Older Eel

Almost 18 years ago was Eel #1, a big moment in Brendan's life on a bike. 

I made a lot of friends. I realized you can just invent a bike event and people will probably come to it. I learned that there are people all over the place who also ride through the margins on strange bikes. 

Little about me as a person has changed since then, except my job, marital status, fatherhood status and location of my home. Anyway, chill will invited me on a ride that was basically the eel course with some people from a Massachusetts island today and it was great. I brought my son, who has been learning the craft of riding a cx bike where it doesn't belong, and met up with friends who were once non-bike friends and probably now more fully committed bike people than I am (that's not actually true). Also, only true beat bike blog believers still understand the romance of a rim brake. 

Trails have come and gone, and so has a bit of my fitness, but I don't get nostalgic. I'm doing all the same things I started doing back then with a bigger, multi generational group and it's just as much fun as it used to be. Indeed, a break of riding East Hartford and Hartford riverfront reminds you great riding a bike in that area can be. 

Maybe someday Riverfront Recapture will finally open up the field north of Cemetery Brook, so you don't have to ride on a train tracks. That's a little too much to ask. 

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Had to cancel

The big scary nor'easter resulted in cancelling the big unscary MTB event. I guess year five will be next year instead. I think I actually had the most signups this year. How unfortunate. 

I like to organize one fall ride per year where people I don't know show up. Maybe something should still happen. Maybe an a low-key Eel. 

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Tariffville Mountain Bike Extravaganza!

I saw that Charlie Beal made a blog post about his singlespeed origin story and I realized that blogs are back! No more Twitter and no more Instagram, just lots of text and comments without unending scrolling. 

Maybe you post a picture or two. I dunno. This is the way to do it. 

 

Also, the greatest mountain bike event in the world is coming up. 10 am 9/26/26 on Tariffville Green. 

More blogging to come! 

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Eel X(treme)!

All zero of you readers probably thought that (a) the eel didn't happen or (b) I never came back.

Well, I'm here to tell you that it did and it was probably the best one since the first one.

There was nearly 20 people and all but two made it all the way through the ride in some fashion. No one did the 70 miles route the right way. Since even though I came up with the thing, I led a group astray through People's State Forest. Though in sacrificing some dirt, we rode the extremely fun road ("road") descent through the middle of the park. 

I think the route road extremely well, so no plans to change it for next year in an meaningful way and I think the date was perfect for "fall color". Maybe I'll charge $2 and get some kind of food option. Maybe not. I got a whole year to think about it. Read more!

Eel eel eel eel!

Remember The Eel? I've thrown like sixty or five of them, but now I'm bringing back. Bringing it back to the level putting it on BIKEREG! https://www.bikereg.com/eel-x/

~70 miles on Oct 13 at 9am. Meet on Tunxis Road in Tariffville. Plenty of parking on the street if drive here. Up to Mass and then back to here. And, of course, it's free!

These are pictures from the actual route. Can you believe it???

This ride has a river-centric air to it, too-- headwaters of the Farmington, another river containing eels https://lowerfarmingtonriver.org/learn-about-the-river/biodiversity/.

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We did that thing!

So yeah, a few of us went for a ride this past Saturday.  It was pretty long, over ten hours to finish the entire kit and caboodle, which is just fine with me.  After trying to hang onto Seth slipstream for a record time in 2018, I needed a recovery year.  This year, Seth went easy on us, keeping his monster pulls along the Airline trail in the low 20mph range.  Thanks Seth, it's always a pleasure to witness smooth, steady power, especially when it is just slow enough that one can keep witnessing it.

 

Our new favorite watering hole on the first pass through Willimantic, THANKS!

 

So yeah (to heck with good paragraph transitions), we had another beautiful day of almost fall temps, toping out with a gang of seven riders.  Admittedly, I've been doing less then the bare minimum of advertising the last couple years since I'm no long quite local, and running a little busy to recon the route before the event, so lucky seven it was.  The small group stayed mostly together, which was fantastic, especially when we found the Mohegan Forest beyond passably overgrown with briars, and I had to devise a quick reroute with only one trip down a dead end!  A little more exploring and I should have a Detour worth detour of the forest for next year.

 

Free ride, with free veggies!  THANK YOU.

 

So yeah (what, you're still actually reading this?), I still really like this ride and have a blast sharing it with new and old friends every year.  We'll do it again the first Saturday in September of 2020, and maybe we'll see you there.  Ride fun.





