Took the Surly out on the Minuteman before dinner on Sunday, and found myself on a very busy MUP indeed, the day, the hour, and the weather drawing all sorts of people to it. Nonetheless it was pleasant riding, and I found myself thinking about the changing demographics of that rail trail. As I was waiting at the Mass & Mystic intersection for the light to change, a group of perhaps 6 or 8 kids on bikes swarmed the not-particularly-busy intersection against the signals, and managed to get themselves across without incident. They headed up the trail, and I overtook and passed 4 of them in a few minutes.
I can't really quite tell how old these kids are, they're in that blur between middle school and high school, but what I do know is that ten years ago, the kids that age might have been on the Minuteman, but they wouldn't have been on bikes. The fact that they are strikes me as a good thing, for all that it injects a little anarchy into the traffic patterns.
One funny thing happened in connection with this group, and I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of it. Somebody had left an elliptical stationary exercise machine--not an ElliptiGO bike--by the side of the trail; it looked heavy, so that must have been someone's considered act. The kid in the red jersey saw the machine sitting there, zipped over to it, hopped off his bike and onto the elliptical and began to work out. Look for the gadget by the side of the Minuteman, in Arlington, near Pierce Field. It's the start of another story.
rod