Exhausting administrative remedies

In case you missed it (ICYMI), Chris Brown has filed a lawsuit against the DOT for shutting Flower Street in contempt of the hearing officer's decision instructing the DOT to keep it open for bicycles and pedestrians. I think it's pretty great and it's not very often that you see people standing up to government agencies when they don't have a financial stake in something or a monied interest group backing them.

Read the article here. Read more!

Even fewer protections for cyclists

Salem and I rode up to Massachusetts yesterday. We felt that it was a pretty expressive ride. We felt marginally protected by the Constitution. Well, we were wrong. As soon as we crossed the Mass line, our first amendment protections as cyclists fell by the wayside. Apparently, a Federal district court in Mass determined that riding your bike is not in and of itself a first amendment protected activity. See Damon v. Huckowitz (D. Mass Aug. 9, 2013). Also, it would seem that taking the lane in Hadley will get you stopped by the cops. I rode my bike there last weekend and was taking lanes.

Also, the court seems to have ruled as mater of law that riding in the middle of the lane (something the League of American Bicyclists, etc.) is more dangerous and is not allowed.

As you know, Hadley is in greater Northampton, which is a pretty pro-bike area. Are they going to protest?

Here's the link to the Volokh Conspiracy post where I saw this. Read more!

Local bike "advocate" wants bikes off the road

 Not off the road in the cool mountain biking sense.

This, from Simsbury Patch, appears to be the best reporting so far on the stupid single-file rule that's proposed.

As you know, we've got SB 103, because one cop in Simsbury hates bikes and called  up Sen. (and fellow Canton officer) Witkos. That doesn't make me happy, but I can understand that process. I've done enough political things to understand that one person's well placed call can create legislation and maybe even pass it.

What got me about the Patch article is that the guy who runs Simsbury's bike share program thinks it's great idea.

Simsbury Free Bike Director and bicycling advocate Larry Linonis feels that the proposed legislation is necessary for the safety of bicyclists, motorists, and pedestrians on the roads and multi-use paths.
"Many of our roads are so narrow that it forces drivers to cross over the center line when people ride side by side," Linonis said.
State law requires motorists to yield three feet when passing bicycle riders, which is not always possible when two riders are occupying several feet of the roadway, Linonis said.
Linonis' opinion is not one that is shared by all local bike advocates.
"My opinion is my own," Linonis said. "Most of us feel we should be policing ourselves, but we're doing a terrible job of that."

I understand that this organization lends out bike and it seems like their primary is use to be ridden along the bike path in Simsbury. As an advocate, I am unaware of what they do.

I know of no one else who rides a bike that feels this way, but I 'm certain that those in favor of forcing bikes off the road are going to quote Linonis to no end.

The thing that gets me about SB 103 is that the existing laws are already designed to limit cyclist's position on the road-- two abreast only when it's not impeding the flow of traffic and as far right as practicable. I don't understand what needs to change, but apparently the meager growth of cycling in the Farmington Valley means that we need to put a stop to it immediately.

I would also like to see some stats of tickets for violating the 3 foot rule in Simsbury. If this one town is granted the ability to ruin it for the rest of us, I'd at least like to see that they're enforcing the one safety measure for cyclists to the fullest extent possible.

Since it is highly doubtful that Witkos is going to change his mind about the bill, contact your senator or representative, testify at some public hearings in front of the Transportation Committee, talk to your friends and family, ride a bike two abreast in a courteous way, find a viable D to run against Witkos in 2014, practice acts of civil disobedience or do whatever else you feel will help the cause. Read more!

I love Connecticut

A week ago, a terrible thing happened in Newtown. The limited intelligence of the beat bike blog can offer no answers as to the circumstance, but it got me thinking about my small state. I've lived here for all 29 years of my life and over that time I've developed some connections throughout a lot of the state. That's the nice thing about living in one place for a long. However, when terrible things happen, they don't feel remote, because you are connected.

In the last week of stunned, depressed confusion, I've been thinking about Connecticut. Most tragedies like this happen elsewhere and I can fall back on this notion that we don't do that here. Although, I live in a city with a gun violence problem. It's getting better, but we've still had 21 homicides (I don't know what the weapon was for those) and 119 shooting victims. Not that there's a ranking of tragedies, but shooting up an elementary school was not a level of evil contemplated by many. It is still beyond my comprehension as to how someone could muster the hate to kill a room of six and seven year olds.

And, not being a teacher, I also wonder how someone musters up the courage (not to mention the incredible bravery shown the day of the attack) to teacher a room of six and seven year olds. It seems really difficult. I can only handle one or two kids at a time. Who knows, maybe someday I'll be able to be a little league coach, but two hours a week is probably my maximum with a group of kids.

