’s nearby, well that’s odd, what are the odds it would come off so near home? Rang it, and damn if it wasn’t still on the bike exactly where I hid it. I knew where it was and couldn’t find it.

Understand, it pairs to your phone with Bluetooth LE, so it isn’t a gps tracker. But in the unlikely event the bike is stolen, when it pairs with a smart phone running the Tile App, you’ll get a ping, essentially crowd sourcing gps.

All and all, wonderful day to be out and about.

(And go a bit out your way to visit Mass Hole Donuts on Lake Street across the street from the Capitol Theater in East Arlington. Way more expensive than Munchkins, but who can’t love puns like New-berry Street , Pecan Hill and Revere Peach. Get there early Thursday-Sunday though.)

-mr. bill

rumrunn6

upon another look the other day I saw there is a button to activate flashers for crossing. the boy had not activated them. the lights were not flashing

NomarsGirl

Got new x-rays and met with the orthopedic surgeon this morning. It's a "good" break (non-displaced) and should heal like new without surgery. There are no changes, so the bone hasn't moved. And since it is in position, we don't want it to move.

I have to keep my right arm in the sling and I can't lift more than 5 pounds with my right arm. Obviously, have to stay off the road bike. A stationary bike is ok as long as I don't put weight on my right arm.

I never had any bruising, oddly enough. I would expect it to be technicolor by now.

berner

Yo NomarsGirl. It's not over 'till it's over. If riding a bike is out for a time, then you can do something else, like walking, a favorite of mine. Of course, you won't be trucking along at high velocity swinging your arms, but all walking is good for the soul..

It makes me very angry that some people are so clueless as to have no notion of the consequences of their actions, particularly when others are put at risk. Happy you are still with us and in good spirits.

mr_bill

First Miles - Examining 18 Months of Dockless Bikeshare in Metro Boston - A research brief from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council

-mr. bill

Ghazmh

FYI, I stopped to check the water fountain at Concord Center this morning. It is turned off for the season.

jimmuller 

Good to hear!
@berner, it's nice to see your name show up too!

I've been riding my commute maybe two or three days a week, limited by weather and whether, specifically whether I have some commitment that makes it impractical. Today was, shall we say, interesting. A bit like x-c skiing at Bretton Woods where you come out of the woods at the end of the day and have to cross the golf course into a 30mph headwind at 5 below zero. Okay, maybe not quite that bad but pretty challenging nevertheless. Plus I had a flat this morning. Ever tired changing a tube in 30 degree weather when you fingers are numb? That's what makes us stronger! And gives us something to talk about over a good beer in front of a warm fire.

berner

Hi Jim. I've had some health issues but I'm still riding. Longest ride these days is 20 miles. Amazingly, 10 to 20 miles at a time, I've accumulated 920 miles. The secret of life is to keep moving and do as much as you can as long as you can. My grandmother got to 101 and her mom was 105 and I'd be willing to bet it wasn't always easy for them.