Northeast - Boston winter riders-how are those bike paths?

How are the bike paths? Has anyone bothered to plow and sand them yet? I'm particularly interested in the Riverway bike path, the charles river bike paths and the minuteman since I ride from JP to Arlington, but I bet there are a fair number of people interested in all of the paths (and streets) as they head back out after the first of the year. Any reports back would be delightful!

I ride the path along the Muddy River in Brookline. It was in pretty crappy shape after the big storms a couple of weeks ago. It does get plowed, but only kinda-sorta, and typically after a big storm there will be a couple of inches of hardpack left, which often turns to ice. That said, this evening the path was in pretty good shape - just a bit of ice, and a thin layer of drifted snow.

Doug Minck of Mass Bike used to keep this page fairly up to date:
http://www.massbike.org/bikeways/snow/

The bike path that runs along the Charles from Watertown Square to the Science Museum in Boston is one that I take daily. I rode it New Year's Day and it was plowed from Watertown Square to the tunnel that runs under Storrow Drive then I had to cut over to the Cambridge side of the bike path, which is better maintained, and it was plowed all the way to the museum of Science. On the Boston side the section from Storrow to the boat house just before the JFK bridge was unplowed. Then sections along Storrow were unplowed all the way to the Mass Ave bridge. From the Mass Ave bridge on the Boston side to the Museum were plowed quite nicely.

This is pretty average for the plowing they do. It is intermittent, spotty, sometimes sloppy (ie they miss the actual path completely so you're riding on frozen grass) and they get to it when they get to it- though they eventually get to it.

Studded snow tires are not only recommended for this route but practically a necessity if there has been quite bit of snow. Mostly because drainage is not great on the path and puddles turn to ice.

Road riders would more than likely be extremely frustrated by these rides. MTB'ers would find it a moderate to easy challenge.

Thanks, that is a big help! The JP bike path looks ok near the pond at least. I'll repost after I ride in tomorrow. Anyone seen the minuteman?

Thanks, that is a big help! The JP bike path looks ok near the pond at least. I'll repost after I ride in tomorrow. Anyone seen the minuteman?

I was on the Jamaicaway this morning (1/5/09) about 5:30 AM; the street was fine but the bike path looked dangerously glazed.

Center St, Rte 1 and Washington Street also were not too bad.

Yeah, any surface not treated was terrifying. I got to slog up mass ave all the way from central square to Arlington center. I hate mass ave.

But, MM trail was well-plowed in Arlington, ok-plowed in Lexington (as of last night, 04-jan-2009). This morning's glaze would be terrifying without studs.

Everything, the mm, the freshpond bike path, the Charles river, the muddy river and the j-way were all fine, but there was water in some places that will probably freeze tonight. The connection from the freshpond to the mm was dicey too. Good luck tomorrow morning!

Everything, the mm, the freshpond bike path, the Charles river, the muddy river and the j-way were all fine, but there was water in some places that will probably freeze tonight. The connection from the freshpond to the mm was dicey too. Good luck tomorrow morning!

Are you lucky enough to have a nearly continous bikepath for your commute, or do you ride those for fun? BTW, what time of day were you on the paths?

I ride from JP to Arlington, and when I can I ride over to the JP path on perkins st. and then take that to BU, cross at the BU bridge and go west on the river, take back roads to freshpond and then connect up to the mm via the freshpond parkway. When I can't I get to slog up mass ave. Blech. Anyone out there today? Was anything plowed?

The muddy river path was completely untreated this morning - about 2" of slush. I didn't even attempt it tonight - I prefer Beacon st. when the path is in that sort of shape!

Hi All, the muddy river, the charles river, the minute man, the linear path (sommerville), all had at least an inch of snow on them. They could be ridden, but slowly. The Jamaica way path was clear only on the gazebo, JP side of the river. THe other had an inch or 2 of snow too. Hopefully they will be clear this evening.

I correspond with a Michigan winter cyclist, Alfie43, and he posted this note to a thread on the Touring Forum:


I live in Kenmore Square and year round commute to Norwood.

