My favorite part is when Emily Rooney says that what I do is horrible (@6:12).
In all seriousness, it was really cool of WGBH to ask me to come on and join in the conversation, and I’d like to thank the producers of Greater Boston for the opportunity. I’m always happy to talk about biking, and how we can make it even better.
-JZ
The craziness of the past 12 hours is hard to imagine. I stayed up listening to the police scanner and reading twitter till 5:00 AM.
My apartment is right on Mass Ave, overlooking the intersection at Main Street. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the area, it’s about three blocks from where MIT Police Officer Sean Collier was fatally shot last night. I pass by the spot twice daily on my commute.
It was hard enough to digest that tragic piece of news, but things quickly got crazier, somehow, as the night progressed. Grenades? IEDs? A prolonged firefight with police in a familiar residential neighborhood? I feel like I’m living in some alternate reality. None of this seems real.
And now, waking up to find that the entire city and surrounding towns have been shut down? How does this keep happening?
I don’t really know what else there is to say. I feel empty and disconnected. There’s only one thing that we can do in this moment, and that’s wait. If the city wasn’t locked down, I’d go for a bike ride to clear my head. Why did it have to be so goddamn beautiful out today?
Hope everyone is staying safe out there.
Yours,
Josh
I got back from Portland, OR last week, and I’ve been meaning to write about some of the fantastic experiences I had there. However, as I started to compose the post, I realized that quite a bit of what I was writing fell into either one (or both) of the following categories:
a. things you probably wouldn’t care about
b. things I cannot disclose for confidentiality reasons
So instead of attempting to sidestep those issues in a long post of my experiences, I decided I’d just publish some of the “observations” I jotted down in my phone as I biked/walked/drank my way through the city. Hope you enjoy them.
Yours,
Josh
PS: I’m going to put together a separate post describing what I was riding while I was there. Special thanks to Clever Cycles and Kalkhoff USA for loaning me a couple bikes to ride during my stay!
Next week (3/18-3/25), I’m heading for one of America’s bikey-est cities: Portland, OR!
I’ve never been to the Portland before, and I’m quite excited to make the trip. Pretty much everything I know about the city comes from Portlandia (which I’ve heard is remarkably accurate).
I’m going to be out there on business, but I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time for exploring and other fun stuff. So where should I go? What should I do? Most importantly, can someone out there lend me a bike?
Weigh in in the comments, or send me an email if you’d like to get together for a microbrew or whatever.
Yours,
Josh
About a year ago I decided that I wanted to make the safest transportation bike on the road. This is the result.
I won!
It was my first race ever, and I came in first. I’m batting 1,000. Maybe it’s time to retire, while I’m still on top.
I have a confession to make: I’m not a racer. That’s why I think it’s a little funny that I’ve committed to represent all cyclists in the Rush Hour Race.
Thank you.
It really means a lot that my little idea has reached so many people, and that so many of you like it. I am humbled. The power and possibility of the Internet never ceases to amaze me, and I can’t wait to see how far this will go.
Last night, after attending a fantastic talk at Harvard about Hubway bikes, I was riding down JFK and onto Mass Ave. It was pouring rain, and the roads were slick and fairly treacherous. I stopped at the light by Church Street and planned my descent onto Cambridge Street, via the underpass.
For those of you who know the area, you know that it gets pretty hairy coming down that hill and into the tunnel. There are no sidewalks, so if you go down in there, it’s bad times. It sorta feels like you’re riding on the highway. Perhaps that’s why drivers like to speed through it with such enthusiasm, and why I try to avoid riding on it at all costs.
7/30/12 UPDATE: It’s been a while since I wrote this first post, and a lot has happened. Like my law practice, this blog has become something far different than what I had initially intended.
As I read this first explanatory post now (my first attempt at writing for the web), it’s clear that I have no idea what’s coming. What was intended as a blog about biking in Boston has become a resource for (hopefully) helping cyclists across the country to bike safer through a better understanding of bike law.
I’m not sure if I’ll properly rewrite this post to better reflect what Bike Safe Boston is all about, but for now, this update will have to do. In the meantime, here’s a recent profile that explains who I am and (some of) what I’m up to.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned, there’s some really cool stuff in the pipeline!
___________________________________________________
It’s a story that’s been bitterly rehashed by Boston bikers for decades — you know the one. You’ve heard it over and over at parties and in bars, at stoplights or, in my case, in my law office.
“I got doored. And it hurt. But I couldn’t get the driver’s info because the cop told the driver to leave, and said that it’s all my fault for riding too close to their car.”
And although the situation varies, it always ends up like this:
“Now I’m stuck with huge medical expenses. I don’t get it. I was trying to ride carefully, but the car came out of nowhere — it’s like they weren’t even paying attention.”
Sustaining injuries and monster bills, what’s an abused urban biker to do?
Without the driver’s info, the answer is “nothing” — and I got tired of it. “Nothing” just doesn’t cut it. Bikers need to be armed with “something” that protects both their body AND bank account.
So it became my mission, as a Boston lawyer, to promote safety in one of America’s best biking cities. I want to educate cyclists on their rights and responsibilities under the law. I want you to know what needs to be done in the event of an accident, and that you may be protected by our laws.
It all started with the Bicyclist’s Accident Report card — small enough to fit in your wallet, it’s packed with enough info to cover your butt. And the next step, naturally, is this blog.
Bike Safe Boston will be a resource for all things Boston biking, with an emphasis on bike law and policy. I’ll feature articles by builders, shop owners, advocates, legislators and other innovators in our cycling community. Expect links to bike-related news and developments, as well as posts I’ll write myself about local bike law and bike safety. And I’m always accepting submissions and requests, so you’re guaranteed to see the stuff that’s important to you.
Above all, this blog is about how to be safe and prepared while you’re zipping around the city.
So, check back often for updates! And hit me up with questions anytime (I’m also on Twitter). I’d love to hear from you.
Yours,
Josh
