Cyclocross Racing in Colt Park - This Weekend

First - a big deal announcement.  Hartford is a finalist city for the Cyclocross Nationals in 2017 or 2018.  There are four finalist cities, and two will be selected, one for 2017 and the other for 2018.  It's time to start ringing our cowbells, as this is a competition and Hartford has to WIN it.  The other finalist cities are Bend (OR), Louisville (KY), and Reno (NV).  Hartford (in the city proper) hosted two cyclocross races in 2014, and a downtown criterium race.  There is a growing bike racing scene in the Hartford metro area, and our fair city is an excited and helpful host city.  Stay tuned to the Beat Bike Blog for more info on how you can help secure this national cyclocross race.

Cross racers mounting the stairs at the base of the Sam Colt Statue.

For those that don't know much about cross racing, this weekend is your chance to get a crash course.  On Saturday, November 8th there is a full day of cross racing in Hartford's Colt Park starting at 8:30AM.  There is still time to register (REGISTER HERE) and it's a cheap entry fee (only $30).  There are races for all skill levels, and even a kids race.  If you don't race, you can just stop by and spectate.  Bring a cow bell (marathon left overs) or a kitchen pan and holler at the riders.  They need the aural flogging to reach peak performance levels.  Cyclocross has a tradition of goodhearted heckling. I'll see y'all out there, I'm going to volunteer in some shape or form.  There is more info on the Team ERRACE facebook page.

Heckling is part of the fun.  

In the vein of healthy hecking, I challenge any of the racers or attendees to actually ride their bike to the race. Imagine that.  Using your bike as transportation in addition to a shiny fast toy.

There are obstacles on the course.  And crashes happen.

And now for something not bike related.  It could be bike related though.  You can ride your bike there.  Next week there is a week long series call The Thread.  You can find more info here.  Four consecutive days of story telling right here in Hartford.

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Recovery riding

Now I don't know much about these recovery rides where you did or something and then the next day you ride like 20 miles slowly or something like that. If you're really tired, you shouldn't go for a bike ride. There need not be some mandated thing. Then again, I've heard about this training stuff, but I don't know what any of it means.

Anyhow, I had this terrible cold on Thursday and Friday. It had been a long time since I got since, so I guess I was due. It was weird because I was at work on Wednesday and a coworker was sick. All I did was look at him and I caught his cold. It truly laid me out. I didn't leave my house for like 48 hours.

On Saturday, I was feeling mildly better. I had originally planned to ride with Salem up to Robinson SP in Massachusetts for some Blowhole x3-style mountain biking. I had managed to fix the headset on my Colnago, so I was really looking forward. However, the cold sapped too much strength. Instead, I went for a much more gentler ride with Dario, Peter and a man from Sweden named Patrick. It was a good time and I went out loaded with handlebars and other miscellaneous bike parts in my messenger bag- making for a slightly backbreaking ride through the meadow. Stutter bumps with a bag full of metal on your back instead the most comfortable thing. Of course, it was my idea to do that. Dario wanted to go back through Hartford.

Today I rode to my parents' house. It was also lowkey and pleasant. The leaves are nearing their conclusion, so it was a great weekend to be pedaling around in the woods and looking at them.

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And then the days got short.

But did we stop riding?  No.  We did not stop riding.

It's pretty time.

In doing my part to extend fair weather cyclists and commuters into the Fall and Winter, I want to tell you about some upcoming events.

More pretty time.

1. Thursday, October 31st.  East Hartford IceBike to Work.  7-8AM at Maddies on Main Street.  Right across the street from Pratt & Whitney.  Don't forget to bring lights.  Rain or shine, and if there is another freak snowmagedon - we're still on.  An informal meet up of bicycle commuters (and aspiring bicycle commuters) to chat about miscellany - often bike related but not necessarily.  Something I try to organize (informally) once a month.
2. Saturday, November 9th.  There is going to be a cyclocross race less than a block from my house.  Colt Park.  Get yer bike dirty in Hartford and do your best to beat Brendan.
3. Sunday, November 10th.  Traffic Safety 101 Course in West Hartford.  Chris and I (certified League Cycling Instructors) will be co-teaching this full day course.  Classroom, parking lot drills, and a guided road ride will hone your street cycling skills and working knowledge.  Registration is now open.
4. Tuesday, November 12th.  Bike Walk Connecticut Annual Dinner at CCSU.  This years event will be even bigger and the silent auction items are better than ever.  A good time for a very effective organization.  Celebrating our accomplishments and energizing the Connecticut bicycle cognoscenti for another year of bike and ped progress in 2013.   I'm going to fill up a table of ten with friends.  If you are interested in a seat at the table, drop me a line.

