It Appears that Winter is Here - Let there be Sleds

Winter is Connecticut has arrived.  That said, so what?  It happens every year and doesn't take that much ingenuity and gusto to figure it out, make due, and even enjoy the Hell out of it.  One way 'the royal we' has learned to enjoy winter is bicycle commuting year round.  The frigid temperatures, varied conditions, ice, and snow give us something to push against in this world of depressing ease and leisure.  We highly recommend it.

Bikes work on snow too.  Amazing!

In the interest of spreading camaraderie and cheer during the S.A.D. months we (not just the royal) meet up for breakfast and unbridled smugness.  It's called IceBike to Work, but you don't have to be on the way to work, or even on a bike for that matter.  Try walking, taking the bus, car pooling and come hang out with us.  Those interested in winter cycling that just want tips, they are most welcome too.  Actually, everyone is welcome.  But smugness does require some level of commitment.  The Committee doesn't hand that out for nothing.

Friday, February 13th is actually an international holiday recognizing the smugness of winter bike commuters.  While eating your eggs and toast you can contemplate that in cities like Boston and Chicago the smugness is much harder to find.  Winter bike commuting isn't uncommon there.  Where do they get their smug?

Two IceBike to Work Locations 

Friday, February 13th

• East Hartford, Maddie's on Main Street, right across from P&W.  6:45am-8:30am.
• Downtown Hartford, Ashley's on Main Street just south of downtown, next to Hook and Ladder restaurant.  7AM-8:30AM
• Heads up - Both of these venues are cash only.  Bring your frozen greenbacks.

Give it a try and spread the word.  If you have experience skiing the clothing is very similar.  Get some lights and consider studded tires if you're going to ride on icy days.  The key to overweening smugness is within your reach.  Reach out and grab it!

Art Sled Derby

Saturday, February 14th

Elizabeth Park Hartford Overlook

Lining up at 11AM

Facebook Invite

The Art Sled Derby is not related to bicycles - although we will be attempting to transport several  unwieldy monster art sleds via bicycle trailer.  Build a sled or just show up to cheer and laugh.  No pre-registration required.  Just show up. There will be fantastic sleds and even more fantastic crashes.  I've included a couple photos of my entries from 2013 (A Lazy Boy) and 2014 (Bouncing Baby Buggy).  Our 2015 sled is a team entry by TEAM TROUBLE including contributions by the veteran Beat Bike Blogger Ken K and his lovely, mischievous wife.  It's f'ing ridiculous!

2013.  Didn't die. (Photo credit - Steven Yau)

2014. Also didn't die.  2015 - TBD. (Photo credit - Steven Yau)

If you're still reading, you really have a problem.  Rather than read my blog, you should put in some thoughtful bike, walk, or transit comments on the Hartford I-84 redesign.  They are looking for public comments, and the opportunity for this design phase ends February 20th.  If you don't make your voice heard early on large infrastructure projects, you'll be dead before they design it again. (COMMENT HERE!)

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Denouement

I bought a folding saw last week, because I want to become beloved for my trail maintenance. I started clearing the trail that runs through Goodwin Park for practice. The next day, Dario proposed that we go fix the trail from the Bissel Bridge to Loomis. It sounded like a good idea, so we set off along river, passed the dump, cross the train tracks and headed for the newly paved thing in Windsor. Surprisingly, we had the misfortune of doing this in view of an Amtrak cop. He stopped us, but didn't write tickets. I've ridden through there dozens of times, but I guess you're not supposed to. Interestingly, he didn't ask about my bag of saws.

I also went for a ride with Tony and found this cabin.

Happy New Year! Read more!

Salem's ride: nobody died

On the heels of the eel, Salem organized himself a ride out into the hinterland of East-Central Connecticut. Calling it the De-tour de Connecticut, it left from Salem's house in South Glastonbury, went through Meshomasic State Forest, over to the Air Line Trail all the way out to Willimantic, then it came back west on the Hop Brook Trail, did some very interesting in Manchester, hit the boardwalk and then ventured back to Glastonbury via Keeney Cove, where a secret bit of singletrack was discovered and rendered Keeney connected to Naubuc.

