I've really, really been slacking on these posts. Don't worry, I've been on the bicycle, and taking photos, and seeing cool stuff. I've just also been busy (and maybe a little lazy).
First, let me get things caught up since the great ice storm... which wasn't really an ice storm in the technical sense, but rather four inches of heavy, wet snow which melted and then refroze into solid ice. After several days of near immobility (except by foot or train), they managed to dump massive quantities of sand, dirt, and gravel on the roads. Within a few more days, the ice melted away. The gravel did not. Some streets looked more like a cyclocross track than an actual city street - the grit was several inches deep.
The next week, they brought out the streetsweeping machines (a rare occurrence in these days of fiscal austerity) to clean the grit up. The Edgewood Avenue bike lane was one of the priority routes, thanks to pressure from bicycle advocates. The RD Abernathy bike lane still has some problems, due to untrimmed street trees that prevent the sweepers from getting close to the curb. And other roads are just simply a mess. Still. Bicycles really can't use several feet that are usually available at the outside of the lanes, and cars kick up horrible dust clouds when they pass. But hey, it's better than the epic snowdrifts in Boston!
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