Critical Mass July 2008 and afterparty

I think there were somewhere around 35 people with a good mix of new faces and regulars as well as everyone in between. Two tandems! One bride with veil. And no flats this time! I really like riding in the parks, though the streets have been fine lately; very few cars beeping horns, no death threats etc. We have been much better about corking intersections by talking to the drivers while blocking side traffic. A smile and explanation works wonders and 99.99% of cars are mad cool with the bicycles riding by in our mass. Critical Mass isn’t a protest…it’s a celebration!

Please y’all, please stay stopped at red lights when we arrive as a group and have to stop! It’s a great chance to regroup the ride and keep the mass together for safety and traffic. Let everyone catch up and redensify the group; no stragglers trying to pass cars to get back to everyone. We all seem to understand keeping the group together when the light turns in the middle, but don’t take off on a red! We have to be responsible for each other and look out for each other as a group. Taking off from a red light during a slow section of traffic will only split the group when the traffic picks up in a few seconds. Please think about this and remember, just because a few take off, you can make a better decision and stay!

Check karma’s post from a few days ago for the play by play. I’m just soapboxing this one and posting lots of eye candy.

By the way, why is it that teenagers in the South End seem to yell much more foul shit at us than any other neighborhood? Why? What is the appropriate response to a porch of kids yelling, “White Power!!!” That happens like every single ride down that way.

Well, here's a few photos to get started. I think I tend to take photos of people I know cuz I am horrible with names and spelling; so gimme a hollerrrr if i butchered yer name or got it wrong or something like that.

There's a crapload more if ya click on READ MORE!


Carole, AmyZ and Lindsey chillin' in the park before the ride.


Franklin Avenue.


I love this photo! ChillWill (me!), my 40 and the always fashionable Mary Lynn! So classy.


Krash felt comfortable leaving his Bianci unlocked in the friendly crowd of bikers. Sucka! About 40 minutes later he had to turn his back and go inside to pee and we quickly moved into action and relocated his bike someplace much safer. It took him a bit to find it, even though it was the shortest tree on the block!


I wish we did this twice a month. Mid-month ice cream ride anyone? yeah baby!

click below for many more photos:





More Franklin Avenue


Ben, brakeless and ahead of the pack in Cedar Hill Cemetary


Critical Wedding!


Find the beer!


Bianca is very safe. She drinks with a helmet. After what happened to Krash's Bianci, i don't blame Bianca for playing it safe!


Cheers mates!


Robin and Steve discussing his warm 40!?!?


Rich is like, "No Fair! i don't smoke!"


We know how to dress in The Beat.








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Busy Bicycle Calendar!

I missed the CCBA general meeting last night due to a work shift, but there is much going on the next few days...the next week actually! Check out these events:

Tonight! Thursday, July, 17th:
Bike Everywhere! to Happy Hour!
Prospect Café, Corner of Park & Prospect
Eat, Drink and be Merry! socialize,
talk bikes, talk beer, its all good!
this will also be a Bike Everywhere monthly meeting.

perhaps a jaunt to RAW for CCH afterwards?

Friday, July 18th. 7pm FREE
Bicycle Movie Night @ Eastern Mountain Sports in West Hartford
We’re Not Blocking Traffic, We Are Traffic, a Critical Mass Documentary and a 2ed undecided movie, we'll vote on it! Action packed mountain biking? another film on bicycles around the world? we'll vote!
free waterbottles to all who arrive on bicycle!

Saturday, july 19th. 10AM
Summer Cycling Celebration
East Rock Park, New Haven!
Time Trial Hill Climb, events
bring yer fast bike, sweet bike,
old bike, first bike, just go!!
http://www.thedevilsgear.com/calendar/summercyclingceleb/

next week? REI bicycle commuter clinic, bike to work, critical mass and an alleycat race! Read more!

Long weekend at the beach!

I established a sweet homestead last weekend at the beach for four days and nights and had a wonderful procession of friends drop by for a night or two or just a few hours. We biked to beaches, paddled to secluded beaches, paddled at night and ate like royalty thanks to Joel and Kristen who really hooked it up! I also took hardly any photos, but did spend some time pedaling around Mystic on my way home Monday afternoon and took this:


I always really liked this pub, but its been a few years and i didn't remember the bikes and the sign. very funny. I reakon the bikes would be a great bike rack too! well done!


My hand was still healing with stitches and it wasn't supposed to get wet; which as you might imagine, is a bit of a problem when spending time at the beach! I used a plastic glove and lots of tape the first few days and later went rawdog and just patted it dry when splashed. no worries! but no swimming either :(

more after the break, but its not bicycle related. well yeah, maybe it is! a chunk of wood in the fire was brought home on my bicycle returning fron the beach. i had to ride bow-legged as the log was like 8 feet long and bungied to my crate, extending along my top-tube infront of the bike as well sticking out the back for several feet!

