A Very Good Eel for You!

 Photo credit: Daniel

As someone once said, The Eel is a ride of attrition. From its humble beginnings, as a wet race in original and East Hartfords to the present day, generally everybody doesn't finish. Sunday's ride was no exception. We started with 11 and ended with 2. Not that there's a problem with that, but what am I doing that discourages people from coming back? I suppose I usually ride home from Glastonbury during the Detour.

Photo credit: Marko

Anyway, the ride was great. We rode on every surface that I could think of: road, dirt, grass, sand, train tracks, gravel bike path, paved bike path, highway, skatepark, farm field, water, bridge and levee. I met some new people and the new people met some old people. Injuries appeared only be cosmetic. There was also a good mix of styles of bicycle, no BMX or downhill bikes or mid-aughts fixed gear style.

As you may or may not know, it started in Hartford, went to Middletown, back up to South Windsor and then back to Hartford. The rest is a secret and that's why you have to come next time.



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Eelin' and Congealin'

First of all, I want to thank the participants of the river cleanup this year. Lots of Trinity students + Joe, Greg and Rich. We cleaned up a bunch of stuff and no one fell in the river. I almost did, but caught myself.

Second, big news for people who ride the eel: I'm going to do another one. It'll be the river route from years past, because I just cleaned it up and it's safe to ride now. Oct 20, 10am, leave from Fairfield Ave section of Hyland Park in Hartford. Park on Fairfield Ave or ride your bike there. 60 miles or so. Ride a mountain bike or 'cross bike or whatever you want. It's going to be awesome again. I'm going to make a .gpx of the route at some point soon, so that you can ride at your own pace.

Oh, I took a picture of this guy who crashed his ATV into a tree and got it stuck at Mansfield Hollow State Park yesterday. Schadenfreude!

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A beat bike blog reunion of sorts

Since I live here, I ride in Hartford a lot. It's not really new and interesting any more. Last night, diverging my usual form, I went out and rode with Tony, Kenny, Chill Will and newcomer Kerry. We rode across some bridges. It was like the old days, except now we're old and everyone wants to go to bed. The above video is not really great film making or great bike riding, but sometimes it's fun to be a dork in a yellow jacket and ride around a glisteny city.

Some of us even went to Kenny's the bar and drank some beer. It was like George W Bush was still in office. Read more!

Obligatory reminder post of the river cleanup

Hey, you! Hey martial arts fans. You are reminded that the beat bike blog's pretty much annual Source to Sea Cleanup is this Saturday at the confluence of the Park and Connecticut Rivers. Park on Van Dyke if you drive. If you walk or ride your bike, don't worry about parking. 10 am and wear long pants.

See you Saturday! Special prize to the person who finds the weirdest piece of trash.

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Second great idea of the day

As a visionary thinker, I like to start off my day with really good ideas. My first good idea was I should start a hip hop news site. This grew out of a conversation I had with Johanna yesterday where it was determined that no one has ever asked me about what's going on with contemporary hip hop or rap. Apparently, there's a new Eminem song, but I had no idea really. I thought he'd retired. The only reason I know who's hot in the game is from the Hot 93.7 signs on the sides of busses. This site would be a good idea, because you'd get the outsiders' perspective. Moms and Mormons could use it to figure what everyone is listening to, who's beefing with whom, who just had a nasty break up, etc.  I think it's going to be huge.

My second great idea was that the Beat Bike Blog should become the title sponsor of the Hartford Marathon. Apparently, ING is dropping its sponsorship of marathons. Like contemporary hip hop, I don't really know anything about running. I do it every so often, but the further I've ever run is maybe like 10 or 11 miles. I know a number of people who are good at running, but that doesn't matter, because I would totally change the format into The Eel. You could run it or ride it and the since The Eel that goes up and down the Connecticut River is about 60 miles, there'd be an ultra-marathon class.

I think this idea is awesome and I'm going to go set up a kickstarter page ASAP.

In the meantime, why don't we give another Eel a whirl on Oct 19? How does that sound?

