The flowers are blooming! BIKE MONTH IS HERE!
It’s really spring time and May is National Bike Month. We’re pretty excited and we’re looking forward to an excellent time in Christopher Columbus Park this Sunday, May 1st from 12pm – 5pm.
So come on down to the North End and grab a free Sunday morning coffee from Equal Exchange Cafe. We’ll be out there with City Sports with giveaways from Chrome, Pearl iZumi, Bern and more, so arrive early to make sure you get some swag. We’ll be displaying our full line of bikes for your inspection along with a kid-sized obstacle course for the little ones to try out bikes too.
For the adults we’ll be offering up a contest for the “Classiest Commuter Bike” up for judgment by the UA crew and a few of our partners. You can also cash in for raffle tickets to win your very own NEW BIKE. That’s right, proceeds from the raffle will go to support our statewide advocacy group, MassBike, and give you the chance to win some brand new wheels!
We’ll also have some of our favorite bike friends in attendance providing information about bike events, charity rides, bicyclist education and rider rights. Organizations like Boston Cyclists Union, LivableStreets Alliance, MassBike and RozzieBikes will have information on membership and activities. Tour de Cure – American Diabetes Association and the American Lung Association will let your know about their rides, fund raising and registration. Boston Bike Film Festival, MassBike Pike Tour, and Bikes Not Bombs will have info on their events and activities.
Some of our favorite bike related companies will also be there to share their wealth of knowledge and some giveaways. These bike-friendly partners include Zipcar, Ciclismo Classico, and MySecretBoston.
Did we mention live music from THE WANDAS! All around it’s looking to be an excellent day and we hope to see you there!
Let us know you’re coming and invite your friends to the event on facebook!
Ride into the evening with Bikes@Night
We finally had a day that felt like summer (yesterday, not today’s drizzle), which means that it’s almost time for the Bikes@Night tours to begin! A favorite among tour guides and visitors alike, the Bikes@Night route takes you off the beaten path and is a beautiful look at the city at dusk. We’ll run the first Bikes@Night of 2011 next weekend. Here’s a preview until you come ride with us…
The tour begins at 6pm right as the evening starts to set in. Cruising down the Rose Kennedy Greenway, a park created by the Big Dig project, some of the sights along the way include Faneuil Hall, the Federal Reserve Bank, and the New England Aquarium, as well as all the buildings that make up the downtown skyline. After a few brief history lessons and viewings of the various art installations on the Greenway, the tour continues across the harbor and into South Boston.
Following what is otherwise a shipping route, the tour heads through industrial South Boston, all the way to its ultimate destination at Black Falcon Cruise Port. This long “dry dock” has an excellent view of Boston’s outer harbor, including Logan airport, the harbor islands, and East Boston. Sometimes, there are shipping boats as well as enormous cruise ships at port, offering an insight into the industrial side of Boston’s waterfront.
After a brief lookout from the peninsula, the cruise heads back up the waterfront, into the up-and-coming neighborhood of Fort Point Channel. Such new attractions as the Harpoon Brewery and Legal Sea Foods offer a tasty attraction, while more warehouses and fish markets once again remind you that this is indeed a working neighborhood.
The next stop is the ICA – the Institute of Contemporary Art. This museum exhibits modern art and often hosts live music and an interesting nightlife. The overhanging patio of the ICA offers a look at Boston’s nighttime skyline, with all the windows lit up against the sun is setting. This is possibly one of the best views of Boston.
A short ride down the Harborwalk brings the tour past the Federal Courthouse, and then back onto the city’s streets. The tour rides along the greenway again for a short time, but then crosses back onto the waterfront to admire the variety of boats in the harbor. A short stop at Rowe’s Wharf tells the story of the Boston Tea Party and the beginning of the revolutionary war.
The tour makes its last stop on the end of Long Wharf. This offers a final historic standpoint of Boston, looking up State Street and into the timeline of Boston’s expansion as a city. After wrapping up the history lessons, a final look onto the darkened harbor, and answers to any questions, the tour returns to the shop.
They’re heeeeeEEEErre!
The DEW BOSTONS have arrived. See them lined up in front of the shop in all of their disc braking, green fender endowed, custom graphic-ed glory!
