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Speaker 1: From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.

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Speaker 1: Each week right here, we come together, we talk about

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Speaker 1: all the topics important to you and the place where

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Speaker 1: you live. Great to have you back with us this week.

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Speaker 1: I'm Nicole Davis. Now that's springtime's here in Massachusetts. It's

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Speaker 1: a little bit easier to emerge from the cocoon that

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Speaker 1: is our house and get outside and enjoy all of

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Speaker 1: our gorgeous parks that we have here in Greater Boston.

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Speaker 1: Think about it. We've got the River, wage you make

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Speaker 1: a pond, Franklin Park, the Back Bay Fence, the Esplanade,

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Speaker 1: so many to choose from, and some of the best

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Speaker 1: known parks are connected by something called the Emerald Necklace.

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Speaker 1: This was designed more than one hundred years ago and

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Speaker 1: it connects parks through Boston and Brookline. One of the

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Speaker 1: best ways to explore it, though, is on two wheels.

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Speaker 1: In the coming weeks, it's going to be easier than

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Speaker 1: ever for you to do just that, as the Emerald

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Speaker 1: Necklace Conservancy is hosting a series of community bike rides.

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Speaker 1: Let's learn more about them now with Carlin Singmaster. She's

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Speaker 1: the senior events manager at the Conservancy. Carl and I

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Speaker 1: imagine now that the weather is getting better, things are

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Speaker 1: getting pretty busy over there for you. Now that spring

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Speaker 1: has arrived.

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Speaker 2: The Necklace is coming to life, that is for sure.

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Speaker 2: You know, all the snow is melted, the trees are

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Speaker 2: starting to bloom and bud. We're getting ready to activate

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Speaker 2: a number of programs, including our Canopy Classroom, which is

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Speaker 2: where we invite third and fourth graders throughout the Boston

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Speaker 2: Public School to come and learn and have an education experience.

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Speaker 2: Actually in the park, we have a number of volunteer

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Speaker 2: days coming up on the weekend, so we're really gearing up.

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Speaker 2: We also have our Muddy River Cleanup, which happens during

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Speaker 2: Earth Week the middle of April, so that is a

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Speaker 2: big day where everyone comes out and cleans up the

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Speaker 2: river and the park, and we have over one thousand

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Speaker 2: volunteers every year. So we have a lot going on.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you do, including this event. So a three part

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Speaker 1: community bike ride series called Pedal the Necklace, and the

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Speaker 1: first ride is coming up here in just a matter

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Speaker 1: of days. Tell us some how this all came together

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Speaker 1: and why you wanted to focus on biking through the Necklace.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that is a great question. So obviously Boston is

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Speaker 2: a biking city.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: We have a lot of bike lanes, We have a

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Speaker 2: lot of people that use biking for commuting but also

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Speaker 2: for pleasure, and the Emerald Necklace is just a beautiful

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Speaker 2: place for people to ride their bikes, again for pleasure

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Speaker 2: and for commuting, And we just thought it might be

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Speaker 2: a great opportunity to partner with a few folks and

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Speaker 2: get people out there in the park and show them

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Speaker 2: how to ride their bike safely throughout the Necklift. Because

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Speaker 2: of course there are cars, there are some limited pathways,

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Speaker 2: so we just really wanted to give people an opportunity

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Speaker 2: to get out there. And whether you're a new biker

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Speaker 2: or new to the area, or someone that spiked for

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Speaker 2: a while but just may not be familiar with the Necklace,

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Speaker 2: we just thought this might be a great opportunity to

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Speaker 2: get people out there.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, I think that it can be a

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Speaker 1: little overwhelming the bike in Boston, even though we do

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Speaker 1: have a lot of extensive biking infrastructure, people here know

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Speaker 1: what they're doing on those bikes, and if you're a

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Speaker 1: new biker, you might go, oh my gosh, I'm like

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Speaker 1: terrified to rent one of these blue bikes or even

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Speaker 1: try this out, but it seems like going through the

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Speaker 1: parks of the Emerald Necklace is an easy way to start.

