Al Lester memorial bench, just east of Revere Street.
The Minuteman enjoys riding on the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway.
One function of the friends is maintenance of the various sections of the path. Each section has a steward who oversees this work.
A newsletter about recent activities is available: Newsletter 2007-01-08 Topics include:
Jack Eddison was one of the principal advocates for the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway and seeing to its completion. He was a long-time Lexington Selectman. Jack died January 22, 1993.
Betty Eddison provided great leadership and recognition of the
those who fulfill volunteer opportunities in Lexington, as well as
encourage bicycling in Lexington, Betty was also a Selectman.
She died Monday, July 31, 2006.
Many people in Lexington and the surrounding towns use their bicycles to get around. Lexington is a friendlier community since people enjoy meeting and greeting each other and the walkers and skaters sharing the paths during their rides.
Fourteen bicycle routes provide 82 miles total of convenient ways to travel within Lexington. These were developed by Bob Sawyer. Most have one end at the town border on a road that enters a neighboring town. Many have the other end at Lexington Center where the first shots of the American Revolution were fired. Others connect to middle schools. Several use or connect with the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway. Three connect with the Minuteman National Historical Park.
Each of the routes has separate cue sheets for the ride in each direction. Each cue sheet lists mileages, actions, and landmarks. These rides make good use of existing bicycle paths, identified bicycle lanes, and quiet residential streets.
Nearby sites of historic or public interest are included, with instructions how to get there from a landmark on the ride. Many of these sites have links to more information about them.
2004-07-25 The set of route maps is available as a zip file: routes.zip.
Bicycling is an important way to get to other Lexington recreational facilities: in compact table form or accessible text form.
Bicycle safety is a primary concern, as bicycle riders, inline skaters, and pedestrians all share space with other uses of paths and streets. The rules of the road distinguish cyclists as vehicles when mounted from pedestrians when dismounted. For details, see the Massachusetts Bicycle Law.
The Minuteman Commuter Bikeway and this network of routes provides easier access to the central business district and the neighborhood shopping areas. Bicycling impact on the business enterprises is significant.
The Lexington Board of Selectmen appoints the Lexington Bicycle Advisory Committee (LBAC) to provide them advice on bicycle use in Lexington. See the Charter for the Lexington Bicycle Advisory Committee, November 2001. See also the Lexington Committees page on the Lexington Town site.
The Lexington Friends of the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway is the organization through which many people volunteer to make bicycling and other means of human-powered travel better in Lexington. The organization provides a focus for activities including safety, amenities, stewardship, extensions, and publicity.
The activities of the Friends is described in the Friends of the Bikeway Letter from 1996-98 Chair Jerry Van Hook.
These efforts have been led by Mike Tabaczynski, whose outstanding efforts were publicly recognized at Lexington Town Meeting on Monday, April 24.
Recent projects to make school students less dependent on cars include construction of trails, bridges and boardwalks at Bridge Elementary School, Harrington Elementary School, and Diamond Middle School. Trail marking signs have been added in Willards Woods, Parker Meadow, and Dunback Meadow conservation areas. Also Arlington Great Meadows. Planning and funding has been obtained by members of the LBAC and Friends, with support from many town committees and organizations. The work has been completed by many community volunteers.
Al is particularly remembered at the Albert B. Lester Memorial Hostel in Conway, New Hampshire. Al's aim of life was to learn, to teach, to serve, to enjoy.
In the fall 2004 boardwalks were constructed in Parker Meadow;
located north of the Minuteman Bikeway near the
Al Lester memorial bench, just east of Revere Street.
The text reads:
Joy go with you
Peace stay behind
In memory of Albert B. Lester
September 26, 1960 June 7, 1992
Son, Borther, Leader, Friend
KILLED ON HIS BICYCLE BY A DRUNK DRIVER
Dedicated in 1993 by his friends with Charles River Wheelmen
Information about America's Most Celebrated Bike Path is available. This 500th Rails-to-Trails path was originally dedicated in 1992.
We are grateful to Jack Eddison who worked long to make the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway a success along with Lexingtonian Tom Fortmann and Arlingtonian Alan McKlennan.
Enjoy the Art Gallery, a significant yet hidden opportunity to admire the work by Caleb Sonik Neelon. You can find these where the Shawsheen River passes under the Minuteman Bikeway in Bedford.
The Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee
The Bedford Bicycle Advisory Committee and
the Bedford Friends of the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway
See their excellent set of
pertinent
bicycling links
Burlington Bike Path Committee
Cambridge Bicycle Committee
Charles River Wheelmen
America Bikes
MassBike
American League of Bicyclists
Bicycle News Agency
Minuteman Bikeway
Tri-Community Bikeway Proposed, link now broken
Bay Circuit Trail and Greenway
Shawsheen River Watershed Association
This page has details on 43 bikeways world-wide, including the Minuteman.
[1997-01-27] An off-road path from the Minuteman Bikeway just west of Rt 128 -- I95 going south to connect with the Minuteman National Historical Park was proposed in 1997 but not completed. Recently, part of the route has had some pink markers placed on it, with destination the Katahdin Woods condominiums across from Lincoln Labs. The path is better for walking, although most of it can be traversed with a mountain bike.
I review seven books on bicycling: Rails-to-Trails Guidebook; Exploring in and around Boston on bike and foot, The Quotable Walker, Short Bike Rides in Easterm Massachusesetts, New England Biking, Bicycle Transportation, Effective Cycling, and Delong's Guide to Bicycles and Bicycling Transportation, and Effective Cycling by John Forrester; Delong's guide to bicycles and bicycling.
This page shows the titles and has pointers to all non-minute pages included on this site about Bicycling in Lexington.
Please send email questions, comments and suggestions to Harvey Bingham <hbingham@acm.org> about this Lexington Bicycle presence.