The CT DOT does Good. Sometimes.

The CT DOT held a public info and comment session this past Tuesday to present the planned road diet for Burnside Avenue (AKA Rt 44).  There was a healthy showing of residents, bike commuters, DOT staff, City of East Hartford folks, and transportation planners in attendance.  The explanation put forth for the current abominable configuration of Burnside with two lanes each way, down the crowded gauntlet of neighborhoods and flanking local businesses, is that the road layout hearkens to a time before I-84.  The lanes were needed to carry the higher traffic flow of that era.  Curiously in the new design, with dedicated left turn lanes at many intersections, the transportation planning models predict a higher carrying capacity than before.  A lane in each direction will be dropped, and replaced with a bike lane.  Most of the allowed street parking along the curb will be preserved.  In my experience the street parking on Burnside is intermittent, almost never a line of cars.  Just one-sy, two-sy.

Parking is an important consideration because for the length of Burnside the CT DOT is planning on a minimum of 7 foot wide parking with a 5 foot wide bike lane.  That puts much of the bike lane into the door zone.  7' & 5' is the bare minimum, and 8' & 6' is a much better configuration.  That said, projects like this can die on the table due to parking wars.  I wasn't going to push the issue.  The design will be a leaps and bounds improvement over the current arrangement.  Racing traffic will be calmed by the single lane, slightly narrower than before (11' instead of 12').  Pedestrians will have a shorter and therefore safer crossing distance.  Cyclists will have a designated lane for the full length of Burnside from Main Street all the way to the Manchester line, where a very wide berm will take its place.

This is really exciting!  The CT DOT and the City of East Hartford are hoping the Burnside design is contagious.  One can only hope that a Complete Streets design finds its way onto Main Street through downtown East Hartford.   That stretch can be harrowing during morning or evening rush hour.  East Hartford wants to have a livable, walkable,  bikable downtown and rightly understands that it has to do something productive with the wide and dangerous state highways that presently cut it to pieces.

How do we, as ordinary folks with day jobs, get more smart projects like this in the pipeline?  Some suggestions.   Become a member of your regional or state bicycle advocacy organization.  Infrastructure projects take 5's and 10's of years to get implemented.  You need to think and plan your action on a suitably long time scale.  Build relationships with your legislators and key folks at the DOT.  Increase the number of bike commuters and vocal advocates by supporting bike to work programs and commuter education programs.  Grow support in the community via bicycle and pedestrian advisory committees that work with the city council, mayor, and public works department.  Be consistent in your message and don't give up.  Not every project will fall the way of Complete Streets, but a growing and inherently beneficial message will stick enough times to make a difference.

Speaking of building on numbers of bike commuters, May is appropriately tagged as National Bike Month.  Bike Walk Connecticut is coordinating numerous Bike to Work breakfast events in cities across the state.  Most of the events are on Friday, May 17th, including downtown Hartford in front of the Old State House from 7AM to 9AM.  There are meetups coming into Hartford on the 17th from nearby East Hartford and far flung Cheshire and Willimantic.  You can pledge online to bike to work which will enter you into the raffle for some bike swag.  If you are obsessively competitive, you can bring that compulsion to your commute with the National Bike Challenge.  Most importantly, since I'm preaching to the converted, you can do the most good by spreading the word.  Invite your friends, co-workers, and send a note out to your cycling club.

On Thursday, May 23rd there is a stand alone Bike to Work breakfast in East Hartford from 6:30AM to 8:30AM at the corner of Main Street and Ensign.  Pay attention.  I'm organizing this one.  Show up and I'll feel better about myself and the bleak future of our car-centric world.  Pratt & Whitney has teamed up with Goodwin College and American Eagle Federal Credit Union to bring this event back to our near burb East of the River.  You don't have to work for P&W or be associated with Goodwin to attend. Read more!

Winter bike culture in CT - Bring it!

Hartford and East Hartford IceBike to Work
Next week.  Wednesday, January 16th.  A group of hardy winter bike commuters will be meeting up for breakfast at 7AM (or thereabouts).  Nothing formal, just tasty breakfast (and coffee) and hearty banter.