Hello Jim,
That is an interesting commute. I checked it out on Google Maps. About 10-12 miles? What is your primary route?
Alfie (Mariano)

I thought my reply might be more germane to this thread, and perhaps my fellow Boston Commuters might be interested.

Hi Alfie,

Thanks for your inquiry. I’m lucky to have an early morning reverse commute from Kenmore Square to Norwood, and then I take a commuter train back to Boston with my bike. A well known bicycle guide to Boston is the Boston Basin Bicycle Book, which likens Boston to a basin with a rim defined by the hills through which Route 128 (now I-95 and I-93) runs. A smaller rim of hills also runs around the approximate circumference of the city. I have four major routes from Kenmore to Dedham, each defined by the hill I climb, and the local environment, and then there is a final common pathway from Dedham to Norwood.

Each route is about 14 miles long in an approximately southwest direction and though different, they are encompassed within a distance of less than about 2.5 miles from the farthest east to west. In order of the difficulty of the hills, I describe them as:

-“gritty” urban (Centre and Washington St through Jamaica Plain and Roslindale)

-pleasant suburban (Pond St to Goddard St and on to Newton St and Independence to the VFW Parkway and Rte 1 through Brookline)

-pleasant urban (Jamaicaway and Centre St to Rte 1 through Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury)

-ritzy suburban (Walnut St to Warren to Lee and on to Newton St through Brookline and Newton).

BTW, these are not especially tough hills, but noticeably different in effort. My favorite route is the pleasant urban one, and it is also the best maintained during the winter; today it had a few millimeters of slush but with good traction.

When I go into training for a century according to a ten-week schedule I follow, my weekday mileage goes up to about 30 miles and I expand my routes, going to Norwood via the east through Quincy, Milton, Canton, Walpole; or from the west through Newton, Needham, Wellesley, Dover and Westwood. On Saturdays I often go into work for a little while, on routes from 44 to up to 75 miles, from the east through Brockton, West Bridgewater, or Marshfield; or from the west through Holliston, Hopkinton, Franklin or Marlborough. All the Bostonians will recognize these places as pleasant suburban to ex-urban towns and even horse farm country, with a lot of nice cycling roads.

Route 128, as mentioned above, is another peculiarity of my commute. It is a circumferential beltway around Boston from about 10 to 20 miles from downtown. There are limited roads that cross this freeway and many of them have entrance and exit ramps from the freeway with a lot of speeding traffic. On my usual route to Norwood, I cross over it in Dedham on a fairly pleasant street, Washington (Route 1A).

Boston is pretty much divided into the North and South Shores, and my routes are all South. Living in downtown though, gives me the opportunity to ride the North Shore and I’m pretty proud of my knowledge of the crazy geography of the entire metropolitan area. I hope if my fellow Boston cyclists have read this they will have enjoyed the travelogue. Whenever I meet someone, I invariably ask them where they live, because I‘m sure I’ve cycled somewhere nearby.

But, MM trail was well-plowed in Arlington, ok-plowed in Lexington (as of last night, 04-jan-2009). This morning's glaze would be terrifying without studs.


lexington section of the mup ?

hardy har har

THE dumbs++ts who were paid by the so called frinds of the bikeway to snowblow the
lexington section of the mup ruined it. is is now worse than if they never did anything at all.

ruined it for xc
ruined it for runners
ruined it for bikers..and this is with my pugsley OR my studded mtb.

when you get to bedford, which was never molested, it becomes ridable again.


OK, arlington plows. fine
the moron in lexington just drove up the 4 inch slush making chunks and didn't try to remove anything,
they just drove up and down the mup making slosh prints, they can't even make a straight line

that crap froze, and it is now under 4 inches of powder.



I am FURIOUS. they could have left it alone and it would have been ok. but NO, they hired
a moron to wreck it. THANKS FOR NOTHING

lexington section of the mup?


I am FURIOUS. they could have left it alone and it would have been ok. but NO, they hired
a moron to wreck it. THANKS FOR NOTHING

ooh, I feel your pain on this one. Sometimes the Charles River path is done so poorly and chaotically that it renders it useless for days.