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We should have a blog tag for Joel and his meat. that dude is always doing great things with steak!


Marisa spotted this buoy floating and we all watched it for like an hour until it got close enough to shore for me to grab. The whole thing came alive after being out of the water for a few minutes. If all of southern Rhode Island is wiped out from some creatures from the deep...its all my fault...sorry y'all!

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"Heeeeey…..White People?!??" Critical Mass June 2008

The sweet, light rain really cooled things off a bit before blue skies began appearing along with the sun. Mother Nature appears to be down with the ride, good lookin’ out! The beat crew met up after work by the river to trade flyers, brews and bullshit a bit. We arrived at the Carousel to 20 people milling about; chillin’, meetin’, greetin’, hydratin’ and wrenchin’.


There was a floor pump courtesy of Dave and a few bikes were getting tubes swapped out and hubs debated. Rick! Another flat dude!?!?!? Super cool to see everyone helping each other out and sharing beta. Caresse's hands are blurry fast when she's working on a bike! Dang! Breck seems to be trying to pump with Jedi mind tricks whilst Dave handles the valves! Also super cool to see a banana seat! I really should have taken more photos, but this ride was just too much fun.

A few more riders arrived. Brendan returned from the portapotty. And then my dream came true… Critical Mass left for Keney Park! Woo-haa! There are a lot of lights between Bushnell Park and getting’ onto Main Street and we worked out the kinks of dealing with traffic lights. We quickly forked left on to Albany Avenue.


Yep, we took The Avenue!



Most everyone cheered and yelled as much as we cheered and yelled. One 'round the way dude looked up in honest bewilderment and a smile, “heeeeyyy…White People?!??!” We took a right onto Woodland and left on Greenfield. I corked the Woodland/Greenfield intersection and had a great conversation with a family in a mini-van, waiting at the green light for the bicycles to pass through safely as a group. I thanked them for waiting and keeping people safe and talked about the ride. I invited them to come next month and they seemed interested in coming! Right on! I saw them two more times with the pops giving us the thumbs up out the window. They were following us! I had a great time talking to drivers all along the ride and most were receptive, patient and super nice. The drivers of the North End were much friendlier than the drivers we encountered on last month's ride into West Hartford!


The ride through Keney Park was a mix of roads and car-free greenway. We saw the skyline of Hartford overlooking lush grass meadows, passed through dense forest and pedaled alongside a golf course. This is a great park. I always love spending time here on a road bike or exploring trails on mountain bikes. We didn't pass the pond and fountain though...this time.

We exited onto Rt. 159 and pedaled south on North Main, Windsor Street, left over the railroad tracks and crossed Weston Street; entering into the mess of traffic due to Pearl Jam and some jack-ass drivers. We got onto the riverfront via Riverside Park and continued south along the river to the Colt Building and Colt Park. Ahhh...riding along the river is always a good idea!


We passed the remains of the Virgin Mary Shrine and returned to Bushnell Park on Wethersfield Avenue.

more funny photos after the jump from the afterparty that happened afterwards, Read More!



After regrouping at the park the group split a few ways. We had already lost a few people needin’ to get to the concert and a few chilled in the park for a bit. A group stayed in the park and went to the Bushnell Park Café and another to Kenney’s (Red Rock Tavern) a few minutes away on Cap Ave. There’s some serious mileage of iron patio fence there, perfect for bike locks. The always-friendly Donnie keeps the show runnin’ smoothly and really makes sure everyone’s always got a smile on their face.


Check the reflection of the view of the skyline from our patio seats!


Check it. The rule of three people in a photo = weird shit continues!


I have absolutely no idea what the hell I am doing. Hi Joey Barber! I owe you a bell!


Brendan is a triceritops! And i just realized i never spelllchecked this before posting.

We really stepped things up on this ride as far as corking and Joel enjoyed sweeping and ensuring no one was left behind. Many others stepped up too! Thanks to everyone for making it such a great ride.


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Pesky Kids (an update concerning my recent absence from two wheels)

I've been off the bike for the past few days, unfortunately, because my dear wife is away doing research in Nicaragua until Monday the 23rd, leaving me in sole control of my two young terrorists. Usually, the whole family can travel by bike, because Anna has a seat on the back of her rig for the little one and I tow the bigger one in the trailer, but with two kids and one adult, the equation gets complicated. Also, their preschool is in Middletown (near Anna's work), and even if I did have a two-kid trailer, I couldn't get them to school then get me to work in a timely fashion if I had to ride all the way there.