In East Hartford we'll be meeting at Maddies right across Main Street from Pratt & Whitney.  In Hartford they'll be meeting up at JoJo's on Pratt Street.

This month we'll be talking about riding in slush, ice, and snow.  What tires do you run?  Have you taken a digger yet this season?

Reveal the Path - Movie Screening and Bike Walk CT Social

Hey folks - We're screening a bike film Tuesday, February 5th at the Wadsworth Aetna Theater.  The movie is Reveal the Path, a bicycle travel / adventure movie.

Would love if y'all could join us and help get the word out.  A portion of the ticket sales goes to Bike Walk CT, so in addition to this being some great CT bike culture - we're doing a little fundraising to support our advocacy and education efforts.  Was very pleased with the movie we screened last year (Bicycle Dreams).  We sold out!  Tickets can be purchased online for $11 and will be $15 at the door.

There is a Facebook event (https://www.facebook.com/events/126046007556892/).   Invite your friends.

Similar to last year we're going to happy hour / socialize before the movie at Arch Street Tavern.  Happy Hour starts at 5PM.
Read more!

Icebike to Work East Hartford - Corrected

I screwed up.  My BBB posts listed IceBike to Work on the wrong day.  We will be meeting up tomorrow, Tuesday, December 11th at Maddies in East Hartford.  7am.  Right across Main Street from P&W, next to Subway.

See you there!

Read more!

Nobody loves us in the winter

Seems like the BeatBikeBlog only gets a quarter of the page hits in the winter.  What's up with that you fickle nancies?  Perhaps we write worse in the cold weather.  Too cold to type.

Anyway.  To instigate some year round bicycle goodness I've started back up a monthly Icebike to Work on the East side of the river.  At Maddies, across the street from Pratt & Whitney on Main Street, four year round bike commuters met on November 20th.  The bikes locked up front clearly confused the regulars.  An enjoyable time was had hashing on about lights, runny noses, and such.  We'll be meeting again the morning of December 12th (a Wednesday) at 7:00AM if anyone else would like to stop in for some breakfast or a coffee.  You don't have to be from P&W.  All are welcome here.

Bike Walk Connecticut is keeping up the bike advocacy momentum into the winter with their Annual Dinner, which will be held on Thursday, November 29th at Central Connecticut State University.  If you wanted to get tickets, but didn't, it's probably too damn late.  With 150 bike loving friends and a huge silent auction (great deals yo!) I'm pretty excited.  I'll be sharing a table of 10 with some pretty awesome people.

And Brendan is bringing it to the streets (and trails) with the Return of the Eel.  Get your bike out.  Season schmeason.  We'll be riding on Saturday!

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Bike to Work Breakfasts on Thurs and Fri

Heads up.  Free food for bike commuters.  Thursday in East Hartford, and Friday in downtown Hartford.  See you there.

Free water bottles and blinky lights at the East Hartford event.  Raffle tickets for premiums from Bicycles East.  Lots of food, juice, and coffee.

More info.

Read more!

It's Easier Than You Think

With an early Spring and $4 gasoline there are welcome new rumblings around the water cooler.  A perfect storm that lines up with the efforts of Bike Walk Connecticut, the statewide bicycle advocacy organization, to grow their successful Bike to Work program.  The Connecticut Bike to Work events started back in 2004 in downtown Hartford, and grew to include satellite events in the surrounding towns.  This year Bike Walk CT is donning the "statewide" mantle and promoting bicycle commuting across the vast lands of Connecticut.

Being a non-profit organization with limited resources, the statewide Bike to Work campaign doesn't include bagels and coffee in every little CT town, although many non-metro Hartford cities are now holding events.  For example New Haven and the Elm City Cyclists have a very well organized Bike to Work program.  Other cites interested in joining can contact Sandy Fry, who has all the details you'll need to set up a satellite event.  All you'll need is a food sponsor (employer, city, or yourself), a folding table, and some sweat equity. 
For those that don't have a local Bike to Work Event but still want to get in on the movement, we present to you -- the power of the internet.  Bike Walk CT has oddles of resources on their website for first timers.  Connecticut will also be competing in the National Bike Challenge.  The Challenge puts Connecticut head to head against other states, and hopefully the cyclists in our great state won't leave us with some embarrassing rankings. 