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Clean up the river again

I know have written any beat bike blog things for a long time and this has nothing to do with bikes. For the fifth year (though not fifth year in a row), I am organizing a clean up of the bank of the Connecticut River at its confluence with the Park River. This spot doesn't get the attention that Charter Oak Landing & Riverside Park get, so I think it's due a good annual cleaning. This year promises some good trash, because I didn't organize one of these last year since I went to a wedding. The clean up will take place Oct. 5 from 10am to 1pm.

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. I'll have some gloves on hand. I advise wearing pants and closed shoes. Also, bring water and perhaps a snack, because I'm a poor student and can't afford a case of water for everyone. Give me a call if you have any questions at 860 729 9603 or email me.

This clean up is part of the larger Source to Sea Clean Up, which is happening all up and down the river on Oct. 5. 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/portfolio-items/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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Show up. Get herd. This Saturday.

The following just showed up in my inbox.  The topic is near and dear to your heart, and it's an opportunity to show up on a damn bike and shout Complete Streets.  Who's with me?  I'm planning to pack a picnic lunch.

*******************************************************************************

Congressman John B. Larson &
Congressman Bill Shuster, Chairman of the
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

Invite you to a Transportation & Infrastructure Forum

With a variety of landmark legislation facing the 113th Congress, it is crucial that Connecticut be kept at the forefront of the national discussion on transportation and infrastructure. Larson is hosting Chairman Shuster to discuss local, statewide and national issues including the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), the East Hartford-Hartford levee systems, aviation, mass transit and other Connecticut transportation and infrastructure issues.

Who?

• Congressman John B. Larson
• Congressman Bill Shuster, Chair of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee
• Congresswoman Elizabeth H. Esty, member, Transportation & Infrastructure Committee
• Congressman Joe Courtney
• James P. Redeker, Commissioner of CT Transportation 
• Representatives from the transportation and construction industries
• Members of the Connecticut Congressional Delegation

Where & When?
Riverfront Boathouse, 20 Leibert Road, Hartford, CT 06120
Saturday, June 8th, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

RSVP HERE OR CALL 860-278-8888

**************************************************************

This will be a well spent Saturday morning, and I've been looking for a reason to pack a picnic lunch.  The monsoon rains will have passed and we can bask a bit in the sun after making a statement (with a rack full of bikes) and making some noise (by asking intelligent forum questions that shape the conversation).

See y'all there. Read more!

Ewe Deserve A Break

At around 1PM on Sunday afternoon, I had serious need for a break, a chance to get out of the house and two events that sounded appealing. To the west, West Hartford was hosting its inaugural Wheel Fun Day, which ended at 2 PM. To the east, Beckett Farms beckoned with a Hootenanny. slated to wrap-up at 3. While trying to catch a bit of each event was theoretically possible, the necessary scramble needed to reach both places by bike would have undermined my whole quest to unwind a bit.

The Hootenanny won because, well, hootenanny for one thing. Phonetically, it's hands-down more satisfying to say than the somewhat hokey Wheel Fun pun. Also, my week was heavily front-loaded with bike-centric things, between the last gasps of the DOT Flower Street reconsideration hearing (which sucked, but which I won't get into today) Bike To Work (which was fine, aside from the presence of some the two-faced personnel who made the aforementioned hearing suck as badly as it did) and my Saturday afternoon stint of attempted helpfulness with the LCI class that took place in Hartford over the course of this weekend (which was good). Riding my bike to something not bike-related sounded like a nice change of pace.

A steady drizzle fell as I pedaled over to Glastonbury by way of the Founders Bridge. I made it to Beckett Farms by 2 to find the Hootenanny calming down for its final hour. There were still people and vendors about, so I had a nice food, coffee and conversation break. I was satisfied with my choice of destination-- it was nice to visit a farm. There were sheep being shorn and freshly-shorn sheep bleating up a storm. I asked around to see if anyone knew if the ferry to Rocky Hill was running and got a few probably positive maybes to justify pedaling southward to the ferry landing.

This was my first ferry ride of the season, and it made me happy. I meandered through the Rocky Hill meadows and Wethersfield Cove toward home. The rain got a bit harder as I reached Hartford. When I reached home and dried my glasses, I found that the raindrops had been temporarily photo-imprinted on my self-tinting glasses.

Sometime this Monday the Flower Street decision is supposed to be announced. I'm going to savor this Sunday and do my best to not think about it until then. Read more!