All of which is to say, I am going crazy because I have a great new bike but I'm not getting to ride it. I can say that before the wife went away, I got to ride from Middletown to New Haven and back on my Swift folder, and the hype is true: The thing really does hold up nicely on long rides, with many of the favorable long-distance attributes of full-sized road bikes. Unfortunately, it also suffers from some of the same deficits of full-sized bikes, namely, if you make the stupid mistake of riding 50 miles on a 100-degree day, it will not help you to feel less overheated. Also, if you ride it to Kenny's for PHH on a Tuesday night and it has a slow leak in the back tire and you are stupid enough not to carry a spare tube, it will not save you from having to walk home.

In other sponsor news, the Manhattan Portage businessy commuter bag is performing admirably. Before I was de-bike-ified by my wife's departure, I took it on a mid-sized grocery run, filled it to the brim, and switched from shoulder strap to backpack straps for carrying comfort. That was great. And since then, I've been lugging my laptop and lunch and voluminous court filings around the state in it and it has been everything I'd ever hoped for in a bag. Also, the "waterproof fabric treatment," about which I was skeptical, did pretty well in one of the recent torrential downpours (which I rode through to go get beers at Kenny's): Everything in the bag actually stayed dry! Thanks, Manhattan Portage, you champion of companies! Read more!

One week late! Last Thursday's beat bicycle doings.

The Farmers’ Market at Billings Forge on Broad Street netted me some tasty cheese and hummus. Here’s Jennifer Cassidy, assistant to Councilperson Boucher, stopping by on her bicycle, chatting with a friend and listening to some live jazz. Yes! Live jazz at an urban farmers’ market with people walking and biking in to shop for cheese, meats, eggs, crafts, milk, ice cream, pies, veggies and hot lunches ready to eat on one of the picnic tables. Mondays and Thursdays, 11am to 2pm!


This shopper was leaving soon after I arrived and I couldn't remember his name even though i asked him twice. my bad! But...Jake, as he commented below, is a BBB reader and now we know who he is! ha! actually now the whole internet knows; so if you see him pedaling by, please yell, "hey jake from the farmers market!" yep, that's what we're doing turning our city into a community!

The Hartford Advocate’s Bluesfest was Thursday night and I had to work a gate ID’ing people for wristbands and had a fun time. It was great to hear some blues ouside inthe Bushnell Park and see so many people on bicycles. Rich H and his eyeglass case, Bianca, TJ, Joel, Hanna, Maureen, that dude with the pedi-cab and dozens more as well.

This dude apologized for his plastic bag wallet when taking out his driver’s license. I laughed and pulled out my wallet, a snack sized zip-lock. It was a Kodak moment. And yes, a freakin’ snack sized zip-lock. Its waterproof, lightweight and you can buy like 50 for $1.69! Don’t get caught in the rain or over the side of your kayak without one!


Maureen sassin’ it up post Bluesfest post Mad Dawgs. You go with yer bad self!


Wanna hear about friday? Salmond Rushdie, free wine, hippie music, dancing with bike bells, strip clubs and lots of beer all in one hectic, organic, crazy night?

Click READ MORE!




Friday's happy hour was awesome. I had a pair of tix to see Salmon Rushdie speak at the Wallace Stevens Theater at The Hartford. Krash and I rode over and were super stoked to arrive and find out our tickets also included a copy of his new book and a signing. And noshes and wine and wine too afterwards. We had a great time mingling and conversating.



Afterwards, we headed downtown to Sally’s for one beer; which became three beers and hangin’ outside with the band Shakedown between sets. Thanks again for the hospitality y'all! I danced around with my bicycle bell dingin’ to the beats. Its amazing how you can feel as though you cannot drink anymore since your tummy feels upset; but then a switch from beer to Guiness and its all good!


The bar at Sally's towards the end of the night!

and was the night over? hells no. but it gets foggy! We left for a night ride along the riverfront inwhich Krash convinced me to ride our bicycles to the Gold Club. Locking up our bikes infront of a titty club was almost as rediculious as hearing Krash argue with the doorman to let us in free since we rode there! ahhh, 2:30am antics to tell my grandchildren about someday.


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"Hey hippie! Get me some drugs!" ....... Critical Mass May 2008

The best quote from the entire ride was yelled at us from the sidewalk on Park Street just after crossing New Park Avenue.

I am pretty dang sure i can't sum things up better than Karma, but i have something he doesn't have....photos from the ride! ha! i will add photos and a few words to his thousands of words...