The Bike Challenge website gives you the tools to track miles, set up corporate teams, and show the nation that CT is serious about bicycle commuting.  I'm personally interested in the corporate challenge, and am certain that Pratt and Whitney will dominate the leaderboard.  Engineers respond quickly to the pocketbook pressure of high gas prices, and our bicycle racks are already overflowing.

Let's bike to work Connecticut.  It's easier than you think!

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Bike to Work Week, brought to you by the fender industry

I unwittingly got an early start on Bike to Work Week with a full-day Sunday work call in South Green. The weather was very accommodating, with the day's heavy rains backing off during the 8 o'clock and 5 o'clock hours for relatively dry commutes. Monday was less rainy, but dreary nonetheless. It's still nice to get out though, and the plants are looking especially lush and green these days, so throw on your rain gear and have at it. There's plenty to do.

Tomorrow, the Ride of Silence makes its solemn way from Elizabeth Park. Meet at the Pond House on the West Hartford side of the park at 7 PM.

Thursday, elementary school kids will attend a 169^th birthday party for Albert A. Pope, founder of Pope Manufacturing and Columbia Bicycle, with cake and prizes at lunchtime at the Pope Park Recreation Center, Hartford.

This Friday brings us Bike to Work Day of Bike to Work Week of Bike Month, designating Friday as the Bike-to-Workiest Day of all. Several area rides will funnel the masses to a 7 AM rally at West Hartford's Blue Back Square and subsequently an even bigger rally at the capitol taking place from 7:30 to 8:30 AM. The rally is said to be peaking at 8:15, making that moment the Bike-to-Workiest moment of the entire freaking year! Strange and powerful things have been known to occur at such a moment, so you'd be foolish to pass it up. Also, there will be coffee and bagels.

Bike Walk Connecticut's Events Page has all the details on this week's festivities. Read more!

Drive To Bike To Work

Last Friday I was invited to accompany a Bike Walk Connecticut Board Member to Elm City Cycling's Bike To Work Breakfast in New Haven. It was a well-run, well-stocked (good food!) and well-attended event that made me wish I could have attended a Hartford counterpart this very morning. Last month's one-time deal was all well and good and fun, but I would love to see it continue as a year-round monthly event, however low-key.

Since neither of us had the time to pedal the 90-mile round trip and Amtrak's bike policy is a sorry load of crap, we reached the Elm City by station wagon, suffering the mild indignity of unloading our bikes in a parking garage and wheeling them up the sidewalk. The weather was beautiful, people were in good moods and a small set of speakers were hooked up to provide the morning noshers with tunes and announcements from Elm City Cycling and Bike Walk CT. People lingered a bit after 9:00 AM. It was a casual Friday morning to be sure.

We followed up the breakfast with a guided mini-tour of New Haven that included some neighborhood landmarks, the East Coast Greenway route and waterfront vistas.I shook my fist in the general direction of Amtrak (and, by default, Metro North, which is better than Amtrak but has miles of room for improvement regarding bikes) as we passed the train station. I later biked to a job interview in Hartford, so my conscience was cleared of guilt from partaking in an unearned free breakfast.

Right here in Hartford, this month's Critical Mass ride will be visiting the West End Farmers' Market for some locally-grown goodness. Meet near the Bushnell Park carousel this evening at 6 PM. Read more!

May Bike to Work

Today was the monthly Bike to Work event, and from what I hear, the only one scheduled for the year. Finding this hard to believe, I read over the Bike Walk Connecticut website, clicking here and there, hoping to find evidence to the contrary. In the extensive spreadsheet of upcoming bike rides, I saw events listed throughout New England and New York, but no more monthly rides from wherever-to-downtown-Hartford for breakfast. What a shame! Could it really be that the first Bike to Work I managed to participate in will be my last for the year? I hope that Bike Walk Connecticut simply forgot to update their website on this matter. As lovely as all the legislation they are working on is, they must remember that the way to get asses on the bike seats, is, well, by getting asses on the bike seats.


Old banner?
I took some black and white photos, not to be artsy, but to remove the amount of neon yellow from the scene. Personally, I find motorists to be more attentive to my needs as a cyclist when I ride without my shirt. They respect the three-foot-law and slow down. Win win.