Pretty awesome that the bike-ness is spilling into November.  Am I missing other bike stuff in November?  If so, point it up in the comments.

I saved like five turtles on a ride.  This one was really cranky.

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Apple problem

I went to Glastonbury yesterday and bought some apples and corn at the farm stand on tryon rd. Then, I rode home through the Glastonbury meadows. This added to the fallnessity of the ride, but really bruised my apples.

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Pretty bikes and leaves.

I agree with Brendan.  Fall in CT is a short, but beautiful time for riding - when it happens to stop raining.

Friday I tagged along with Patrick from Hartford Bicycle Studio to Providence Rhode Island for the Builder's Ball, a regional custom bike builder show.   The Builder's Ball is the nearby, accessible, and cheap ($3 entry) alternative to the annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show.  Lots of expensive eye candy about.  I was particularly taken by the Connecticut builder, Watson Cycles.  Photos of their commuter bike and a monster Iditarod bike included below. The snow bike included not one, but two flask holders.  I was fantasizing about rolling in to work or to the coffee shop with that beast.  What an over the top, yet still functional, bike!

Patrick had kindly tied my road bike to his roof.  Yes. No roof rack needed, just some ratchet straps.  My plan was to see if I could drum up a couch surf arrangement for the evening.  That didn't pan out.   After checking the weather forecast I headed out into the clear, cool Providence evening and followed the Washington Secondary Bike Path Southwest out of the city.  Smooth rolling to West Warwick, RI where I found a quiet city park where I rolled out the sleeping bag and air mattress.  Under the stars, as I didn't bring my tent or hammock.

The ride back today was quite nice.  Very quiet, rolling terrain leaving RI and I haven't done much riding in the far Eastern parts of CT so those were fresh tracks for me.  Took a pretty swamp photo, but it looks kinda creepy.  Maybe it was the ghoulish month of October that fouled it up?

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Fall riding

When I was in middle school and high school, fall used to be my favorite time of year. I actually liked all those new England trappings of fall. For some reason, I get a lot more enjoyment out of daylight now. So, as it starts to get dark early, I get depressed. It's especially bad when day light saving time is over. Everything feels very claustrophobic.

The one upside is that leading into this bleak period, the weather becomes pleasant and the trees are.pretty. I think we're at the onset of that now. I got to enjoy some of that when I rode up to westfield the other day. Apparently, they extended the bike path over passed the really sandy section, but not over the scary train trestle.

Also, will there ever be a time when I'm next to the southwick dirt jumps and I'm not on a road bike?

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Doing my part for Vermont tourism

As you know, I like Vermont. This past weekend I was up there once more, though perhaps the last time for a little while. Courant columnist and guy who likes bikes, Rick Green, was lamenting the impact that Irene was going to have on tourism in Vermont. Don't be deterred! The leaves are changing and pretty. Most roads aren't out and even if they are that means that you should either switch to bike or your car trip is about to get much more exciting. On an interesting bike ride on Saturday, I encountered several washouts, all of which had very novel work arounds, like a temporary road right through someone's front yard. I also discovered Vertical Mile Road, which most definitely has one of the coolest names ever. I was descending it and it was really steep, but I don't believe that I started from a mile in the air. Interestingly, it seems to be the only "Vertical Mile Road" in the United States.

I also found a sweet abandoned house in the middle of the woods.

So, anyway, you should go leaf peeing or whatever it is you're supposed to do up there.

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Ur Doin it Wrong

I was doing an internet search to find out some boring facts about bicycle usage, and the top website results all had something in common -- they either mentioned fatalities or included some sort of baloney like "you can ride in CT if you don't mind feeling like you are taking your life into your own hands." It's like some unwritten rule exists that every conversation about riding has to allude to danger, helmets, and hellish drivers. I swear it's all to keep the masses complicit in the destruction of the environment by coercing them back inside their cars via stories of bicyclist fatalities.

Whatever. Sometimes bike crashes are hilarious.

For instance, Snooki, some creation out of Jersey that I do not understand entirely since I lack cable tv, but whose existence I know of thanks to Perez Hilton and TMZ, tested the boardwalk with her face today. And of course, you can watch it, over and over.