The bike was dirty.

Information about about how this was all going to work involved descriptions like this:

• I've been wanting to lead this loop for a number of years, and now I finally took the bit. More or less, it is a grand tour of Connecticut's eastern rail trails and some other hidden gems thrown in to boot. Mostly crushed cinder path, I've ridden all of it with a road bike, but would recommend at least a 32c tire, so a cross bike or rigid mountain bike would probably be the ideal as there are some some short but significantly rough sections, and even a touch of singletrack. In other words, it is a typical ride for me. A rough outline on google maps says about 75 miles, so yes, it will be a long day. The good news is the vast majority of the loop stays off car-accessible routes and much of it is rather pretty as well.
• 2) Regarding bikes, I've done most of the recon on a road bike but have had walk here and there. Cross bike is good if you view that as a mild offroader, but if you view a cross rig as just a dirt-road-bike, best bring yourself a mountain bike. Dario will be riding a fixed gear 20" BMX with no seat just to show us what wimps we are.
• In answer to requests for a route, the short answer is, "Sorry, no I can't provide one." Not only would it ruin the surprise (where's everyone's sense of adventure?), but the loop doesn't stick to mapped routes, or paths. The sketch: Meshomasic to Airline trail, to Hop River Trail, no-name trails etc through Manchester and E. Hartford, paths along the river, and back. Thus the "De-tour" de CT.

Then, it got clean!

Due to a dare, I rode it on the old fixed Colnago, which was stupid. None the less, it was exciting with dangerous bridges, secret Manchester singletrack and a heart-poppingly strenuous rip-rap along the railroad. I didn't take any pictures, so I don't have any evidence of the final trudge through high water on Point Road. It was a pretty epic final trudge: glowering bike people with bikes on shoulders wading through thigh deep water.

And, that was that. Thanks for leading us on a great ride, Salem!

Cat playing the synthesizer.

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The Warsaw Pick

I have an affinity for the oddballs, orphans and survivors of the mechanical world. With bicycles, that means things that never sold well (probably for a good reason,) whose rarity make them more the stuff of sideshow curiosities than valuable collectibles. It suits my budget, in a way, as the entry price point to acquire such machines is low. They languish in dusty garages until someone tires of them hindering their access to the Weedwacker; then they become the stuff of garage sales and trash night finds. This works for me. My income and taste both compel me to pass by a carbon fiber wunderbike to gaze and grin at an off-brand three-speed or cargo trike. I like things with a history, even if I don't know what it is.

I recently went to a swap meet to look at old bikes. I made a point of not bringing a significant sum of money along so that I would not be tempted to buy another bike that I don't particularly need or have space for. I almost made it back to the parking lot, nearly home free, when the fateful distraction took place.

It's a Tyler. A Polish-made 3 speed with patina to spare. A snazzy red and white throwback to days gone by and not particularly missed. It has a sturdy lugged steel frame in the swoopy cruiser/paperboy style. The fit and finish are not what I'd call excellent, or even particularly good. You can almost imagine some strapping young worker delivering Communist propaganda from a handlebar-mounted basket. It sports a Sturmey Archer drivetrain, dated 1969, which may or may not be original to the bike. A quick once-over shows that this Tyler has had a hard life. Everything on the bike seems to have been messed with clumsily with blunt metal, or possibly stone, tools. The rear axle is stripped, making proper chain tension impossible, the front axle is a piece of threaded rod jammed violently through the hub without bearings. It needs parts and attention that I don't have time to lavish upon it. As it sits, it's kind of a piece of crap. Naturally, I love it.

