Friday, February 20, 2009

Urban Mountain Biking

With the exception of that Soil Saloon thing in San Francisco and Highbridge in New York, urban mountain biking is pretty lame. Hartford more or less falls into the latter lame category, or at least you'd tend to think so. There's, in my opinion, pretty good legit mountain biking right nearby, at least within a rideable distance or a short drive, so why waste your time within in the City?

But you know, The Eel #1 was pretty rad and to assume makes an ass out of u and me. So, after work I explored some marginal lands of the south end and found some awesome stuff that I already knew about and some new stuff. For one, I found a very nice man who lives in the woods. Out of respect for his privacy, I'm not going to say when he lives, but I will say that he built himself a very cool house and provides good directions if you find yourself in his neck of the woods. I'll let pictures speak for the rest.



These are spooky and abandoned.

So, wouldn't it be cool to get together a couple of people and ride all the trails together? Maybe I should set something up.

---

I think the 1st amendment is great and so is sexual liberation, but I get so fucking mad when I see this truck driving around downtown:

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd be up for exploring the South End hinterlands. I'm also intrigued by that abandoned building complex, in the same way I've long been intrigued by the Dark Passage website:

http://www.darkpassage.com/gate.htm

I'm also bothered by the concept of a mobile billboard truck. It's like someone said, "Billboards are ugly and all, but that's not enough. Let's punch it up a notch and make them actively pollute the air!" If V.I.P. were smarter and greener, they would have a human-powered billboard on a modified pedicab or cargo bike frame being pedaled around town by a nubile hottie in a skimpy outfit. Alternately, they could graphic-wrap a pedicab with their logo and make a mint ferrying drunken fratboys between bars. They would pay handsomely just to sit back and ogle the well-toned arse of someone who exercises every day for a living.

Anonymous said...

I know where the quarry and brick buildings are, and I think I know where the nice man in the woods is too. I'll hold my tongue, and wait for a ride to organize.

VIP - greener and smarter? They are known for sticking their thumbs in the eyes of people around them (ever see the store in Manchester?). Why should they get classy and thoughtful with their advertising?

Brendan said...

Despite my anger, what impresses me about the VIP truck is that they actually own it. They don't mess around paying for annoying advertising truck leases or contracts, they buy their own! What's weird is that I'm told by people who go to VIP that they have the classiest and nicest stores, but they totally have the worst relationship with the neighbors: what you're talking about in Manchester & the long legal battle in Berlin. I never hear about the Erotic Zone or Luv Boutique having these problems.

Regarding a ride, if there's already three people (including myself) interested in this, there's no reason for it not to happen. Maybe next weekend or something.

El Presidente de China said...

I'm down for a ride, provided the terrain isn't so mountainous that neither of my bikes (the three-speed Special Tour de France or the mighty Xootr) can handle it.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the shout out to Soil Saloon. Y'all ought to come out west some time, y'hear?

-Willy Nilly and His Cowboy, Lonesome Hank.