Open for Anything?

Well, almost anything.  And I wish that other things were more open, like Denny's says it is.  Wasn't there a scandal a decade ago when Denny's got creamed for having a racist corporate culture?  I guess they realized that being "closed" was crummy for business, particularly bad business when you calculate the ROI on a $54 million class action lawsuit.

Let's have some more openness.  For starters, Pratt & Whitney should open their North gate on River Road to bicycles and pedestrians by changing the chain link fence over to a swing gate used at many a State Park and rail trail entrance.  Supposedly the North Gate was closed years ago due to the wanton and dangerous high speed driving (and crashing) that tended to occur involving Pratt & Whitney employees.

I had a meeting last week down at the Middletown facility recently and being car free  decided to try out a hybrid trip from Hartford that included a stint on the commuter bus that runs between Hartford and New Haven.  Had to wake up early to catch the 6AM commuter bus at Union Station, which was run by Peter Pan and did not have a bike rack as I was informed during my phone call a couple days earlier with CT Transit.  Fortunately you can toss your bike into the luggage bays underneath (not recommended for any wimpy carbon rigs).  The $3.75 bus ride dropped me at the junction of Country Club Road and I-91, five miles West of downtown Middletown.  It was another 7 1/2 miles from Middletown to the P&W facility via Saybrook Road and Aircraft Road.

It would be a much more inviting bicycle commute from Middletown (where a lot of folks live and recreate) if that North gate was open.  If the North gate were open, it would trim more than a mile off the bike commute and avoid several sizable hills.  Not to mention that the avoidance of traffic and scenic qualities would improve both the safety and basic attractiveness of a non-car commute to one of Middletown's major employers.  Google Maps for some reason thinks that gate is open, likely to the disappointment of intrepid cyclists and bike commuters.  River Road is one of the most beautiful stretches in Central Connecticut.  The vistas of the Connecticut River are stellar and the traffic is light as there is very little housing development and there isn't a through road.  I highly recommend it, although legally you can only run it as an out-and-back right now.

As Spring arrives, I'm open to warm weather.  Today we sampled the sunshine and warming temperatures while ambling North along the Connecticut and then the Farmington rivers.  Just as we were leaving the Northend of Hartford, we passed this correctional architectural oddity.  I liked the shape and composition for some reason.  A pill box with a severe skirt?  Unfortunately it was part and parcel of the prison industrial complex that we as a country should recognize and correct.  For those that are wondering why they should care about the nasty effects of the War on Drugs and the unbelievable growth of our incarcerated population, I recommend this movie, The House I Live In, which is showing at Real Art Ways through this week.

Let's be more open.  Who's with me?
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On the Move

Ken K is headed for some new digs.  I helped him move a couple of loads yesterday and dropped off a housewarming curb picked trailer.  Ken has a trailer, The (Infamous) Coffin, but I think he'll benefit from a smaller, lighter version for more frequent use.  After a couple of hours painting we kissed the river - a short ride that makes it down to one of the river side parks in Hartford.

It's not just Ken who's on the move these days.  Hartford is moving on up in my opinion.  You can't chuck a 40oz without hitting an awesome event, many of them FREE.  Right now I'm sitting in the Hartford Public Library listening to free jazz.  What an amazing series and use of the library space.  In my opinion it's this sort of unconventional event that is really exciting about Hartford right now.  These events fill in the edges and week nights, pulling folks downtown.  I'll bet post jazz, the nearby restaurants bustle with some welcome Sunday dinner business.  The suburban empty nesters may even wonder why not look at a downtown condo, so next winter they can simply walk to all the events and restaurants that they frequent downtown.

Wouldn't it be awesome if UCONN's branch campus that's coming to Hartford takes up residence at the historic Hartford Times building?  That would be a shot in the arm and logical continuance of the Front Street developments.


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38 Special

The other day marked my completion of 38 trips around the sun. While not the birthday party type, I'm more than happy to use it as a guilt-free excuse to clear my to-do list for a day and indulge in a bit of meandering on the bike. I started with a hearty lunch of "Texas Caviar" (a seriously tasty black-eyed-pea salsa) from the Urban Gourmet at Bushnell Park. From there I made my way toward the Connecticut River and followed the Riverside Park Trails to the railroad tracks by the Windsor line. From there I followed the newly-paved Windsor multi-use path north to the Bissel Bridge and crossed the river to South Windsor.