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Bikes Outside: Bikes on Ice

This Monday we have a couple of the bikes that stopped off at Jo Jo's for this past Friday morning's Ice Bike to Work breakfast. A total of six people showed up according to the sign-in sheet. Friday morning was bitter and windy, well below the day's predicted high of 22 degrees Fahrenheit, which probably affected turnout. I arrived on the late side, so there were only two other bikes present.


Dave's nice Rockhopper is very well equipped for just about anything. I'm pretty sure most of the cars I have owned have had fewer electronics on board. Legend has it that Specialized switched to oversized tubing in recent years just so they could write their name larger.


I remember digging that left hand bar-end mirror tree on Kevin's Trek at another CCBA event and wondering how far I could go with that concept, clamping more and more bar ends and mirrors to one another until my bike either had aluminum antlers or became the human-powered version of a 60's Mod scooter. It may be for the best that I not admit how much thought I've devoted to the idea of building such a bicycle. Of course the mod bicycle would need a Rocker-style counterpart, which I also may or may not have thought about between one and fifty times.

A minute into my Friday morning ride, I discovered that some water from last Mondays rain-soaked ride had apparently found its way into my cable housings and frozen there. My rear derailleur (interesting note: spell-check only accepts the French spelling) failed to shift at all and my rear brake would stay clamped against the rim after releasing the lever (arguably a safer failure than not working at all). Luckily, the front brake was 100% functional and the sluggish front derailleur could be coaxed into position with a quick toe-tap. I decided to experimentally spray some lock de-icer in the cable housings as a dessicant/cable lube to free things up. I've been riding my internally-geared Robin Hood since then, so I have to take another sub-freezing ride on the cargo bike to see if this actually worked (it functions perfectly well in the heated indoors, of course).

My late morning and afternoon left me feeling thoroughly spent, so I skipped Critical Mass this month. Did anybody go?


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Radio is a sound salvation

We had a great time on Colin's show the other day, with lots of positive and thoughtful feedback since. Read this for instance, it's real good.

Remember, Ice Bike to Work and Critical Mass are both today. Dress warmly and remember that free coffee warms you up 27% better than the kind you buy. Read more!

thank you Ted White for Return of the Scorcher

Return of the Scorcher is one of the movies on a Ted White DVD, which also contains the more talked about, We Are Traffic. WAT is a great documentary about the Critical Mass movement and its creation in San Francisco in the early 1990’s. It gave me the inspiration to begin making flyers for the Hartford ride and try and get people to come out and enjoy the city. I love this movie. It certainly changed my life and helped grow the ride in Hartford.

My smoldering romance with Return of the Scorcher has suddenly erupted with fireworks! I watched a borrowed copy of the DVD for the longest time, which my friend Steve had bought to use at a CCBA event. At some point last year I finally returned the movie to him and haven’t seen it since. A few days ago I received my own copy from this link and have watched it a few times. I cannot get enough of Return of the Scorcher and all the amazing vingettes of bicycle culture from Guangzho (Canton), China back in 1991. Most of the citizens use bicycles and tricycles for commuting and business as well as dating. The whole part about riding women sidesaddle is wonderful! There’s also a scene in which George Bliss describes giant intersections with no traffic signals and bicycles competeing with cars, trucks, busses and motorcycles to cross lanes of traffic. He described the bikes leading the charge across the street as a critical mass; which gave the founders of CM the idea for the name!

There’s also quite a bit of footage from Amsterdam showing bicycles as daily transportation and showcasing all the infrastructure built to support a lifestyle on two wheels. The use of the bicycle in the Women's rights movement is also really interesting. Dang, the whole DVD is super interesting and super inspirational. I am not sure how many people have seen or heard of this movie, but I felt a need to thank Ted White for making it and encourage y’all to enjoy it.






And here is the rest of it.


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Meetings

I love going to meetings in north end because I get to cut through Keney Park and then return by the dump on the along river for the return trip. It's rare that you get to roll your tires on some dirt when you're at work. I also got to see a yearling deer and a wild turkey.