So, I wondered how this came out of Connecticut. I like it here and despite what people say about chilly Yankees, I think people are friendly. Excessive small talk is for people who don't have the fortitude to deal with silence. I went to do some thinking; this is how: Johanna and I got a Christmas tree and wandered around the Canton Land Trust trails on Ratlum Mountain (or maybe it's Breezy Hill). I attempted to walk to my parents' house, but dad got concerned and picked me up with his car at the Farmington line. I rode around Middlefield and Middletown and discovered Middlefield has an awesome skatepark. (I also rode passed CJTS, which is a dark spot in our state's recent history) I went for a hike in the greater Rockland (yes, that is a Mapquest link, because Google didn't seem to recognize Rockland, CT as a place) area and discovered lots of awesome trails on and around the Mattabesett. I went to Home Depot and ran into a classmate and former coworker of mine. Johanna and I went to El Sarape. Between the geology and Mexican food, my faith was renewed in Connecticut. I probably could have used more human interaction, but I had two take home exams this week, so when I wasn't standing in the woods, I was holed up in my living room writing about Dillon's Rule.

I think all communities probably have evil lurking at their margins, but their good can be measured in their responses. I was impressed that a vigil materialized in Bushnell Park Friday evening. Politicians in our state, and elsewhere for that matter, seem to want to address this with meaningful legislation (Where you aware that you can buy weapons that look like they're from Doom (my violent video game knowledge stops in the 90's) right off the internet?). Regular people seem even to want to address this with action beyond hand wringing. The outpouring of emotion that I've seen makes me think that as a community we're not callous to tragedy. And, unlike other times when this has happened, people don't seemed resigned to mass shootings as an acceptable way of life. They really appear to be demanding of changes to gun laws and our mental health system.

When I was riding passed CJTS, where the Connecticut Valley Hospital used to be (it's a wicked depressing place on top of that hill), I was thinking about the decline of public mental health facilities. I live right near Cedarcrest and that's gone now, too. Obviously, publicly run mental health institutions don't have a great history, but I don't think their demise has done anything other than put the mental health infrastructure in prisons. Therefore, for people without means, access to mental health services may mean that you have to commit a crime to get them. I know of two people with children in their 20's with mental health problems that have led to serious criminal or antisocial behavior. The problem is that once these 20 year olds are off their parents' insurance, their access to mental health services disappear. Middle class people cannot afford to get services for their children in these circumstances and there's no public service to pick up the slack except the prison system. One of these kids (I say kids, but they're like the same age as me) has been in and out jail and the other may be soon. It's only once the criminal justice system intervenes that access to mental health services seems to start. Why do we have to wait until a crime has been committed? That's really stupid public policy.

So, I originally had wanted to write about my cyclocross season. I had finally upgraded to a 3 and rode singlespeed all season. It was a lot of fun and maybe I'll tell you about it sometime. That's the kind of stuff that people want to read about on a bike blog.

Read more!

Copyright infringement

If you read this blog, you know it's not very good. We're not very good at riding bikes and we're way worse at writing. After you've read all the good bike blogs on the internet (of which there might 1.3 or so), you come here because you live near Hartford and you want to remember that the cycling scene around here is not worthy of report. However, I surfing the website the other day and I came upon this.

What the fuck!?

I worked hard on that bike ride. I had to drive all the way to Vermont to do it, in addition to the riding part! Then, I had to write about it. You better believe that when some spam blog steals my precious literary work, I'm going to do something about.

So, I filled out some complicated Google copyright infringement form and got an email from Google that apparently they're taking care of it (the offending spam blog is hosted by blogger). However, they're only going after two the examples I sent them and I'm fairly sure that the spam blog has co-opted every single beat bike blog post ever. Even former bloggers like Joel, El Presidente de Chine and Rich aren't safe.

Is anything sacred? Read more!

Thoughts on Flower Street

You may recall that the Putnam Bridge was supposed to be refurbished and the DOT declared that a bike/ped lane was impossible. There was no possible way. No amount of engineering could get a bike/ped lane on the Putnam Bridge. People got angry. People leaned on their elected officials. Suddenly, the Putnam Bridge developed a way for things other than cars to get across.

Flower Street is a very similar thing, but where are our elected officials on this? Rep. Gonzales has been silent and so far Sen. Fonfara has been, too. Clearly, constituents are riled up, and for good reasons. I saw that the Mayor wrote a letter, but the DOT is going to listen to State legislators, not municipal people. They control the DOT budget, not the towns.

There's an obvious and appreciable negative economic impact here and I cannot fathom why DOT is being so tone deaf. Must be the engineers' superiority complex. Read more!

More recreational land use liability

Remember how recreational land use reform was supposed to be a foregone conclusion after last legislative session? Well, it's not. There's a new bill SB 445. It seeks to undo a bunch of the good stuff that happen last time around. My reading is that the bill last time, PL 11-211, exempted activities and owners from liability except in cases of recklessness or gross negligence. This new bad bill seems to remove different types of lands, like sidewalks, boardwalks and beaches from the exemption.

