More Boston Bike Stuff - News and Fun!

After YEARS of driving, biking and scooting roughly down North Harvard Street toward Harvard Square, it is wonderful news to hear it's going to be repaved, RIGHT NOW! The work will be done from July 13-25, bikers should stay on the sidewalk on the north side, and scooters beware, especially if the road is wet!

In addition to the smooth roads, bike lanes will be added on N. Harvard street (and parking decreased).

Turns out in 2010, the rest of N. Harvard street toward Cambridge St. will also be re-paved.

For more info, read the full article: Get ready for street paving in Allston

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HUB ON WHEELS 2009

Get an unobstructed view of the city and a chance to fall in love with Boston all over again. A ride for everyone. Hub On Wheels is your chance to ride a car-free Storrow Drive and to explore the greenways, shoreline, and neighborhoods we call home.

WHEN: SEPTEMBER 27, 2009. There's also a race the day before. Check out website for more details.

Ride Logistics

• DATE: Sunday, September, 27, 2009
• START TIME: 8am
• LOCATION: City Hall Plaza
• DISTANCE: 10, 30, or 50 Miles
• FESTIVAL: Music, food, and fun 9am - 2pm
• FREE SNACKS & GIFT BAGS
• COST: $45 dollar registration fee
• REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
• OPTIONAL DONATIONS AND FUNDRAISING
• CHARITY: All proceeds support Technology Goes Home, click here to learn more!

MORE INFO: Hub on Wheels

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More awesome events:

Bike Friday's: Ride into work with experienced ride guides. July 31st and August 25th. Learn more and register at www.bikefridays.org.

Rock, Roll and Ride: Community bike days for the entire family. July 18th, July 25th and August 8th. Click here to learn more.

Tour de Farms: Aug. 1 (sadly, I can't attend) Visit urban and community farms in the Boston area by bicycle and get a chance to sample fresh, locally grown food. Click here to learn more.

Don't use FreeCreditReport.com without reading the fine print! Really, just save yourself time and don't use it at all!

I needed to check my credit. I joined freecreditreport.com and just asked for the report with no added services. But really, the site is BS. Avoid it. Here's why:

It pulls your report from Experian, an already government required free service. Then it offers you monitoring of your report and help on ways to raise your credit. You may think you've said no to those offers, but WRONG you've signed up for credit monitoring.

You are asked for your credit card number and enrolled in a program that you really aren't aware of unless you actually read the Terms (who does that?). It explains that you aren't being charged for anything at the time on the page where it asks for your card and makes it seem they're just collecting account information in case you request further services.

A day or so after the report, I was charged a dollar. Showed up on my statement as from FCR.com. OK. A dollar, that's fine. I let it be. I continued to get more emails from FCR offering me services, which I immediately deleted.

Over a week later I see an unknown, unnamed charge in my BoA account (which is EMPTY because I just went off unemployment, started work, but haven't been paid yet!!). By calling the bank, I find a phone number attached to the charge and then called the number and guess what? Freecreditreport.com. Apparently, I was enrolled in a 9 day free trial and I didn't cancel it in time. An email maybe a day or two ago reminding me of this would have fucking been appreciated.

I assumed since I hadn't heard "scam" talk about this site I didn't need to look into it beforehand. But really, doing a basic search brings up some interesting info I wish I'd discovered before I got hosed.

In late 2006, Florida’s state attorney general’s office launched an investigation into Experian’s business practices, citing a “failure to adequately disclose negative option enrollment … deceptive advertising, misleading domain name, and failure to honor cancellations.”...

FCR is a shady and dishonest venture from Experian. I found that I was billed for a year of their service after giving my information for a one-time “free” check. When I disputed the charge, I thought that I had just been careless in enrolling. What a SHAM! – Erik, NJ (MSNBC’s Red Tape Chronicles blog)...

When I called to try to get a refund, it was pretty clear they weren't going to offer me one. They even tried to sell me on the redit monitoring service which would fight identity theft. I retorted that I was never interested in that and hit No, thanks for anything like that which had come up while I was registering. Finally, he cancelled my account and said I'd get an email confirmation. Well, that still hasn't arrived!!! If I run into any problems with the cancellation I'll have to follow the advice of this guy and this guy.

Bottom line: the safest way to request your free annual credit report is through AnnualCreditReport.com. Period.

Bay State Bike Week

Thanks to Yelp, I just find out that next week (May 11-17) is the Bay State (that's MA's nickname for all those of you who may not know) Bike Week. There are events throughout the entire state. See Calendar of Events.

Bostonian's can bike to work as part of the Mass Commuter Challenge. I've already been biking at least some of the way to work (weather permitting) but I can certainly try to do it every day next week.

The site registration is a little confusing as it sets up a page where you can email friends to accept donations for the ride. However, the pledge amounts for this event are in miles, not money and I'm not sure where money would go IF you had some donated.

Anyways, you can even join a bike convoy to City Hall for Mayor Menino's Bike Week Festival on Friday morning, which is a police escorted ride to downtown Boston.

I'm registered to ride for Harvard to work each day and also joining the Allston-Brighton convoy for Friday (will I get up early enough..?). For that I need a helmet though...guess my moped helmet will have to do.