Also, CCBA is looking for some volunteers for Celebrate! (the exclamation point is required) West Hartford. Here's an email I got from Ken Livingston:

Hi Brendan:

The Central Connecticut Bicycle Alliance (CCBA) is seeking volunteers to help with our bike valet service for this upcoming weekend’s Celebrate West Hartford Festival Days (June 13^th and 14^th). According to CCBA President and West Hartford resident Anne I. Hayes, “In years past, we noticed that many people rode their bikes to Celebrate!, but once they arrived, they could not find bike parking. They ended up locking their bikes to trees, parking meters, or keeping their bikes with them. We realized that we could provide a service to bicyclists and encourage more people to bike to Celebrate! Last year’s valet service parked hundreds of bicycles.”

If you are interested in volunteering for an hour or two, please contact Ken Livingston at klivingston@fhiplan.com or 860-416-4309. The bike valet service will be operating from 10 am to 6 pm on Saturday and 12 pm to 6 pm on Sunday.

Thank you for your help.

Ken Livingston

Celebrate!!! West Hartford's not really my thing and I'm going to be BioBlitzing next weekend, but don't let that stop you.

Also, rumble strips can kill you.

So, can police firing ranges.

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No Parking.... or be careful what you ask for!

I am now living in the Conch Republic, better known as Key West. Yes, technically it is in Florida, but the vibe and architecture is certainly far more Bahamian than American. Moving here after a dozen and a half visits over the last 10 years is a dream come true. The friendly people, the amazing weather, the island's charming general weirdness and the amount of bicycles have drawn me here year after year. So, how's living in a bicycle centric city!?

Lemme tell you, Portland and Berkley ain’t got nuttin’ on the bicycles here. Many people don’t even own a car to get around the four by two mile island. Bicycles, racks, pedi-cabs and trikes are everywhere! Unfortunately, this can actually be a problem when trying to get to work on time. My first waiting job ever is at the Turtle Kraals, right on the water at Key West Bight Marina; and finding bicycle parking at 10AM can be hard!


Here’s the restaurant’s employee only bicycle parking! Almost full! I got a spot this day!


But here’s a shot near the front of the restaurant with no less than seven actual bicycle racks completely full! Overflowing actually!


Even the giant anchor had bikes and trikes chained up to it! Dang! It's not even a bike rack!


This shot is for el presidente de china. Folding bicycles are actually super popular here. And the biggest retailer for such steeds? West Marine, a boating supply store! Why? Many live-aboard sailboats are anchored off shore and the owners will float in on a dingy with their folding bike and then use it to get to work, run errands around town or get to the bar. (or prolly a combo of all three) Now, that's a sweet multimodal commute!

There are many, many sweet rides all over the city and I’ll be posting more pics as soon as I can. There are mostly single speed beach cruisers, but also many mountain bikes with wide slicks. In the mean time, check out Conchscooter's blog, Key West Diary for two recent posts about bicycles: Duval Bikes and More Duval bikes. Great posts!

I met a dude who rides old school fixed gears, I mean OLD school as in pre-1900, but haven’t seen any of his rides yet! I hope to soon. I am told there’s a dude on a blue track bike too, but I haven’t met him or his bike yet. And that’s is for fixies! TJ, come visit and bring the Steamroller!

Its super convenient and really fresh to be in a town where the bicycle is truly the preferred way to scoot around town! Life is good! Ride on!


ps. there ain't no mo' to read!




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Spoooooky goings on in the Beat!

Alright...so we messed up in joining the Hooker Day Parade on Sunday. We had a plan, we had a theme idea. I was in Vegas, Joel found himself in Wethersfield, El Prez in New Haven, Karma was most likely working, Chillwill is in Cali, Ken was confused, and I think I heard that Brendan was ready to go. Oops. Well, it sounds like the parade was a lot of fun, and it got people in Hartford excited, so that's always a good thing.

But what's on tap now that fall has fallen, you ask? Good question! Here's some things for your calendars for the next 1.5 weeks:


Friday, Oct. 31st.

Bike to Work??
Old State House, 7am - 9am
last Friday of the month
Hmmmm...this event appears on the BBB calendar over there on the right. It does not appear on the CCBA Bike Everywhere calendar. There it says that they ended in September. I know last year, they had "Icebike to work" things for the colder months. I'll look into this in the next day and report on the status, and I'm sure future scheduling will occur after the next Bike Everywhere meeting in a couple of weeks.

