Usually biking to work involves getting on the bike and riding to work. Today was a bit more interesting 🙂

I had wanted to join the Walk/Ride Fridays crew from RozzieBikes for the second time. They were to depart Roslindale Square at 7:30, so my plan was to get up at 6:30, shower, and bike up to join them.

ACT ONE

But then I forgot to set my alarm. Um, oops.

Luckily I woke up on my own at 6:50. So I jumped in the shower, threw my bike on the back of my car, and drove to Roslindale Square. Arriving at 7:32, I could just see Doug and the crew pulling out and heading for Arnold Arboretum. I tried to get their attention, but of course I still needed to park my car. By the time I found a space, they were long gone.

Decision time: punt, or try to catch them? At first I moped back to my car but then thought “hey, let’s go for it.” I figured the hills of the Arboretum might slow them down a bit, so I hightailed it up the Washington St. bike lane. I hoped to catch the group during their stop to meet people at the Jamaica Pond boathouse…but no luck. I kept riding and caught a break in traffic to cross Route 9. Finally, I caught up with the group on the Olmstead Park path in Brookline.

ACT TWO

When the group of us got to the intersection of Park Dr. and Beacon, we all pulled to a stop at the light…only to notice mac & cheese, meatballs, and a bunch of metal serving trays scattered all over the road. Cars were, unbelievably, driving right along and bumping into the serving trays, but no one was doing anything to help.

“Let’s go!” yelled Doug. We put down our bikes on the sidewalk and sprang into action, grabbing the serving trays (one of them still full of meatballs) and dragging them out of the way. It was the first time I’ve ever heard cagers yell “THANK YOU! WE LOVE YOU!” at a bunch of bikers.
Too bad none of us through to grab a camera.

ACT THREE

We turned down Back St to make our way to one of the Esplanade footbridges. Before long, we saw the yellow police tape with a policeman in front of it. I’ll admit that my first reaction was that-must-be-for-cars-we’ll-sail-right-through, but he wasn’t about to give us safe passage. “You see, that building is about to fall,” he said, pointing to what I thought was the law school though I’m not sure.

So, we went around the building instead. My most eventful commute to date!

The ride home was fairly uneventful except for some guy on a road bike tailing me on the southbound Washington St. bike lane in Roslindale. I slipped to the right to let him pass me, figuring he was one of these zero-body-fat cyclists who averages 22mph going uphill. But when I pulled over a bit, he said “No problem, I’m just checking out your bike! Where are the gears? The brakes? The chain?” We had a nice chat.