Originally Posted by Holy Spokes, Laura Everett
And through this brutal Boston winter [of 2014-2105], the Freds led the way out of the darkness -- I know this from personal experience.
....
One relatively dry evening commute in February 2015, a few days after the most recent snowfall, I decided to follow my usual route and gamble that the Southwest Corridor path was plowed.... But as soon as I transferred from Columbus... I knew I had gambled poorly. The bike path was a sheet of ice.
.... So I paused for a moment at the head of the bike path, considering the best of my sub-optimal options.
Just then, from around the corner, a bike pulled up alongside me at the light. He was the only other cyclist I had seen since I left my office. I decided to speak up -- maybe he had a solution. "The path looks icy," I said. "Just take it slow," he mumbled beneath his balaclava, "and follow me." The light changed, and he turned his bushy eyebrows forward, slowly crossing Ruggles Street, using the full "walk" sign to get across. I'm not sure why, but I followed. He seemed to know what he was doing.
He moved at a glacial pace, but still quickly enough to keep his momentum. His wide tires cut a trail in front of me, and I followed.... I could tell he knew these roads by heart. He managed to hit every light of every cross street at just the right time to roll on through. No panicked stops, no sharp turns.
"Thanks for the ride," I shouted from behind as I slowed to turn off the bike path onto Williams Street near my home. He lifted his left hand off the handlebar in just a flash of a wave as he kept going, never turning his head around, not saying another word.
I don't know his name; the only thing I know for sure is that he was a Fred.
.... I suspect he rode on to West Roxbury, Hyde Park, or somewhere in that direction further out. I don't know if I've never seen him again, or if I've seen him a thousand times and just haven't noticed. I keep an eye out for that maroon Raleigh and a man with eyebrows like squirrels, but that doesn't narrow down the pack of Freds by much.