We unfortunately lost a few riders enroute, but happily actually picked a few along the way and they rode for the rest of the ride. Kick ass! Next month will be even bigger and better!

Some new people had the same reaction I did my first time, concerning when the ride starts. i was kinda annoyed to arrive at 5:30 and not leave for 45 minutes. Well, we meet at 5:30, but never leave before 6pm, which is a good thing, because then we can all pass out the new flyers we made, talk about where to take the ride and, of course, socialize a bit. Its all good! We're in a beautiful park! Enjoy it!

here's my soapbox 2cents and then i'll shut up about such things. Its everyone's ride, which i love and respect, and there aren't really any rules, which is awesome, but we all should take ownership and try to make the ride the way we envision it. so i will!

my critical thoughts about the mass:

We shouldn't take up two lanes, or ride against opposing traffic when we don't need to, but that said, we do need to take a full lane at all times. ALWAYS! Take the lane! Its ours! We should stop at red lights, but if the light turns red as the group is passing through, we should cork the street and keep the group together (google critical mass and corking for a primer.) Stopping at red lights allows helps the mass to regroup. same with speed. we have to keep a pace that keeps us as a group. Together we conquer and we are safer. Divided we are not so safe and not so much of a mass. I am all for drinking beer, mmm...beer, but not littering. Please don't throw your shit in the street y'all, not a good look.

ok, agree with me, hate me, its all good. That's what the comments are for! ride your own ride. ride daily, celebrate monthly. off the soapbox and on with the ride!



Riding down Farmington Avenue in West Hartford.


The begining of the Park Street adventure which was also my favorite part of the ride. Unlike much of West Hartford, where lots of drivers were in a rush and speeding around us, here most of the drivers waited on the side streets or drove slowly behind us; beeping, yelling, smiling and waving. People were ALIVE and full of life.


I'm not really sure how Jimmy managed to make himself in focus, but as long as he continues to use his special powers for good...its all good. but he's tarnishing my blurry photo rep.


Want to see more photos and read about how Poser Dave's bike got stolen on Park Street while he was peeing in the bushes?

Want to see the strangest butt photo ever taken at Mad Dawgs?!?


click READ MORE below!





While poser was doing something in the bushes involving whipping it out, he just left his freakin' bike on the grass near the sidewalk. Krash promptly cut infront of me announcing he was stealing the bike. I wasn't really sure if he was going to A) trade bikes B) hide it somewhere or C) i have no idea what C was!

so Krash just grabbed it and rode off with the two; holding his new bike with one hand and steering his own bike with the other. Eventually Poser finished and started running after his bike. and running. and running. Several of us almost crashed laughing at the shananigans. I am super glad someone decided to detour us through Pope Park. Great idea!


Ahhh, back onto Park Street, which, except for the pendejo who tossed the plastic bottle out an apartment window and hit Corey, was mad fun; full of people, life and energy. The Puerto Rican Day Parade is on Sunday and vendors were selling Boriqua merch everywhere and a few riders bought flags and joined in the celebration. Most everyone on the sidewalks and in cars cheered us on as we cheered them on. Life was GREAT!


MaryLynn rockin' the aforementioned Puerto Rican flag on Main Street on her sweeeet cruiser. Niiiiiice! She even managed to buy a hotdog a little later and ride and eat at the same time. Skills!


Pratt Street was owned!


bicyles! bicycles! bicycles! bicycles! bicycles! bicycles!
The post ride party was at Mad Dawgs which was great for many reasons.
Lots of Misfits got play on the juke.
Free happy hour 6 foot grinder.
$2 Miller High Lifes and $5 40's.
mmmm...beer.


Alcohol is a hell of a drug!

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Happy hour to last call in the Beat!

There is no photographic pixels or sound recordings of last Friday’s Happy Hour in downtown where G-Money, Hardcore (visiting from Hotlanta) and I reunited part of the old school happy hour crew and wandered around eating free food and drinking $2 drafts. Good. Keeps us out of trouble with the courts and that thing called “evidence.” But at 7, they drove and I rode to Sully’s Tiki Bar for Steve and Rod’s House Happy Hour. There were 4 or 5 bicycles locked up on the back fence and the crowd was moving to the beats and an amazing vibe fell upon the night. It was the first HHH of the season and one of the best! Such a good time indeed, except most everyone was still feelin’ it on Saturday. But what a night! Everyone was dancing outside to the house beats and great old school hip-hop. Inside, Sirsy, a two piece band was really making it happen, great music. Lots of fun dancing and being silly.