Critical Mass, Halloween Edition!!!
Meet at 5:30pm, Bushnell Park Carousel.
It’s the last Friday of the month! Celebrate with riders around the world for this global, grassroots celebration. Join a hundred of your newest friends on a ride around the city at a chill pace for about an hour and a half. Check old posts to see past rides. The summer’s rides were wonderful, and now we can REALLY freak out!!! It's October 31st! All Hallows' Eve! Helloween! The last ride in Daylight Savings Time! Dress up yer bike! Dress up yerself! Bring some candy! Get some candy! By the time we push off, it'll be dusk, the leaves will be flying, and it'll be extra spoooky! Seriously, feel free to ride in costume. Creativity encouraged. Anything can happen!
http://critical-mass.info/


Tuesday, Nov. 4th.

Progressive Happy Hour (PHH), Election Night Edition.
Kenny's (Red Rock), whenever to whenever.
Holy Shit. HOLY SHIT!!! Really??! The election?! We've only been exposed to this election cycle since about 1971. That's what it feels like. You know...Canadians held a national election in October. Guess how long that took from the time they announced it to the time it was over. No seriously, guess. 30 days. By law. Anyway...hell, here it is in the US of A. Obama. McCain. Nader. Barr. And the rest, with Palin & Biden popping in to provide comic relief. Polls in CT close at 7 pm, so I'm thinking of getting there early to start drinking the pain away while we watch the pundits on the teevee make big asses of themselves. I'll probably be making up the drinking game as the night goes on and others are welcome to join in. Early rules I've thought of are 1) sports metaphors, 2) calling a state before 20% of precincts have reported, 3) unnecessary and excessive use of expensive touch-screen zoomy maps, and 4) any appearance of a dry-erase whiteboard. I'm also going to bring presidential games and activities. Points to those who show up with trivia about our lesser-known presidents like Millard Filmore. Anyway...show up. And for cripes sake: VOTE. Or exercise your right not to vote. Freedom, baby.

Wednesday, Nov. 5th

BBB English/Irish Pub Bike-Crawl
7 pm - 11 pm
After the success of Beat Biketoberfest, it was suggested that we try some sort of irregularly scheduled bike-based pub crawls around the Beat. Well, my first thought was to try to do them on some sort of occasion. November 5th is known in the British empire as "Guy Fawkes Night" (aka "Bonfire Night") in commemoration of some catholic extremist dude with an unfortunate name who tried to blow up Parliament with gunpowder on that date in 1605, but was a complete douche and failed miserably. So the Brits, with no 4th of July celebration because they lost that whole silly affair in the colonies, put this as their holiday to blow shit up. Well, we aren't going to blow shit up, so I'm leading a tour of popular English/Irish drinking establishments in the area to mark the date. I think the order will probably go: Vaughan's, McKinnon's, Half Door, & ending at the Corner Pug, unless someone can come up with another viable stop. Yeah, yeah...it's a school night, so it won't be a big blow out all-night affair, but a classy traipsing affair as our first public pub bike-crawl. We'll start at 7 pm at Vaughan's on Pratt Street in downtown Hartford. All are welcome. "Remember, remember the 5th of November!"
(someone want to add this to the blog calendar, please?)

Saturday, Nov. 8th

THE EEL
Charter Oak Landing, 3 pm
A gentleman's race along the river that is both on the road and off. This is so going to rock. Any further updates and promotion will be provided by Brendan.

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The Sandpit of Deathpart Saga Continues

The Sandpit of Death before last week's gorilla clean-up! I will replace with an up-to-date photo manana.

The first BBB post about The Sandpit of Death on the pathway between Bushnell Park and the LOB/Armory area was mostly about the clean-up done by Hanna, Maureen and I. This was last week. I ended the post with the beginnings of an attempt to have the city via it’s 311 program handle the rest of the work needed on the entire sidewalk including the very dirty bridge. The soft sand was dangerous to ride over and muddy to walk through after rain. Many, many people use this pathway every day.