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Yet another Detour de CT

While we thought maybe it was the tenth annual Detour de CT, it may in fact only be the 9th. According to the historic documents, the first one was fall of 2010 (when no one died). That first was one was invitational and all since then have been public affairs.

Nevertheless, Saturday was another running of the Detour. I don't think I had ridden a hundred miles in a clip since the Detour in 2017, so I was a little nervous about survival. I had ridden down to Milford the other day and averaged 18 something MPH, which is pretty quick for a slow piece of shit like me.

Since Salem has stopped really publicizing his ride except on his blog and no one reads blogs, the number of riders has shrunk to 7. There's no a and b group anymore, and the canvas bag contingent doesn't come.

Anyway, we did not ride the whole thing, since Mohegan State Forest is now impassable. First year the entire ride was left unfinished. We did, however, ride almost the whole thing and even stop for lunch. Everyone is getting soft.

The day before, I crashed and totally abraded my hand. Riding on the hoods hurt, but it was other ok.

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Bad tubes

As much as I try to avoid buying bike parts off of Amazon, from time to time I do. There had been a bunch of deals of tubes like 8 for $25 or something like that. That's a good deal. So I bought some road tubes. They keep failing next to the valve stem. Very frustrating. So anyway, that's my PSA.

Tomorrow is the De Tour. Hope my tubes don't fail somewhere in Mohegan State Forest.

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Is it antisocial to take your bike places?

As a family-haver, sometimes I have to go things with family. Sometimes I ride my bike, sometimes we pile in the car all together, and sometimes we pile in the car and I bring a bike. Traditionally, I take a walk or something when at a family thing, because family things can make you want to stretch your legs. Now, I bring a bike and often taken it for a quick jaunt around the slightly unfamiliar neighborhood (or maybe a little further?) of in-laws. Is it any more antisocial to bring a bike than just bringing your feet?

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The giddiness of aughts blogging

Every so often I check to see if anything has happened on the beat bike blog and I'm reminded of my bygone days of riding in jeans and sweating through my tshirt under a messenger bag. The days of a blog instead of just posting a picture on Instagram or a ride on Strava was nice.

But, also not nice. You gotta wade through someone's diatribe, when you really just want to see a pretty picture or if they rode to Granville or not.

So anyway, I guess the era of telling everyone about your bike ride is over and now it's about showing.

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The Hartford Durty Beer Ride Series

                                                            Hartford Durty Beer Rides

Like riding bicycles off paved streets? On paved streets? On bike paths? On gravel and dirt? Like beer? Like supporting local businesses and craftmanship? The Durty Beer Ride series is calling you!

                                                               Never.A.Boring.Ride.
We leave paved streets behind as much as possible and seek out dirt, gravel, bikepaths, trees, rivers, streams and locally brewed beer! The Durty Beer Rides are a fun mix and an alternative to super fast, spandex oriented road rides and crazy technical mountain biking. We will usually begin/end in Hartford proper.

Sunday 9/10/17     Durty Beer Ride 24. Thomas Hooker Brewery. Boomfield!

Sunday 9/24/17   Durty Beer Ride 34. Still Hill Brewery. Rocky Hill.

Saturday 9/30/17 Dirty Beer Ride 60. Brewery Legitmus. New Hartford.

hint: The numbers are the approximate number of miles!

Rides will average 20-40 miles at 12-15mph on all kinds of mixed terrain. This is not a slowroll nor is it a Cat 1 race! It's somewhere awesomely in-between! All riders are riding their own ride and are solely responsible for their own safety and decisions.

Some parts of rides will be far from easy access to civilization, so please bring basic breakdown sundries and be self-responsible. Expect the likely possibility of urban traffic, suburban traffic, mud, dust, brush, downed trees, itchy plants, rain, sun, glass, thorns, unstable gravel, small gravel, large gravel, skeeters, ticks and/or  rabid deer. /seriously

All bicycles and riders who are appropriately equipped and skilled for the ride are super welcomed, but please respect the basic requests and come correct! We are all friendly people and would be happy to loan you a tube or pump if needed; but please don't need one!

We're sure to have an assortment of bicycles and riders on singlespeeds, geared bikes, cyclocross bikes and mountain bikes. Please carefully read the event description for each ride as they will vary considerably. Most rides would be best done on a 'cross bike with 700x35's; though mountain bikes and other bikes could be just fine depending on the rider.

This is not a slowride, nor a spandex ride, but an adventure on two wheels in mixed terrain! 