I cannot write anymore, so here’s some photos and crappy captions:


Chug water and wear a helmet! Go Amy Z and Rick! Two bicycles leaving, but more still there.


Rich’s Eyeglass Case amazed even more people. Rachel and Brooke were enthralled and maybe confused. I am not sure if this counts as yet another awkward picture of three people.


or maybe this? Hardcore looks pretty well done, G-Money is about to do something (goddess knows what) and Amisha seems to just be trying to smile in the midst of madness.


Unknown to me, my fellow bloggers have been quite busy with promo deals and cross marketing! Check Carol’s beer! She’s smiling, but if the BBB really has anything to do with brewing, I’d stay away from Chain Grease Lager!

Hey! There isn’t no more, but I can’t make “READ MORE” go away, so click it if you must, but you have been warned! Go click “READ MORE” on another post if you must read more. Read more!

The Scruffy Peloton: Bridges and all the Windsors

I have only recently recovered from the adventures of happy hour til last call on Friday night and that’s not yet a full recovery mind you! So this is kinda late.

The Scruffy Peloton rode again on Thursday in pursuit of more bridges on a 30 mile ride mostly along the Connecticut River. We altered the end of the planned ride in order to cross the Bissell bridge. We left the Mark Twain house and headed north towards Keney Park. I really enjoy every ride through the park, its quite lush and green and there’s even an actual ravine there as well as ponds, trees, roads, greenways and a little bit of everyone. Cricket too!


Here’s 3 of us, blurry as promised, passing through the park the first time, headed north to Windsor Locks and the Rt. 140 bridge. Not too much to write except to continue to gush over Keney Park. The ride south, once in East Windsor, was fantastic! Farms with sheep, rams, turkeys and some randomn dude peeing on the side of the road. We cheered him on and he cheered back.



Crossing the Bissell Bridge and not too blurry! check the Beat in the background.

We eventually made it back to Keney Park and altered our second route though a tiny bit and saw more of the area. I love this park! Later, after some of us showered (some of just went and bought beer instead), we had an afterparty with a few others. I had bumped into Marisa at the Billings Forge Farmers Market earlier in the afternoon and we schemed and decided to buy a fresh pie and some farmfresh ice-cream and have a party! Mmmm…….best idea ever after a bicycle ride!


there ain't no more
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Ride of Silence. May 16th. 2008

Ride of Silence.



Lightening, thunder and downpours of cold rain didn’t deter nine riders from meeting in Elizabeth Park yesterday and riding together to honor and remember fellow cyclists who have been killed or injured on the public roads as part of the international Ride of Silence. The worst of the weather occurred just before the ride as Rachel, who rode all the way from New Britain, got to experience in all its wet glory! And DANG! Did it rain! I think it started just as I left my house and continued for a while after I got to the park.

We all certainly enjoyed the ever-changing weather. The ride left Elizabeth Park in a light sprinkle and retuned with sun shining between brooding clouds. All went well. No issues with downpours, motorists or flat tires.

We rode down Asylum Avenue into downtown, under the arch, around the Capitol Building, down Capitol Avenue, down Boulevard in West Hartford, right onto Raymond Rd, past the Police Station, meandered through Blue Black Square and its live and rockin’ 50’s band and returned east along Farmington Avenue and down a side road back into the park. wow. Can you say that all in one breath?

I kept stopping myself from talking, which was hard, as part of the ride. It was also hard as I am sure there were things other people wanted to say or share as well. It was weird not talking at all and knowing there was a line of people behind me! But it did force me to think and ponder much more, which was interesting. A few times I felt more celebratory than somber and wanted to smile and shout…but didn’t.

Though we all knew what we were doing, nobody watching us ride by had any idea of what was going on; we were just nine people on bicycles. The Ride of Silence idea wasn’t clear. Next year I will certainly make a pair of signs to put on my rear rack and will encourage others to make signs as well. “Ride of Silence” or remember “Joe Smith” or “share the road” would all be great messages.

I did make a sign incase we needed to block traffic that said “Thank You For Waiting” on one side. The other side is for people who feel the need to honk their horns and reads, “Honk If You Love Bicycles.” I never got to use the sign on the ride, but I did later on by accident at The Half Door. I was showing it to Rachel, Rich H (the cool eyeglass case dude) and Steve Tizzle when another table must have seen it and a young woman gave us a “HONK” later as she left. Good times. Good Times.

Well, I have no idea who everyone was and I was a bit nervous, but I think it all turned out well and I am super happy so many people braved the weather and came out to support something important. Thank you to everyone. Keep riding safe and see you next year.



one last photo, and what a great one too! i think i really captured the essence of everyone's shoulder.


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