A Long Sunday Ride

This past Sunday Kenny convinced me to ride down to East Haven with him to where we'd be placing a ghost bike as a memorial for Jeffery Harrison who was killed by a speeding minivan driver just two weeks ago on July 30th.  We headed out from Hartford through New Britain and picked up the beautiful and peaceful Farmington Canal trail for the last stretch into New Haven.

It was a 50 mile roll to where the cyclist was struck dead within sight of the beach in East Haven.  I'll leave it to Ken's article to lay out the details of the ghost bike.  What I'll carry with me is the human stain on the road where the mangled cyclist had lain and bled out in the middle of the day.  After leaving East Haven I biked East to a birthday / barbecue in Clinton with our new friends Colleen and Sean.  Ken took a ride with his wonderful wife Wiz, who had brought the ghost bike down from Hartford.  While meandering along the affluent Connecticut coast I found some timely graffiti over the MetroNorth rail line.

Upon arriving at the picnic, I collapsed with a lemonade and plate overflowing.  After another plate and a beer I was feeling up to the ride back to Hartford.  Leaving a bit late (6PM) I was hoping the south wind would carry me home before the predicted t-storms that evening.   Riding solo, I took more arterial roads than I would have typically taken on a ramble with friends.  When you're not trying to ride double and chat, an entirely different set of roads make sense.

I took a short break on the newly refinished sidewalk of the Arrigoni bridge between Middletown and Portland.  While sitting on the railing enjoying the view of the river I was hollered at by one of Connecticut's finest.  I believe he called me a queer.   Made me think a bit about what type of person yells what they consider to be insults at someone they don't know while passing in a car at 45 mph.  I'm curious.  At the end of the day, I can be thankful that I'm not that person.

It was solid dark as I raced the thunderstorms into Hartford.  A fulfilling day.

Safety note:  I had a bunch of blinkie lights.  So should you.