Here's a letter that Dario and I sent to the Judiciary Committee:

March 29, 2012
Joint Committee on Judiciary
Room 2500, Legislative Office Building
Hartford, CT 06106
 Members of the Judiciary Committee,
Last year the Connecticut General Assembly made the right decision by reforming municipal recreational liability in our state. Municipalities and quasi-public agencies like the Metropolitan District Commission can continue to keep their lands open to the public for recreational enjoyment without the fear of lawsuits except in the most unreasonable or reckless circumstances. This is a win for people who enjoy the outside as well as for tax or rate payers. 

SB 445, AN ACT CONCERNING LIABILITY FOR THE RECREATIONAL USE OF LAND, seeks to undo the progress made last year by exempting areas such as beaches, boardwalks and sidewalks from the lands immune from normal negligence claims. Much of the testimony last year encouraging reform came from people who enjoy using walking paths or bike paths. This bill would revert to the bad old days of two years ago and encourage trails to be closed once more. 

We urge the Judiciary Committee to vote this bill down. This same issue was addressed last year and an almost unanimous legislature listened to the people and their desire to keep our parks and woods open to public use. Please respect that and vote down SB 445.

Here's CTNEMBA's take:

Please Send Comments Opposing SB. 445 to the Judiciary Committee.Last year NEMBA, along with many other outdoor and environmental organizations, succeeded in strengthening the protections offered to landowners and municipalities who allowed free public access to their lands and trails.   The bill successfully became law last year. P.L. 11-211 -- a great victory for the trails community.Now there are efforts to cut back protections offered to municipalities that allow free and public recreation on their land..  A new bill, SB. 445, is currently in the Judiciary Committee that would exempt boardwalks, beaches and sidewalks from municipal protection.  The JC will make a determination by Monday about whether to let it go on to the state senate.  Yesterday, I gave testimony along side our other partners in theConnecticut trails community, and now I ask your help too.We urge CT mountain bikers (and anyone who enjoys open space) to contact the Judiciary Committee chair and other committee members and ask them to oppose “SB. 445- An Act Concerning Liability for the Recreational Use of Land.”Consider mentioning the following points in your own words

• The process of strengthening of the Recreational Use Statute was thorough and exhaustive. P.L. 11-211 passed overwhelmingly and was the result of widespread bipartisan support. There is no need to revisit this legislation at such an early date.  

• Exempting boardwalks, beaches and sideways from the protections would once again make municipalities consider not allowing public recreation on their lands. It would make them consider not investing in more open space since to do so would increase their liability concerns.  

• Boardwalks on primitive natural surface singletrack trails are simple structures, sometimes only a couple of planks of wood laying over a patch of mud. They are low-impact structures designed to protect the wetland resource and allow people more easy traverse a muddy section of trail. They should not be made the target of slip and fall litigation.  

• Beaches can be interpreted as any rocky or sandy access point to a water body, be it an inland stream or pond or the Long Island Sound. Exempting beaches from liability protections would make municipalities consider preventing free public access to their waterways. 

• Sidewalks may abutt or be part of paved bikepaths. They should not become a liability target that would dissuade municipalities from creating more bike facilities. 

Please send your comments to members of the Judiciary Committee by Sunday night, April 1^st.Here’s how to contact members of the Judiciary Committee:http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/MemberList.asp?comm_code=JUDTo read SB 445: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2012/TOB/s/pdf/2012SB-00445-R00-SB.pdf

Time may be running out to contact the Judiciary, but you can always contact your State Rep or Senator to tell them to vote against the bill if it makes it into their committee or to a floor vote (hopefully it doesn't make it to a floor vote).

Read more!

Chemical warfare

I am tired of getting chased by people's unleashed dogs. For some reason this warmer weather has led some dog owners to think that they don't need leashes any more. On the road it's not that big of a deal, but in the woods or when there are multiple dogs, I'm tired of getting nipped at. Any recommendations for dog repellent? Pepper spray? Are there little pepper sprays that fit in a jersey pocket? Does pepper spray work? If I controlled my bike and me like people control their dogs, I'd either be dead, in jail or living in a box with no bikes from getting sued so much.

Another plus about riding in Hartford vs. the suburbs: no unleashed dogs. Read more!

It's a man's, man's, man's world...

But it don't mean nothing without a cat. I think that's how that song goes.

Anyway, there's this cat living on our windowsill that needs a home better than our windowsill. He's cute, fixed and friendly. We even took him to the vet yesterday to get checked out. Email me if you'd like this nice cat.

Additionally, cats make great mountain biking partners.

Read more!

Save Cedar Mountain!