Keeping the river on my right (albeit mostly out of sight) again, I pedaled south through East Hartford to Glastonbury, where I visited the bike shops, refilling my water and lingering in their air-conditioning. I meandered along Southward toward the ferry, taking in historic homes, farm fields and unmanned honor-system farm stands along the way. I picked up some peaches, tomatoes and hot peppers (honorably) for my short-and-medium-term eating pleasure. I arrived at the east bank of the river and bit into the first of several peaches as I waited for the ferry to land and offload.
 

Edibles with a stern warning taste better.

I love riding the ferry.  This 350+ year old institution will never get old for me. For something so close to Hartford, it has a quaint, Brigadoon-like remoteness about it that makes me happy each and every time I use it. I'm going to make a point of taking more ferry trips this season. To that end, I prepaid for a special order part at Bicycles East, ensuring an easy excuse for a return trip this week. Note: the operating hours (10:30-5:00 every day) on the CT DOT site don't match the longer hours (M-F 7-7, S/S 10:30-5:00) posted at the ferry.







Back on the west bank, I hopped on the abandoned rail line near the Rocky Hill ferry landing and rode north into Wethersfield. There was more natural and man-made debris in the way than I recalled from the last day I spent along this stretch of track, but it wasn't that bad. With late-afternoon temps still holding in the 90's, the added effort of riding the traprock and rotted, uneven ties of the tracks made quick work of draining my on-board water reserves. I left the tracks in Old Wethersfield, where an impromptu visit with nearby friends provided snacks, water bottle refills and good conversation in front of a blessed electric fan. As dusk fell, I pedaled off refreshed, making my relaxed way through Wethersfield and the South End to home and a refreshing shower. It was a very fine day.

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Wild Spring Break

When I was in college, I had a job. Actually, I usually had a couple of jobs. So, when spring break came around, I just worked more hours. One time, I went for a hike, but that's pretty much the extent of my fun. Now, I don't have a job. So, this Spring Break I really cut loose M. Jodi Rell-style and had a staycation. I experience all the great things that Connecticut and a small part of Massachusetts have to offer.

I went kayaking:

I went to look at some hawks (six of them, but you can't see any in this picture.):

I went with Johanna to look at Connecticut from Massachusetts (it's off to the right):

I went to Tolland, but no picture is available. I went to Mohegan State Forest and Talbot Wildlife Management area, but no picture is available of that either.

I went to Food Not Bombs and visited the good folks there. I even ended up with the bread with a lot of grains that no one wanted.

I went to Colchester and rode on some secret trails. Since they were secret, I didn't take any pictures.

I also spent way too much timing playing with Strava on my phone getting nuts results of rides. Apparently, I hit 140mph on one. On this ride to the Blowhole, I hit 60!


Regrettably, I lost my favorite mini pump, broke my seat bag and broke the cover of the usb port on my light on the ride were I saw all the hawks. That ride was actually particularly miserable, because there was nasty crunchy snow cover along the Talcott/Penwood ridge. However, but Nite Rider and Jandd promised (Jandd has delivered) replacement parts to honor their warranties.

That's pretty much what I did. Read more!

Glove final

I'm sure everyone is really interested in what my final determination was on the gloves. The new ones I bought from REI were not good, so went back to old reliable. And, they're on sale right now!

Also, this weekend I was able to live out my life-long dream of riding on a lake. It's difficult to take a picture while riding on ice, too much unbalanced movement.

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Hipster Ponies with Beards?

Brendan and I headed out for a mixed media ride on Saturday.  Starting out down Main Street East Hartford, some a-hole driving a Porche Cayenne (am I restating the obvious?) laid on the horn a couple of times before revving by and taking a fast right onto Riverside Drive.  I'm guessing it's because he never learned how to change lanes to pass.  We spent the next mile discussing the best way to communicate with courteous drivers while wearing ski mittens or bulky black gloves at night - fist shaking and the facetious parade wave.

