Yesterday I read an article in the Boston Globe about the use of bicycles for transportation in Holland and the lessons we might learn from the Dutch regarding cycling in Boston. So at the end of the day yesterday, I picked up my Hubway bike from the kiosk near our offices at HubSpot and bean my trip back to Porter Square.

Sidebar note: For the first time in my career, three years ago - I became a commuter -- a real commuter -- taking the commuter rail. But a year ago I discovered the Hubway and it essentially changed my commuting life. For $85/year I have the use of a Hubway bicycle whenever and wherever I want it anyway in the downtown Boston and Cambridge areas. It's great for trips of less than 30 minutes (essentially all of my trips during the work week) and the best part is it just works. The technology is really good, billing is accurate and fair and customer service is awesome. Does it work all the time? - no - I have had some glitches - but the positves far outweigh any snafus.

So far this year during my membership, I have taken 105 trips - I get a complete and accurate report of my start location, end location and time on the bike - great for those who like to track their "exercise".

Here is a sample of my report:

Gives me chance to get an extra 30 minutes of exercise every day.

Anyway back to traffic -- you know things are changing when in addition to watching out for cars on the road you have to pay attention to bikes passing you "on the left" as the chant goes or sometimes on the right? with no warning. 

As I cycled out Cambridge Street and onto Beacon street - it was difficult to find a place to stop at the traffic lights between all of the other bikes. This was the first time I have encountered this much bike traffic in all of my riding days in the US ( and by the way - I started out riding in New York City -- biking over the 59th Street Bridge from Queens to Manhatten before it was legal to do so)

Things are improving here in Boston for folks who enjoy cycling and want to use this as a form of transportaion for their commute. The bike lanes are helpful, Hubway is awesome -- just need cyclists and drivers to have a bit more education so we can share the road.