Please check out Mon Day Night Rides Key West for an idea of the spirit of this new ride in Hartford that we hope to do bi-monthly on Sundays. (and sometimes Saturdays).

Since we'll be a ways out there sometimes; please be fully self-responsible and please bring:
-helmet/spare tube/basic tools
-bicycle lock and moneys for food/drink
-water! hydrate or die!!!
-a sense of adventure Read more!

Hyland Park Bandit Cross CANCELLED, but also reformatted

Hi Folks,

Bandit Cross was shut down by an overzealous interpretation of what it means to protect Hartford's parks.

 But we'll still be riding at 2pm today from Hyland Park, heading down to my house for a backyard bike race. We've got a very rad, short course all set up. #SaveBanditCross #Don'tTreadOnMe

In the meantime, email me if you're interested in working with Minnie Gonzalez to start a cyclocross league in Hyland Park.

 Justin


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Second postponement of The Eel

Regrettably, too much has got in the way of organizing the ride, so I'm going to push it back again to a date uncertain. No big deal. There are other bike rides in the world for you. Read more!

Eel postponement

Hello! I have decided to postpone the proposed Eel by a week. There are some people who can't do it the day I picked and I have a potential conflict that day, too.

So, let's switch to Nov. 13 instead. Still a Sunday, still same details. It even allows you to do a ride I heard about it in New Haven on Saturday the 12th.



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Two great rides on the horizon

My dudettes and dudes!

I have had two great ideas for rides in the coming months.

1. The Eel's Return to the Connecticut River. It's happened before and it's happening again. 60 miles of trails up and down the CT River starting in Hartford. Same route as 2014. I'll dig up a gpx file or write a cue sheet. 9:30 a.m. start in Hartford first Sunday of November. Just like old times.

2. The Old Mountain Bike Omnium. Bring an old mountain bike and do two laps of Cowles Park (~20 miles). I'm going to work out some kind PAX-esque timing to handicap the race. Year 2000 bike gets straight time, time off for older bikes and steeper time tacked on for newer bikes.  Race on a high zoot 2016 bike and get 16 minutes added to your time. Race on a 1985 Diamond Back Apex and get 7 1/2 minutes shaved off. Something like that. The goal is to favor the older bikes. I haven't quite worked the system out yet, but I think it'll be fun. Date TBD and prizes TBD. Read more!

River clean up again!

For the eighth (though not eighth consecutive), I am organizing a clean up of the bank of the Connecticut River at its confluence with the Park River. Even though I moved to Tariffville, I still would rather clean up this location in Hartford. This spot doesn't get its due attention, but it is where two mighty river meet.. I think it deserves a good annual cleaning. The clean up will take place Saturday, September 24 from 10am to 1pm. Come for a little or come for the whole thing.

If you come by car, your best option for parking is either on Charter Oak Ave or Van Dyke Ave. From there, you can walk down the paved access road and up the levee. If you come by something else, you won't have to worry about parking. I'll have some gloves on hand. I advise wearing pants and closed shoes. Also, bring water and perhaps a snack. I'll be bringing gloves and bags via bicycle, so I can't carry a whole case of water or pizzas. Leave a comment here and I'll answer it.

This clean up is part of the larger Source to Sea Clean Up that Connecticut River Watershed Council puts on. It is happening all up and down the Connecticut River Friday & Saturday. If Hartford is too far away for you or you just don't like it but still want to clean the river, here are other locations: http://www.ctriver.org/projects/source-to-sea-cleanup/.

Here's a map illustrating approximately where the access road is and where you should park: http://g.co/maps/f9erq

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BiCi Co. is Going Strong and Now Has the BiCi Blog

Tony C is riding his bike from Hartford, CT to Minneapolis, MN under the guise of a fundraiser for BiCi Co.  Really he just likes riding his bike and taking a break from the grind - but humor him (me).  Here are the photos to prove it.

BiCi Co. is doing all sorts of amazing stuff, and has only been around a year.  Just wait until we really find some grant funding.  In the meantime (and even once we do get some grants) BiCi Co. will need support from volunteers and donors to fill in the gaps and get new programs off the ground.  Don't know if you've ever worked in nonprofits, but it seems that there is a lag time between great program ideas and opportunities, and the funding to execute them.  That is where individuals donors and members make the difference and provide a little bit of flexibility to do the right things for the community at the right time.

1) You should follow the new BiCi Blog.  Tony C will be writing while bike touring and posting there.

