Cool Technology of the Week

I work in the Longwood Medical Area - a former cowpath that is now the only access to the center of biomedical research, healthcare, and informatics. It's a very challenging place to commute, especially on Red Sox games days. I carry a red sox schedule in my wallet to help me plan commutes - leaving an hour earlier in the morning or an hour later at night.

There must be a better way than trying to drive through a nightmare of red sox traffic, commuters, and road construction.

In July I'm going to try a bold experiment with a cool technology. I'm going to park my car away from the madness and use a foldable bicycle that weighs under 20 pounds for all my Boston city commuting.

I've investigating many folding bicycle technologies - Bike Friday, Brompton, and Dahon, but none is light enough, small enough, or quick to fold enough to just toss in and our of car/office/train in a few seconds. The Strida is.

The Strida was invented by Mark Sanders in the UK in the 1980's as part of his graduate work. It's use case is not long distance travel or hill climbing. It's a greaseless, chainless, gearless bike that folds in 10 seconds and is perfect for Park and Bike or Train and Bike travel.

My goal in July is to leave the car 2 miles from the Longwood Medical area in a place that's easy to commute to/from, then bike to all my remaining destinations. Admittedly our unusually wet Summer this year in Boston will make this a bit challenging, but my rayon and linen clothes drive fast. I have a messenger bag for my Macbook Air and meeting materials.

So if you're in Boston, look for me on a Strida, dressed in black and carrying a computer on my back. My only reservation is that rock climbing, ice climbing, and kayaking are completely safe compared to bicycling in Boston. My Mort level may go up a bit during this experiment. Those disc brakes on the Strida are likely to come in handy.

A lightweight, folding, greaseless bike to solve your commuting nightmares. That's cool!