The temp was just around freezing with a good hard freeze last night.  With the heavy rain this week, there was a sloppy mix of hard frozen mud, just barely frozen mud, and not at all frozen mud.  The ride headed south on the east side of the river, through the Glastonbury Meadows with an attempt to get all the way to Portland fairgrounds, but unfortunately the water was up - and we found oodles of mud - backtracked to Old Maids Lane and were roundly insulted by the digital speed detector.

Then turned up Isinglass to Meshomasic State Forest for some speedy dirt roads.  Brendan pulled off a spectacular endo trying to clear a downed tree.  Seems he WAY over lifted the rear wheel due to concern with jamming his big ring into the rather sizable tree.  Whatever caused it, I enjoyed watching the topple.  Had several over bar bike dismounts of my own when attempting to roll some ridiculous tree falls.  Hey, why not try?  Maybe someday I'll get better and they'll look less ridiculous.

On Coldbrook Road, one of the most fucking bucolic streets around, we found these odd little ponies with beards.  Left when one starting eating the other's shit.  Shit eating bearded ponies.

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Downtown

Hartford's downtown is not that big. I think it's like two square miles or something tiny. I worked in it for awhile and would ride my bike there everyday. Now that I go to school in the West End, I don't get down there as much. But, I had some business at City Hall yesterday, so I rode down. After I was done, I rode on to Constitution Plaza, down along the river in East Hartford, back over in Hartford, again to Constitution Plaza, to Spiritus and home. I worked downtown for a long time and never though much of it, but Dario has always told me that he likes to ride there. In my absence from the built environment, I think understand what he means. It's actually kinda pretty at night. The darkness doesn't really make it easy to take a picture when pedaling, though.

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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!

I was wrong

A year and a half ago or so, a nice person from the Windsor town hall contacted me about a bike path running from the Bissel bridge south to the Hartford line. I wasn't super excited about the idea because it involved paving some woods. Well, they have done much of the work on the path (minus the paving) and it's actually quite nice. It meanders next to the Connecticut River and has an exciting river crossing (of the Meadow Brook, not the Connecticut River). While I'll still hope the leave it as rolled gravel, I think it'll be a nice path.

Low bridge branch at Elizabeth Park survived! 

Also, the City of Hartford made a new path, too, that I hope stays unpaved. While it strangely seems to run next to a path that already exists near the Walmart and the Park River, this new one is better and longer. I guess the first one was practice. It's still unpaved and I approve of it. The mower deck has disappeared, so Salem can't have it.

Further, I went to the Reservoir today and magically the trails are mostly cleared. I thought I'd never be able to mountain bike again, but I was wrong. I don't know how someone rode with a chainsaw, but I thank them for it. Read more!

An after school special

As I think some blog post stated, I am no longer a bureaucrat and am instead a law student. The books are heavy and are taking a toll on my world's greatest panniers. I'm trying to adjust, but it's weird not having a job. There are also way more laws than I thought there were and I'm spending all this time reading about them. Apparently, there's a lot more to the legal world than the Hartford Municipal Code (Ordinance 08-10 made mountain biking legal in Hartford parks).

Today, however, my morning class was canceled, so my book load was light. Coaxed by the nice weather, I went on a nice little bike ride starting from campus and into the flood waters of the Connecticut. I hadn't stood thigh-deep in the river since the Detour last Fall. The immediate environs of the river of starting to develop the mournful look they get in Fall. It's nice.

Also, you may recall that Windsor wanted to put a bike path along the Connecticut River between Windsor Meadows State Park and Hartford. It appears that they've broken ground.

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River cleaned

As per routine, the rain cleared and we returned to the river and picked up myriad debris. Though mainly, it's just just bottles. Of note this year, two men offered me a shot upon arrival. Also of note, trinity college had an awesome showing this year (really, the only participants besides tony and me). They cleaned with a yeomen's effort and I think we did the best job since the first year. Go bantams?

Then, I went for a bike ride. 

(top photo credit to Andy Hart)

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Cleanup the river part IV

It's the beginning of Fall, we clean up the river. I'm not sure why we've developed this tradition, but I think it's a good one. So, come down to the confluence of the park and ct rivers at 10am on Oct. 1 and help clean what Irene dumped.

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