2) You should become a BiCi Co. member (or renew) right now.  We've even got options for five year and lifetime membership!  Don't want to become a member?  You can gift a membership to someone or just make a straight up donation.  We'll put it to good use immediately with bike programs in Hartford.  Share this with friends and cycling aficionados.  Even those outside Hartford will get a lot out of a shop full of hard to find classic bike parts - AKA treasure.

3) One thing that BiCi Co. has coming up is a Traffic Skills 101 course.  This comprehensive course on October 16th will school you on vehicular cycling with on-bike application and could save your life.  Skip the school of hard knocks and go to the head of the pack.  Register here - and don't wait.  The class sells out.

4) BiCi Co. is also planning social rides from Hartford and West Hartford to Night Fall - where there will be valet bike parking.  Night Fall is in its 5th year, and has had bike valet every year.  They added the group bike rides to encourage attendees to try something other than a car for getting to the performance.  More info here.

5) Don't Miss the September Slow Roll! - Our friends at Breakfast Lunch & Dinner have a Hartford Slow Roll Planned for September 18th.  The roll leaves at 3pm from 1429 Park Street.  More info here.  Slow Roll has its own Facebook group now that you can follow so you don't miss the rides.

Hartford's First Bike Corral (temporary at BiCi Co) for our 1st Anniversary Happy Hour

Celebrating Year One at BiCi Co.!

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party at shad row, preceded by a connecticut river dirt road time trial 8/19 6:00 PM

Come ride four of the best dirt road miles in Connecticut. We'll do a simple staggered start. Stick around for a beer (BYOB) / food at the Shad Shack at the Rocky Hill Ferry, where the ride ends. Any bike will do, wider tires will be better (32s and up). They've recently been smoothing out some of the bumpy bits next to the river.

Come hang out and watch and party even if you don't want to ride. We need a volunteer or two or three if you're interested in helping out, as well! let us know at wrongwayslaughter@gmail.com

course: https://www.strava.com/routes/5987227

Friday, August 19 6:00 PM
Start: 73 Great Meadow Road, Wethersfield, CT

http://wrongwayslaughter.com

Women particularly encouraged to ride. 

It's an easy bike ride from most places, but if you're driving, park at the Rocky Hill Ferry parking lot where the ride finishes and ride to the start. 

Lo-fi, 'pick-up' gravel time trial. Just show up. Ride like hell or ride slow. It's cool. We'll be there. It'll be fun. You will be safe and smart so we still get to have nice things.

​$5 sugg'd donation to cover beer and an upgrade to this site so it doesn't say weebly and maybe we'll even get an RSS feed. Prizes for a range of categories. 

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new site for hartford rides -- wrong way slaughter

I've put together a new site to advertise Hartford and some Connecticut rides and route suggestions. I really like these routes, that all start in Hartford, and I'd love to see more folks out riding them.

Part of what I'm after with this site is providing a web presence for the incredible riding Hartford has to offer so that new folks moving to the city don't think they have to join a cycling club in the far flung suburbs to ride a bike or drive hours to get to the woods. It's all right here. Please add wrong way slaughter to your feedly, blogroll, etc. More routes and media to come.

- Justin

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Mixed terrain from Hartford to Middletown

It is impossible for me to ride through the Wethersfield and Rocky Hill meadows without a shit-eating grin on my face. Each time I find myself on these gorgeous, narrow, dirt and gravel roads right next to the Connecticut river, just a few miles from my house in the South End, I kind of can't believe how nice it is to be there.

Rocky Hill Meadows road

I ride these roads to the Rocky Hill Ferry a lot, particularly in the summer months. The ferry is fun in its own right, and the roads on the Glastonbury side immediately adjacent to the river are incredibly nice. Tryon Road runs between the Connecticut and Balf Bluffs Open Space--a narrow road with little traffic and a river view is the stuff that dreams are made of.

Tryon Road along the Connecticut River in Glastonbury.

There is not yet a really good direct route to Middletown from Hartford, so I took a rambling loop through the Meshomasic State Forest to get there on traffic-lite roads. The highlight of this route is Woodchoppers Road, a rusticated, thin strip of packed dirt that gradually climbs through the forest into the highlands of Portland, CT. 

Woodchoppers Rd.

For just the second time I road over the Arrigoni Bridge into Middletown, a 1930s gem. The only way to finish this ride, IMHO, is with the buffalo tofu wrap at ION. It's amazing, especially on the first day of summer vacation.

Connecticut River from the Arrigoni Bridge in Middletown. 

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