I stand corrected. I thought because the trees were still standing on Cedar Mountain this spring, the spooky mountain was safe. If you saw the front page of the Courant today, you know that the woods aren't so safe from the Toll Brothers (who made lots of money destroying our economy with the subprime mortgage crisis). Like any stupid plan to develop the woods and restrict public access, there's a thoughtful, organized and right opposition.

Anyway, if you enjoy Cedar Mountain, you should go to the public hearing tonight at 7pm in Newington at Town Hall, 171 Cedar Street. I can't make it, so I'm submitting written testimony.

May 25, 2011

Members of the Planning and Zoning Commission,

I write to you today to express my opposition to residential development on Cedar Mountain. For decades, residents of south Hartford, Wethersfield and Newington have been blessed with several hundred acres of woodland on Cedar Mountain. This area is one of the few large forests remaining in close proximity to the core of capital region and it benefits the area’s residents immeasurably. I understand Newington’s desire to increase its grand list, but there is no reason to destroy forest when there are redevelopment opportunities right downtown. West Hartford’s Blue Back Square, for example, redeveloped the town’s center and increased the tax base without negatively impacting the town’s balance of open space. Developing Cedar Mountain is akin to West Hartford having left the old car dealership in the center vacant and building houses in Westmoor Park.

As an avid mountain biker and hiker, I know that my opinion on this matter is somewhat self-serving, but I know that many others directly benefit from recreating on Cedar Mountain or indirectly benefit from having the exhaust from Berlin Turnpike cleansed by the trees in its forest. A few years ago, the City of Hartford turned down a proposal to develop a 200 acre equestrian facility in the middle of Keney Park. Hartford made the right decision in preserving its northern forest. I hope that Newington makes the right decision and preserves Cedar Mountain.

I understand that as Newington officials, you will probably take the opinion of a non-resident without much weight, but I hope that my writing impresses upon you that the destruction of Cedar Mountain would have a regional impact.

Thank you,

Brendan Mahoney

Read more!

Another public hearing to save our trails

Even this trail!

Remember the MDC trails? Remember CT's flawed municipality liability law? Me too!

So, let's go testify again, this time at the LOB. It'll be for a more permanent fix. See below:

Municipal Liability Public Hearing

This just in.. Public Hearing set for 12:00 noon Monday January 31st Room 1E of the LOB.

The Environment Committee will hold a public hearing on Monday, January 31, 2011 at 12:00 P.M. in Room 1E of the LOB. Please submit 40 copies of written testimony to Committee staff one hour prior to the start of the hearing in Room 1E of the LOB. Sign-up for the hearing will begin at 11:00 A.M. in Room 1E of the LOB. The first hour of the hearing is reserved for public officials. Speakers will be limited to three minutes of testimony. Bills will be heard in the order listed in the Bulletin. Unofficial sign-up sheets have no standing with the Committee.

Our Bill SB no 831 is 5th on the agenda .. Hope you can join us and give public testimony.

This bill will restore protections for Municipalities that existed for 25 years prior to the 1995 Conway v Wilton case.

The bill will ensure that the same limit on liability afforded by state law to state,private owners, utilities and corporations who make their land open to the free use and enjoyment of the public is likewise extended to municipal owners of land.

If you need background material for your public testimony, check out Save Our CT Trails web site and our position paper.

We were able to get an active crowd to the MDC Public Hearing with lots of public testimony .. hopefully we can have a similar turnout.

Please spread the word... this is very short notice... and we need you!

Currently there are 10 separate but very similar bills moving through the state legislature with over 28 legislative supporters. The listing of the bills can be found here.

Any questions email cberistain@saveourcttrails.org

Read more!

Pubic Hearing

Lots of emails have been flying around email distribution lists that involve trails and land lately, so you've probably already heard about it like eighteen times, but... The MDC public hearing on the future of recreation on our rate-tax-payer-funded land is tonight at 5:30pm at the West Hartford town hall. Come, sign-up, speak and hopefully the commissioners will listen to us and maintain status quo.

I rode at the Reservoir this evening, it'd be a shame if they closed it.

In other news, I got a new phone/camera, so I can take pictures again.

Read more!

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.

Read more!

Sandpit Con't

You know, if you do a google image search of "sand pit of death", the first picture is of a cyclocross race.

On my way to work this morning I noticed that our feared sand pit behind the Armory was creeping back as of late. But lo! I saw a man with a broom this morning stem the tied of silicon danger. Praise be to those who work at the Armory.

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Also, you may have noticed "THE EEL" on the right hand column. I've never thrown a race before, so please help me by racing in it. I think it's just going to be cash prizes, because sponsorship seems like too much work and I'm bad at begging. None the less, I think it'll promise to be awesome. We don't have races around here that leave the road very often, so this will bring variety. I'm going to work on a flyer today.

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Oh, and gay marriage is now legal in Connecticut. :)

Read more!