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Speaker 2: It is it is an easy way to start, We

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Speaker 2: think so, of course, as we're very familiar, you know,

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Speaker 2: with biking around the Necklace. But it's again it's an

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Speaker 2: opportunity to activate our greenways and to build some safer

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Speaker 2: connections and to get people to feel really comfortable biking

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Speaker 2: around around the Necklace and through the Necklace. That the

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Speaker 2: rides are going to be very low stress. We're going

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Speaker 2: to have a number of volunteers that will help with safety,

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Speaker 2: that there'll be some education moments on how to bike

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Speaker 2: safely cross walks, to use different ways to enter the park.

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Speaker 2: And then we're also going to educate people about the necklace.

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Speaker 2: We'll have some great information and tidbits about the parks.

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Speaker 2: So it's really going to be a fun opportunity.

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Speaker 1: Now we've got three rides here. The first one is

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Speaker 1: going to be on April eighteenth. This one's going to

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Speaker 1: go from Franklin Park to Jamaica Pond. So tell us

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Speaker 1: about the other two rides you've got after that.

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Speaker 2: Yep, So that one is happening as you've mentioned on

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Speaker 2: April eighteenth, So our second ride will be on May second,

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Speaker 2: and that will go from Jamaica Pond to the Back

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Speaker 2: Bay Fence, which is over where actually our visitor center

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Speaker 2: is located. The Conservancy manages a visitor center that's open

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Speaker 2: year round, so that will be about a three point

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Speaker 2: eight mile bike ride. And then after that we have

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Speaker 2: May ninth, there'll be a bike ride from the Back

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Speaker 2: Bay Fends all the way to the Boston Common, which

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Speaker 2: is our lengthiest ride of four miles. And what will

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Speaker 2: be neat about that is you'll go through this area

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Speaker 2: called Charles Gate, which is in the process of being

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Speaker 2: redevelop up. There are a lot of improvements going on

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Speaker 2: there to make that a safer and more accessible place

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Speaker 2: for pedestrians in the community.

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Speaker 1: And what I really love is that you're offering up

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Speaker 1: free bike rentals and snacks. We need snacks.

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Speaker 2: Well, yes, when you're biking, we want to make sure

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Speaker 2: you're hydrated and that you have some snacks. And we

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Speaker 2: have partnered with Blue Bikes, so there will be some

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Speaker 2: limited availability for some free Blue Blue bikes if you

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Speaker 2: don't have a bike, which is you know the case

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Speaker 2: for a number of people who live in the city.

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Speaker 2: They may not have a place to store a bike

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Speaker 2: or keep a bike. So that was really great partnership.

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Speaker 2: We were excited about.

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Speaker 1: Who else are you working with by the way on

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Speaker 1: this So our.

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Speaker 2: Other programs are Boston Cyclists Union and Livable Streets Alliance.

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Speaker 1: So if people want to get involved, you know, how

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Speaker 1: much do they have to pay? Where do they have

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Speaker 1: to go? Tell us about the details on that.

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Speaker 2: They do not have to pay for anything. It is free.

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Speaker 2: You need to sign up up at Emeraldnecklace dot org.

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Speaker 2: There is a registration page that you can sign up

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Speaker 2: for one of the rides, two of the rides, or

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Speaker 2: three of the rides. It is completely up to you

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Speaker 2: and it's first come, first serve and they are filling up,

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Speaker 2: so I would suggest if you're interested, go on and

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Speaker 2: sign up.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so again first one April eighteenth, and you've got

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Speaker 1: a couple more in May. And where can people find

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Speaker 1: out more about everything else? You mentioned all those great

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Speaker 1: events at the start of our interview. Where can people

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Speaker 1: find out more and get involved with everything else happening

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Speaker 1: at the Necklace.

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Speaker 2: Our website has a wealth of information. We are trying

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Speaker 2: to update it regularly. It's Emeraldnecklace dot Org. At the top,

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Speaker 2: we have a tab called the Event section, and the

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Speaker 2: first drop down is calendar, so that lifts out all

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Speaker 2: of our calendar of events that we're aware of and

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Speaker 2: have planned at this moment. So that's the best way

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Speaker 2: to get all of your information.

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Speaker 1: Okay, well, Carlin, this is great info. I hope you

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Speaker 1: have the best time. It's going to be a gorgeous

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Speaker 1: ride along the Necklace. Thank you so much for spending

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Speaker 1: the time on the show with us.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join us again

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Speaker 1: next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole

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Speaker 1: Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.