It was cheap, so now I own it. I attempted to ride it to Bike-To-Work Day last month, with underwhelming results. The factory-crimped end fell off the brand new shifter cable (shoddy reproduction). I selected 2nd gear by threading a paper clip through the tiny gear-selector links at the hub. The chain fell off as I pulled in to the Old State House. I rode this untested relic fully expecting it to shed a component or three as I breezed through Bushnell Park and I wasn't disappointed. The only thing that held true were the unworn but age-checked vintage American-made Uniroyal (!) 26 x 1 3/8tires. I knew this ride was a lost cause, but I felt like it was a necessary initiation, like breaking a wild horse (not knowing whether the role of said horse in this flawed analogy is played by the bike or myself.) I made it back home, parked it in front of the couch, and let it serve as decoration until further notice. It stands there now, with a new chain and a front wheel borrowed from my cheaply made, but ever-so-charming mid 60's Columbia tandem.

In time, friends or dump scores will yield a combination of parts that will make it work again. I'll find a good axle or another front wheel while looking for something else in the garage. I don't know how or why this cold war relic has found its way to Hartford. Perhaps it was the personal mount of one of the many Polish immigrants in the area-- a sentimental keepsake from the old country. Maybe some entrepreneur thought they would get rich selling these cut-rate bikes to would-be Raleigh and Schwinn customers in the 1960's. I don't know what the story is but I know that it has one, and that's good enough for me. This thing is a survivor. It deserves to live, and be ridden, again.

I used to ride a 1965 Vespa, which could squeeze a tremendous amount of miles (90+ mpg) and pollution (worse than a diesel bus) out of a gallon of gasoline. I stopped riding it when I learned how incredibly horrible two-stroke engines are for the air, but I confess that I do miss it. Nearly everywhere I rode it, some aging Italian would tell me about the Vespa or Lambretta scooter they rode around their hometown 40 or 50 years ago. The stories differed in content, but were always delivered with a smile and a warm glint in the teller's eyes. Maybe the Tyler will be its human-powered counterpart. Maybe some future cruise around New Britain or over to the Polish National Home will elicit that knowing smile and a story from back in the day. Until then, it looks like another orphan device has entered my ragtag project queue. Read more!

Critical Mass Hartford this Friday! The Holiday Ride...

carol's sweeeeet flyer...thank you!!!!!!

Come burn off all that yummy food you ate the last two days! Hartford's wintertime critical mass rides are usually as sparse as the leaves on trees; but lets change that and light up the town and spread some holiday cheer!Light up your bikes! Bring extra bells. Decorate! Make it happen!

This could be the beginning of a new tradition in Hartford....decorating your bikes for the December ride. People might start traveling to the 'beat to take part in the ride, pedaling in from around the globe!

Walgreens has LED lights than run on AA batteries, 15 to a strand, for $3.99, sometimes 3 for $10. Hook it up! Beware, many of the sets with white lights have runts, so bring two AA batteries to test before buying! The multi-color lights are all good! Here's a photo of the box i found on the interwebs. These lights kick ass!

glow sticks, bells, garland, tinsel, wrapping paper, other lights, its all good! Read more!

End of an era

What's the headlamp for?

I read an article last week about Igor Kenk. He was a weird dude who lived in Tornto, ran a dilapidated bike shop, and everyone thought he stole bikes. I believe that first story was about how he got arrested for the theft. There's a new article today. According to that one, the police have recovered 2,865 stolen bikes. That's crazy! The article asks, and so do I, what was he planning on doing with that many bikes. He was obviously acquiring them way faster than he could sell them. Did he really, really hate bikes? He ran a bike shop, but that could have just been a cover. Was he trying to defend his neighborhood from the influx of hipsters? Brooklyn has lots of bike theft and it doesn't seem to be stopping anything. It's totally baffling.

Also of note, he claims to be an ex-KGB agent. Maybe the Soviets were planning to cripple North American infrastructure by taking away all the bikes. Read more!