Brendan recently reported the sand was returning. It certainly has! We scraped, shoveled and swept that sidewalk to bare concrete last week. I passed through it Monday night on a ride with Krash. Its baaaack! All this rain has caused a shitload of sand and dirt to once again cover the sidewalk. AARRGG!!!!

A culvert and minor construction is needed to fix this problem permanently. My neighbor, David Corrigan, is on the North Frog Hollow NRZ committee and told me there were plans to fix up the whole pathway including lighting! Nice! That will be great...when it happens. But what about now?!?!

Something has to be done. But what? Perhaps some hay bales to prevent the sand from flowing onto the sidewalk in heavy rain?

At a minimum, the city needs to send a street sweeper over that area after every rainstorm to keep it safe. Let’s make that happen. We can do this.

Please help us help ourselves by calling and/or emailing 311 and asking the city to fix this dangerous situation. If enough of us call, something has got to happen! Please leave a comment below about your own call!


Landline - 311
Cel phone - 860-522-4888
Website 311

there's no more to read! Read more!

ride daily, celebrate monthly...or all the time!!!

Start friday morning with a ride to The Old State House for Bike to Work and enjoy a free breakfast of coffee, juice, bagels, bananas and other tastey morning goodness from 7am to 9am. Mingle with other commuters, check out bikes and loiter around as long as you can get away with! tell yer boss yer late cuz of a flat! mmm....bananas!


Need a fun ride after work? its Critical Mass! Meet at the Bushnell Park Carousel 5:30pm. This informal ride leave a little after 6pm and wanders around for about an hour and a half. Where? There's talk of going to East Hartford. Or the farm-made icecream spot in Bloomfield on Cottage Grove Road. Bring yer ideas, bells, whistles, energy and have a great time. Always an afterparty somewhere!

Come earlier to try out some bike polo, sez Dave M, "“Pre-Mass Mallet Bash” - jumpstart your c-mass ride while wielding a mallet and netting some fun trying up bike polo. 5:00pm in the field near the Carousel."
wow, that's alot of "quotation" marks!

next month has some really big events mid month, again both on the same day!
The CCBA's Discover Hartford Bike and Walking Tour is Saturday, September 12. Last year about 1200 people had a great time on the tour, don't miss it this year! Sign up and more info on the website!


but save yer legs, cuz that same night is Hartford Hardcore 4! The 4th year of one of the best alleycats in the city. We were easy on y'all with last month's Wear Yer Rubber's race, Sean and company will not be so nice! good luck suckas! ride fast, ride safe. Read more!

Get out and ride somewhere!

The beatbikeblog’s day by day, play by play calendar for a mad busy week of great events. Wow. Summer is in full MF’n effect! Lots going on, great rides, parties, food and people. Check it:

Tuesday

Bicycle Commuting Clinic
July 22, 2008, 7:00 to 8:00 PM REI West Hartford
Want to refresh the basics of commuting on your bicycle. Enjoy the
summer weather and reduce the amount you drive your car by commuting to
work and around town on your bicycle! This July 22nd from 7-8pm will be
reviewing safety, equipment, rules of the road, defensive riding, and
how to pick an appropriate commuting route with Central Connecticut
Bicycle Alliance member Dave Enos. Please join us for this very
important clinic that is geared to keeping you safe on the roads.
Space is limited please call REI customer service to reserve your spot today
860-233-2211. This clinic is free and open to the public.Bike Commuter Clinic


Wednesday

Critical Splash @ Goodwin Park Pool 6-7:45pm
Julie sez, “Celebrate adult swim hours and assert our adult swimmers’ rights!”
Organized by Julie from liveinhartford.com cool off, swim laps, chit, chat, enjoy the hot summer night with some new and old friends. There’s no charge and be prepared to hand over all belongings to an attendant of the storage area.
More Details here!