I send them nice emails when they do it right to balance my complaints when it's impassable.

I've been commuting to a different locale this past couple of weeks so I've been on road commuting. I'll be back to the path tomorrow night and will happily submit a report to you all.

oooh, not a great report on the ride from Watertown Square to the Arthur Fiedler foot bridge. I'm riding a 9 speed with 1.9 Nokian studs front and rear.

Here we go from the west:

Starting at Watertown Square on the Boston side of the river it was plowed but a few inches of snow that were mixed up to the consistency of lumpy mashed potatoes was on it anyway- rough going. It was like that all the way down Nonantum Road past the ice rink. At the North Beacon Street/Soldiers Field Road intersection the curb cuts and the island were clogged with ice and snow.

From there it was plowed with sections of a foot wide or so with bare pavement. So not bad to western ave. From western ave it was more of the same. Packed down by runners with scant bare pavement.

At the tunnel that runs under the end of Storrow Drive it was slushy, icy and thick snow up the hill to the bike path along Storrow. Again, the plowing was spotty all the way to the JFK bridge.

Finally at the JFK Bridge there was bit of relief with the path having some pretty clear pavement stretches. The stretch that runs along Storrow between Western Ave and Cambridge St. was bad. At Cambridge Street and after it got much better at long last all the way to the wooden bridge- slippery, icy, slushy bad. but the path after that was quite good all the way to the Arthur Fielder Footbridge.

All in all, not a great commute at all. Rough going even with studs and 1.9 tires. This run normally takes about 35 minutes tonight it was almost 50 minutes. I took the streets route home.

oooh, not a great report on the ride from Watertown Square to the Arthur Fiedler foot bridge. I'm riding a 9 speed with 1.9 Nokian studs front and rear.

Here we go from the west:

Starting at Watertown Square on the Boston side of the river it was plowed but a few inches of snow that were mixed up to the consistency of lumpy mashed potatoes was on it anyway- rough going. It was like that all the way down Nonantum Road past the ice rink. At the North Beacon Street/Soldiers Field Road intersection the curb cuts and the island were clogged with ice and snow.

From there it was plowed with sections of a foot wide or so with bare pavement. So not bad to western ave. From western ave it was more of the same. Packed down by runners with scant bare pavement.

At the tunnel that runs under the end of Storrow Drive it was slushy, icy and thick snow up the hill to the bike path along Storrow. Again, the plowing was spotty all the way to the JFK bridge.

Finally at the JFK Bridge there was bit of relief with the path having some pretty clear pavement stretches. The stretch that runs along Storrow between Western Ave and Cambridge St. was bad. At Cambridge Street and after it got much better at long last all the way to the wooden bridge- slippery, icy, slushy bad. but the path after that was quite good all the way to the Arthur Fielder Footbridge.

All in all, not a great commute at all. Rough going even with studs and 1.9 tires. This run normally takes about 35 minutes tonight it was almost 50 minutes. I took the streets route home.

AND that crap will now freeze solid like Russian Siberian winter for several days....

Well, after another delightful snow we are probably not looking so good again. I know the Jamaica Pond/riverway path is bad around the pond, but rideable from perkins to Brookline village on the Jamaica Way side. How is everything else? Is the minuteman plowed or must I take the accursed mass ave again?

AND that crap will now freeze solid like Russian Siberian winter for several days....


and here I am posting two weeks later and had been riding the streets until today and figured I'd give the bike path a shot again.

It's like the frozen mashed potatoes have turned into cement.

MM Trail, Lake St to Alewife, was ok yesterday, though the melt-and-refreeze was closing in on some edges. Can't say about the rest of it, I've had a nasty cold. Will try to report more tomorrow when I expect to get as far as (perhaps) the Lexington line. I saw a fragment of the Lexington segment a few days ago, it did not look well-plowed.

The muddy river path had about three inches of powder on it tonight, which I predict will transmute into about 1/2 inch of nasty rutted ice in a couple of days. Ugh. I'll take the road tomorrow.