Veloquacity

The Cambridge Police are really great guys. They get you the care you need when you fall for unknown reasons. They have your bike ready and waiting when you come to pick it up from the property room. They’re even really personable when they’re giving you a ticket.

Yes, on my first commute since taking my fall, I managed to get a citation from the Cambridge Police. Mind you, it was only a warning, but I now have a copy of official paperwork in my bag accusing me of breaking the law.

The funny thing is that I almost always obey the law, after all I’m a pretty big proponent of Vehicular Cycling. Today was the exception, and I got caught.

I came down Mass. Ave. towards Boston, eventually arriving at the big M.I.T. crosswalk. Pedestrians obviously get deference, no matter where they are, and I lived up to that, performing a pretty good trackstand at the edge of the crosswalk. I didn’t live up to the letter of the law, though, and once I ensured that everyone was done crossing, I proceeded slowly through the crosswalk on a red . . . directly towards a Cambridge Police officer who promptly waved me over.

He was a really nice guy; we talked for a couple of minutes before he got to business, and wished one another a good day when we parted. It was acutally a pretty pleasant experience. Had I not stopped and waited – something that the officer explictly noted – I probably would not have received a mere warning.

I guess what I’m trying to say is twofold: first, be wary of the Cambridge Police, as they seem to be on the lookout for cyclists breaking the rules (a good thing, if perhaps inconvenient); and second, if you do have the occasion to interact with them, be nice, as they’re perfectly willing to do the same.

When I first thought about getting a bike here in the Boston area, my first thought was to look at what the laws are here. That makes sense because I’m a lawyer, and it makes no sense because I’ve seen how people drive around here. Nevertheless, I turned to the statutes, and here’s what I found:

Cyclists may:
Use all public roads and highways, unless there’s a posted sign “specifically prohibiting bicycles.”
Pass motor vehicles on the right (not other cyclists).
Use the bike lane.

Cyclists must:
Obey all applicable traffic laws and regulations (e.g. stopping at reds).
Give hand signals for turning and stopping.
Ride single-file except when passing.
Ride on a regular seat.
Give audible signals (but no sirens or whistles) when necessary for safety.
Have one hand on the handlebars at all times.
Have brakes capable of stopping from 15 MPH in 30 feet on dry, level pavement.
Run a minimum of a white headlight, a red taillight or reflector, and pedal or ankle reflectors from 1/2 hour past sunset to 1/2 hour before sunrise.
Report accidents resulting in personal injury and/or more than $100 in property damage to the police.
Yield to and audibly signal pedestrians when on the sidewalk (but see below).

Cyclists must not:
Ride on the sidewalk for any reason other than when it’s necessary for safety.
Ride on the sidewalk (even for safety’s sake) in a business district or other designated areas.
Park so that they obstruct traffic or pedestrians.
Tow or be towed (unless you’re towing a proper trailer).
Carry things, unless they’re doing so in a device designed for doing exactly that.
Ride with handlebars that put their hands above their shoulders.
Lengthen their forks.

Kids:
Kids under four or who weigh less than 40 pounds go in a baby seat.
Cyclists under 16 must wear helmets (unless they’re in a protective trailer behind the bicycle).
Parents may not knowingly allow their kids to violate any of the rules.

Racing:
Races on public ways are OK if they’re affiliated with an organization and cleared with the police.
Race organizers can modify the rules of the road for races by agreement with the police.

Penalties:
There’s a $20 fine for violation of the above bicycle-specific laws.
Police can impound bicycles of cyclists under 18 who are in violation of the above bicycle-specific laws.

Other (dedicated to Boston drivers):
Bike lanes are for bicycles only.
Right turns on red are legal, unless otherwise marked.
Left turns on red, when you’re turning both from and to a one-way street, are legal, unless otherwise marked.

If you can think of any other things I’ve missed, leave a comment. Also, if you’d like citations, I’ll put ‘em in. Remember, this is not legal advice; it’s just a summary of what the statutes seem to say. I haven’t done any research into how they’ve been interpreted.

Well, I finally have a blog.  At least it’s something I care about - bicycling – so I am much more likely to actually use it.

Just a little bit about my cycling life and then I have to go back to work.  I started cycling for real in middle school on a lovely blue and white Sekai.  That bike got me to school until my senior year of high school when I got the use of my dad’s pickup.  When I went off to college, I purchased a Cannondale road bike – one of the higher end ones at the time, with a fantastic color-changing paint - and rode the hell out of it.  Two centuries a weekend (one to see Mom, and another to get back to campus) was pretty normal when the weather was at all good.

Then law school in Boston hit.

I knew what I was getting into in terms of winters, crazy drivers, and long hours studying, so I didn’t bring my bike with me, and it’s still in my Mom’s garage.  I’ll probably bring it back with me next summer, but for the time being, it’s far away.  At least it’s out of the weather.

I graduated from law school, got a job, and moved in with my girlfriend (also a lawyer) in a swanky downtown apartment.  I spend a lot of hours at work and Boston’s drivers still scare me, so I went without a bike.  It didn’t help that my home and my office were within four blocks of one another; commuting by bike would have been silly at best.

Then we moved to Somerville.  Better surroundings for cycling on the weekends.  A distinct distaste for the T from three years commuting from Dorchester to B.U..  A need to get a little more trim.  All of these sentence fragments pointed to one thing: I needed to get back in the saddle.

I suppose that’s what this is going to be about: getting back into cycling after a too-long hiatus.  Well, it will probably be about a whole lot more than that.  I don’t even expect that I’ll keep the title for that long (though there is that lovely Boston – Aerosmith connection to be had), but for a working title, it’s fine.  Here’s hoping that I keep with it (the blogging, that is).

Edit: Already changed the name of the blog.  It used to be “Back in the Saddle Again”