Two Rozzie Rides - April 10, 2024

 RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 10 April 2024, Two Rozzie Rides

Ride Leader:  David Wean

22 miles, 10:00 am start from Roslindale, MA

 

Riders (5):  David, Cynthia Zabin, Elsa Lawrence, Frank Aronson, and Jim Campen.

Present for two-mile section of ride:  Selig Saltzman.

 

This was a combination of two of the dozen short Rozzie Rides that RozzieBikes has offered as evening rides over the past three summers.  The idea is to show people that "you CAN get there from here" via relatively low-stress routes from our neighborhood.  Emphasis is on bike infrastructure of various types, new facilities, and interesting destinations.

 

“Infra” included a bike/bus lane, sidewalk level cycle tracks, park roads, a wide parkway bike lane resulting from a road diet, traditional off-street bike paths, painted bike lanes (both "protected" and "unprotected"), a pedestrian footbridge, contra-flow bike lanes, a separate bike signal that actually was useful, a closed-off service road, a barrier separating neighborhoods (but permeable by bikes).  

 

The first route took us along much of the Emerald Necklace.  We rode through a slice of the Arnold Arboretum, along the Jamaicaway and Muddy River, and continued over the restored Carlton Street footbridge (where we found Selig waiting for us).  After we crossed the BU Bridge to Cambridge, Jim joined us, and we briefly rode along the Charles, returning to Boston over the Harvard Bridge.  We followed Mass Ave to reach the Southwest Corridor, which led back through Jamaica Plain, back into the Arboretum where we ascended Peters Hill (the second highest point in the city of Boston), and rolled back down to Roslindale Square.  

 

The second route took us up to the Bellevue Hill water tanks (the highest point in Boston), rolling down through Stony Brook Reservation, along some newly paved paths, and eventually reaching one of Boston's urban wilds in Hyde Park.  We returned via the Rozzie Wiggle, a low-stress (and non-hilly) connection between Roslindale and Hyde Park.  

 

Lunch was enjoyed by four of us at Fornax Bakery in Roslindale Square.  

 

This was an unusual ride for the Wednesday Wheelers, in that only one of the riders drove to the ride.  Two riders were local, one rode from home, and two were picked up along the way (one a surprise!). 

 

Report by David Wean.