Thursday

Farmers’ Market @ Billings Forge 11am – 2pm
Broad St. 2 buildings south of Capitol Ave.
buy fresh! buy local! Corn, pies. fruits, meats, eggs, cheese,
and live music too!
Farmers' Market at Billings Forge

Friday

Bike to Work @ the Old State House 7am – 9am
A free monthly breakfast organized by the CCBA for bike commuters in the middle of downtown that attracts about 100 people. Wake up with coffee, drink some juice, make a bagel or eat some fruit. There’s always a great spread and lots of mingling, smiling and stories to share. There’s a raffle too with great prizes like tents, sleeping bags and other goodies. Don’t forget to grab some flyers, stickers and schwag.
This month’s sponsored by Healthy Gears
Bike to Work

Critical Mass. meet at 5:30pm, Bushnell Park Carousel.
It’s the last Friday of the month! Celebrate with riders around the world for this global, grassroots celebration. Join a hundred of your newest friends on a ride around the city at a chill pace for about an hour and a half. Check old posts to see past rides. This summer’s rides have been wonderful, especially last month’s meandering through Keney Park.
Anything can happen!
http://critical-mass.info/

Saturday

Wear Yer Rubbers! alleycat race.
5:30pm register for race, volunteer for checkpoints @ Bushnell Park Carousel.
6:00pm race starts
This will not be a short, fast race; expect to pedal fast and long!
prizes include: messenger bags from Manhattan Portage, Ghostship clothing, schwag, condoms, water bottles, and special love for DFL.
race ends/afterparty backyard 364 Laurel st.

Bike Everywhere! to Bloomfield
Meet at Elizabeth Park at high noon and seek out some lunch. Then pedal to Bloomfield to tour to the Hooker Brewery and sample some tasty beverages. The tour costs $5. see links for more info.
Bike Everywhere!


LoRes Fest 3.0
A whirlwind weekend of community video fun in Connecticut’s Capital City.
Make your own short video in Hartford! In 24 hours! No experience or equipment needed. Watch yours and other LoRes videos at the 3rd Annual Hartford InternationalFilm Festival in November!

Friday, July 25 to Sunday, July 27 LoRes Fest ‘08 Headquarters: Red Rock Tavern, 369 Capitol Avenue, Hartford. Registration- $50 ($60 after July 23)-includes video equipment and LoRes Fest ’08 DVD

For more information and to register contact info@capitolcinemacollective.org or (860) 830-6222.

don't read more...ride more! Read more!

I got baggage!

Its Wednesday! Delivery day! ARRGG! i wanna go back to sleep. My kayaking trip got rained out yesterday, so i got to drive into work this morning since i still had my van with me. otherwise, it would have been another early morning at Dunkin' Donuts trying to fit all this stuff in my bag. Anywho, here's an older photo showing my typical Wednesday morning cargo carrying commute! Read more!

Its Bike Week of Bike Month!

its sooo nice outside! don't be a fool...ride a bike!

Wednesday, May 14: Bike to Dinner Lena's at 5:30pm.
2053 Park Street, Hartford, CT 06106

arrive early to drink beer at the tiki bar in back!
and be sure to harass rob about a bike rack!
Lena's / Sully's is the freakin' spot.
come meet fellow bicyclists.
what more could you want!?!?!?

BIKE to WORK. friday, may 16th, Old State House. 7am-9am
bike to work is this friday...not the last friday!
come enjoy a free breakfast and 100 of your newest friends.
its free! even i can afford that.


Friday, May 16: Happy Hour- Corner Pug at 5:30pm
Bicycles and Happy Hour! Celebrate if the weather is good! Drown your weather sorrows in beer if its not so good!
Corner Pug is on the corner of New Britiain Ave and New Park Ave.
they'll have a bike rack out for us!

ps! get famous! help the cause.
this an email forward from Adam Bulger, a writer at the advocate:

I'm a writer for the Advocate, working on a story about different ways of getting around the Hartford area without resorting to cars. I'm looking for comments from people who ride bikes instead of cars (I'd like to emphasize commuting to work, but this will not be the entirety of the article). This will be quick, non-intrusive questions, like why and when did you start riding bikes, what do you like/dislike about it, if you have any interesting stories or experiences or if you have any other observations. I'm happy to hear any criticism about how municipalities/drivers don't respect bike riders, so if you've got axes, grind away.

chillwill was nice enough to forward this on my behalf. If you'd like to respond via email, you can contact me at abulger@hartfordadvocate.com, or if you'd prefer speaking with me, my direct line is (860) 548-9300.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Adam

pps. if you ask nicely, he will also ask long intrusive questions. Read more!