Traveling Man, Voluntarily Homeless

Starting next week I'm going to kick off an approximately six week bike tour from Hartford, CT to Southern Indiana and back.  It will be a wandering route.  Looks like about 2,500 miles if I don't get lost.  I always get lost.

• Outbound First Leg - https://goo.gl/maps/lmwTn (490 miles)
• [First Leg - Scary Hilly Option - https://goo.gl/maps/gW4QU (422 miles)]
• Outbound Second Leg - https://goo.gl/maps/X8Ifw (701 miles)
• Return Trip - https://goo.gl/maps/Ci1Gr (1,363 miles)

See below for a list of cities along the way.  Know anyone who can put me up - send me a note?  Or anyone that would like to have a meal with an odd bike tourist.  I'll be doing a lot of camping, but it's nice every couple of days to have a shower and a meal with friends (potentially new ones).  Will also be using WarmShowers.org for hosts, but friends of friends are best!  Bike tours are fluid and changing, so hosting days move around.  Typically I try to confirm (or reschedule) the day before if someone has offered to host.

• *Starting - Hartford, CT on August 18th or 19th*
• Schenectady / Albany, NY - Jumping on the Erie Canal Bike Trail
• Rome, NY
• Syracuse, NY
• Rochester, NY
• Port Byron, NY
• Brockport, NY - Leaving the Erie Canal and heading into the mountains
• Youngstown, OH 
• Akron, OH
• Columbus, OH
• French Lick, IN (really!)
• Cincinnati, OH
• All along the OH River in Southern OH
• Marietta, OH
• Wheeling, WV (Hills - OUCH!)
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Along the Great Allegheny Passage​ (my favorite segment ever!)
• Along the C&O Canal
• Washington DC - Starting East Coast Greenway Route
• Baltimore, MD - East Coast Greenway
• Wilmington, DE - East Coast Greenway
• Philadelphia, PA - East Coast Greenway
• Newark, NJ - East Coast Greenway
• Long Island, NY
• *Ending - Back in Hartford, CT.  Before Oct 4th.*
• [Or anywhere in between - I'll be passing through a lot of cities.]

So excited!  I've been playfully thinking about this tour for a couple of years, and now the rubber hits the road. You can follow my progress on the Beat Bike Blog.  Read more!

Crazy bike ride!

Glimpse of a bear. Just discovered that my phone makes animated gifs if you take the pictures in rapid enough succession. 

I went for a crazy bike ride two days ago. I rode up to the Reservoir on my 'cross bike. I knew there would probably be a storm, but I was hoping that it would only be five minutes of rain like it was the day before. It held until just north of the MDC office at Reservoir 6 and then was a big storm. My phone apparently makes these angry weather alert sounds now. I keep thinking they're alerts that my phone has been infiltrated by water because the plastic bag I was using got a hole in it. Nope, just weather alerts. There are always "areal flood warning[s]" these days.

Anyway, there was one of those flashes of lightning/instant thunder/hair standing up (out of fear or static electricity? who knows?) things. Then, I got a stick in my derailleur. I bent back the hanger, but I need a new one again. I go through a lot of hangers. Singlespeed really is the way to go.

After that, a bear crossed right in front of me! Totally the closest I've ever been to a bear. It didn't seem to notice me. I was under the powerlines right where the blue-red trail goes back into the woods. It ambled across the path, went through the brush and back into the woods. They aren't very graceful walkers and when they don't see you they don't have a very intimidating presence.

Then I rode through Penwood and eventually ended up in way north Bloomfield in this warren of trails north of Day Hill Road along the river. Eventually, I followed this dirt road to a fence that told me I was in some environmental clean up area. Or a superfund. I think if you don't ride into the superfund site, you might be able to connect to Northwest Park. If you're nice to me, I'll show you where these are.

Mysterious Farmington River Park of Bloomfield. Following Hartford's lead, it seemed to be made for ATVs and dirtbikes.

Also, I saw a copperhead.

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When NPR is your Friend

Had the opportunity to chat with Colin McEnroe on Thursday afternoon.  Oddly they decided the conversation was interesting enough that it should be shared with the larger regional NPR audience.  We were in studio on Asylum Avenue with Mary Collins and Kelly Kennedy.  Mary is a professor at Central Connecticut State University and has written a beautifully titled book, American Idle.  Mary was also instrumental in organizing a bicycle festival, Wheel Fun Day, in West Hartford this coming Sunday.  Her goal is to poke and prod the City of West Hartford into being proactive about Complete Streets infrastructure.  Kelly Kennedy is the exuberant Executive Director of Bike Walk Connecticut, and rep'd the rare BWCT jersey right into the studio.  We talked about helmet technology, mutual respect, and the pure joy of cycling.  At one point I suggest we "fill the streets with dancing bears,"  and it made sense in the moment.

