Boston Magazine |
Exhibit B: The Ice Cyclist
The City, Illustrated
By Francis Storrs
- Photo by John McLean.
Scenes from a Slippery Commute: In February 2004, Brunelle strapped a video camera to his helmet and took along a friend, John McLean (pictured in the stills below), for documentary support.
Extreme biker Lucas Brunelle likes nothing more than riding where he doesn't belong. He has risked international incident with a spin on the Great Wall of China, and pedaled through the Big Dig tunnels before they were opened to traffic. This month the 37-year-old hopes to get back out onto his favorite illicit speedway: the frozen Charles River, which he uses as his private "Lucas Lane" during commutes between Newton and the computer-repair business he owns on Beacon Hill. Special studded tires give him a semblance of traction, while a helmet, elbow pads, and shin guards soften his nonetheless guaranteed falls ("You just keep sliding and sliding and sliding," he says). He knows the ice is thick enough when it reaches all the way under the bridges, where the river freezes last. "I'm dying to get out there," Brunelle said recently, noting that the Old Farmer's Almanac predicts a particularly cold February. "There are no cars, no dogs, no rats. It's this playground."
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