The day after I posted my last blog about my satisfaction with bicycle riding in the city I read a newspaper article that said, in each of the past three years, Boston has been voted as one of the worst places to ride a bicycle in the US. I am not finding this to be the case, but then again, the article was talking about the improvements that have been made this year--including a bicycle lane, which happens to go the length of Boston University on Commonwealth Ave. I guess I moved here at the correct time.
On another note, here is a typical night from outside my bedroom. Loud Bostonians yelling and playing baseball. They're extra loud tonight.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Travel
I have recently made two observations of differences in "local" travel (travel not happening on freeways...I don't know of another name) around here. The first is a positive one. Cars pay much better attention to bicyclist than they do in Southern California. Or at least they are much more polite. In Fullerton, especially going down Chapman Ave., I always got the feeling that I was an inconvenience if I was riding on the edge of the road, but here there seems to be a much better harmony between all the moving vehicles.
The second observation is that street names aren't consistent...AT ALL! I have experienced this a few times on my bicycle when I haven't been able to find certain places, but I really experienced it yesterday. I rented a zipcar (an hourly car rental) to go pick up my books which I shipped before I left California, and the apartment I was looking for was only 5.5 miles away. Looking at the map, it seemed clear that I was going to be on the same street for most of my journey, but then looking at the step-by-step directions from google maps told me otherwise. The street that I was to stay on for three miles changed names FOUR times in those three miles! In the end, it all worked out fine, I found the apartment, got my books (in the pouring rain), and returned the car without a late fee.
I learned another thing yesterday, I drive rental cars differently than I drive personally owned cars. "Big pot-hole, who cares? This will be fun!"
The second observation is that street names aren't consistent...AT ALL! I have experienced this a few times on my bicycle when I haven't been able to find certain places, but I really experienced it yesterday. I rented a zipcar (an hourly car rental) to go pick up my books which I shipped before I left California, and the apartment I was looking for was only 5.5 miles away. Looking at the map, it seemed clear that I was going to be on the same street for most of my journey, but then looking at the step-by-step directions from google maps told me otherwise. The street that I was to stay on for three miles changed names FOUR times in those three miles! In the end, it all worked out fine, I found the apartment, got my books (in the pouring rain), and returned the car without a late fee.
I learned another thing yesterday, I drive rental cars differently than I drive personally owned cars. "Big pot-hole, who cares? This will be fun!"
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