Critical Mass: Southbound

So while most of us will still be fuming from the post I put up earlier today we can still appreciate the fact that our own (albeit much smaller, yet growing) Critical Mass was celebrated this past Friday with little police fanfare.

The crew met up for the standard pre-ride libations and found the riverfront well flooded...

We sat and watched the river race by full of debris from upstream and waited for it to wash away Will's ride...

After a little while we headed over to the park and gathered our ranks.

Click "Read More" because there is much more after the break!!!

The weather was gorgeous and we looked to have the solid 30+ riders we have averaged the past couple months (tell your friends folks we'd love to see more!)

Joe agrees!


So does Ben!

After everyone was assembled we headed South out of Bushnell Park onto Elm St. and into Pulaski Circle. Its always fun to do things on your bike that people only usually do in cars so it was inevitable that the crew would have a good roundabout in the rotary...

Around...


And around...


And around...

Until we took a quick glimpse at the street signs. Lets see, New York, New Haven, Springfield, no thanks. The Bushnell, Hartford Hospital, and Trinity, yes please.


We headed down Hudson St. Turned onto Jefferson, and then cut across to Maple Ave.

When I first saw this shot I thought Medusa was chasing me but realized through the blurriness that it was only T.J. looking super mean on the tandem.

After rolling down Maple Ave. we turned onto Franklin and made our way through the South End...

Your standard over-the-shoulder-shot (yes mom I wore my helmet)...

And what this? A bike lane?


I do appreciate the attempt but the whole lack of connectivity of Hartford's bikeways is at times frustrating. We headed down Franklin Ave. until we neared the Hartford line where we turned onto Victoria Rd. This little residential street headed straight into Goodwin Park and was lined with people who waved and honked cheerfully as we passed.




After heading down Victoria we cruised through Goodwin Park (check another Hartford Park off the list)...



We promised blurry pics... I think im just moving so fast the camera can't pick it up.

After departing Goodwin Park we turned South on Maple Ave. and headed into Cedar Hill Cemetery.


Its a gorgeous cemetery equal in aesthetics to any of Hartford's parks.

Here is Ben soaking in the views of the pond.


Dead people. Not a bad final resting spot (if your views are in accordance with this belief).

We rode around Cedar Hill for a bit traversing up and down the rolling hills. The living parted from the dead and we cut through Trinity...


and popped out on Broad St...


One of my favorite parts of Critical Mass is getting a bunch of poeple into parts of the city that they might otherwise never get to go to. As such, I loved seeing this picture of the crew at the intersection of Park and Broad...


We headed back towards Bushnell park and caught a glimse of a group taking wedding photos, nice spot!


And finally cruised under our own Arc de triomphe.


Par usual post-ride drinks were held at a local watering hole which always appeals to the anti-auto, biking crowd...

While I cant support their beer choice, I like their argument.

We even caught a glimpse of two Hartford bike cops NOT riding on the sidewalk but rather in the middle of the road, perhaps carrying out their own mini-crit. I think they were jealous.


After a few beers Kenny's bike, which hadn't been locked, took off and climbed into a tree. we were kind enough to throw a u-lock on it so it would attempt any other shenanigans.


He explained that this happens a lot and that we shouldn't worry about it. We tossed back a couple more beers and faded on our individual ways into the night. See you all next month!