Unfortunately we ran out of time before I could shoehorn in some discussion of education for cyclists.  Bike Walk CT plays an integral role in bringing Traffic Safety 101 and League Cycling Instructor training to the state.  I'm facilitating and taking an exhaustive 3 day LCI training seminar this weekend in Hartford.  There are action ready programs and certified volunteer instructors ready to incorporate bike safety education into youth physical education programs. Teaching our kids this skill set would pay us back for decades.  On Thursday night Valerie and I were brainstorming our LCI course training assignments and slides.  After consuming some creativity juice, we did pretty well with Valerie's cover slide on bicycle brakes.  You be the judge.

On Colin's show one of the conversation topics was Bike to Work, since National Bike to Work day was the next day.  I rode over to East Hartford early this morning to water my community garden plot and plant some squash.  After that I met up with a group a P&W employees from Glastonbury that were riding to the Hartford BTW breakfast.  More than 200 bike commuters of all shapes, sizes, and configurations mobbed the plaza of the Old State House, spilling over into the lawn.  Excitingly the event has become a draw for those that want to be seen and green, such as Mayor Segarra (in a neon public safety jacket) and James Redeker, the CT DOT commissioner.  Hartford is gearing up to create a Parks and Open Space plan that includes bike route connections between their large and under-utilized parks and green spaces.  It smells like a Bike Plan under the guise of the Parks and Recreation department.  As I find out more, will let you know.

Next week we have an East Hartford Bike to Work breakfast on Thursday, May 23rd.  6:30-9AM on the corner of Main Street and Ensign, right across from P&W.  Fingers crossed for the same splendid weather, but the event runs rain or shine.    Anyone can attend, even if you don't work for the behemoth that is my employer.  And despite the mis-worded form, you can also pledge to Bike to Work on the Bike Walk CT website.  A pledge puts you in the running for the bike schwag raffle, always good stuffs.

And I got some winter shoes on sale.  They are pure awesomeness.  I hope it snows soon.



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Wild Life

It was a nice quiet day for a bike ride and as often happens, I saw some deer. Then, I saw the more deer. The second group, of three, seemed to consist of a mom and two yearlings. It was an interesting experience, because the mom was either standing her ground or thought I was a nice, non-threatening guy. I spotted about twenty feet away and we just looked at each for awhile and then she did this strut wherein she kind of stomped her hooves. She didn't bolt, though, and wasn't even phased when I started riding again. 

Then, I saw a bear. I didn't get a picture of the bear, because s/he was too far away. 

I wonder if I'll ever see a mountain lion. 

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BJ and the bear

There aren't any bears in BJ and the Bear, but I saw a bear yesterday at the Reservoir. It was awesome. I was coming down the fence line on the east side. Right near the house where the asshole throws all his stuff over the fence and into the trail I startled this bear that was in someone's back yard. It took off running along side me and then climbed right up a tree. It was undoubtedly one of the cooler things that I've seen while mountain biking. I'm also quite thankful that a fence separated us and I was traveling downhill.

I encountered two guys who riding in the opposite direction. I told them about the bear, about which they didn't believe me at first. I guess West Hartford doesn't really feel like a bear place.

When I was flipping my wheel to leave. A nice fellow who probably rode through five or ten minutes behind also saw the bear. He also helped me find the wing nuts I dropped that attach my silly bottle opener wrench to the frame.

Apart from the bear, the ride wasn't really all that great. my rhythm was all off and I kept tripping over things.

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It's time....for the Threat Down!

We may think it's a little hard in Hartford to bike, what with all the deadly sandpits, potholes, glass-strewn streets, poorly designed bike lanes, unlabeled routes, and rude drivers, but there's a threat out there that puts all of our worries to shame.

That's right, the number 1 threat to American bicycling commuters today:

BEARS!!!!


These godless, killing machines have begun to turn their murderous rage against anything on two wheels. These brave heroes may have escaped and lived to tell about it, but how many uncounted Bianchis, Treks, and Cannondales have been dragged off to the soulless, rampaging marauders' dens of murder? Stay vigilant, Nation!


With apologies to Stephen Colbert.


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