No, you're not a bad person for mocking someone who is famous for being an obnoxious partygirl. 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.

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Pure Autumnal Joy

Saturday, Oct. 4 was a day of special events for the writers on this blog. Not only did many of us lend a hand to the greatness of the Source-to-Sea cleanup of the Park/Connecticut confluence, but that evening we all kicked back and enjoyed our own celebration of the season: a fun, fall-filled festival of frothy frivolity. An event that became dubbed:

Beat Biketoberfest 2008!

Or Beat Bike-to-beer-fest! Or Beet Bike-tuber-fest, only neither of those vegetables were actually present.

Our concept of what Beat Biketoberfest should be, other than avoid trademark infringement on something else called "Biketoberfest (tm)" (which involves loud, annoying combustion engines), was an Oktoberfest-themed apartment bike crawl where we could enjoy each others' company as well a sampling of the tasty brews of the season. Since we all live in the Hartford/West Hartford corridor, it wasn't very difficult to plan a route, and there was only one part of the ride that had any type of distance to it at all. Each host was kind enough to supply the hardy revelers with a case of beer and some snacks along the way!

I'm not sure who has photos they'd like to post, but I know I only remembered to take 3 lame photos, and I saw various flashes going off all evening. So maybe we'll continue our 2-post tradition of events where one person describes it, and one person dumps the pics. I'm obviously here to do the former.

photo credit: WTIC

Just about everybody but Brendan got to the meeting point under the Founders Bridge near downtown Hartford quite a bit late. But this was actually a good thing because as the sun went down, we got to see the Bulkeley Bridge light to life! Last week, the bridge was lit with new-fangled colored LEDs in order to mark its 100th anniversary. We got to see it change from red to blue before we headed out on the tour. The weather was simply perfect as we climbed the stairs to start the party! The stops were as follows:

1) My place first, where the group got a chance to look at the city from a different angle whilst enjoying an assortment of beer I brought from exotic Upstate NY. We also got creative in the elevator when we had to return a utility cart back to the lobby. As we were unlocking our bikes from the front fence of my building, we had the unfortunate opportunity to hear the words "spike" and "testicles" in the same sentence. Thanks for that, Shoupy.

2) A quick ride through Bushnell Park got us to ChillWill's pad in Frog Hollow. It was very chill of course, and various swag was handed off to people as chillwill was just dumping his crap on us prior to his move. There were also festive tatoos that worked well to give most of us some rockin' street cred. I don't think anyone used them on their knuckles. There was also the first harvest of delicious candy corn.

3) A hop over the tracks and highway got us to Krash's apartment, where we had to actually go in the front door, due to the fact that his back porch had just been whitewashed. Probably by ol' Tom Sawyer himself. We kicked back with some Harpoons and gorged on what was either Cheez Itz or Nips. I think Itz.

4) The shortest ride of the night got us to Joel's, where he provided us not only with some Sam Oktoberfests and fun-sized Cheetos, but also luxurious bike parking in his historic carriage house. Luckily, Joel was also proactive at providing the party some toilet paper, courtesy of stop #2.

5, 6) Finally a ride! A real ride. The overall Beat Biketoberfest peloton split up into several groups, with some of them even knowing where El Prez lived. The Karma krew split off to pick up some more party supplies, and eventually we all arrived at El Presidente's manor in West Hartford. By the end of the this leg, you could really feel the chill of the fall night starting to settle in. The master of the house himself greeted us with a hot grill already cooking up some delicious chow. The Magic Hat was cold, and the various meat and veggie products were hot. The hit of the evening was the squash soup! Absolutely delicious. Karma biked in the final beer-stop of the night (finally, the beer biked to us! What a scrumptious turn of events!), where I finally got to enjoy my first bottle of Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale. Yum!

What a fantastic night! Thanks to all who were able to ride, drink beer, and enjoy the city. Special thanks to my fellow bloggers for opening up your homes. I'd also like to thank some form of a higher being for making bikes, beer, and fall. It was probably Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Edison who invented all three, so praise be to him. This was truly one of the most enjoyable nights I've had here in the 'Beat. Not only would I like to try to put this on the calendar again in 2009, but I think this has laid the groundwork for a casual series of bike pub crawls coming up in the future. Advance notices for them will appear on this blog.

Sure, go ahead and Read More.

El Prez's house was the end of the official Beat Biketoberfest, and as we basked in the glory of full gullets and good times, an overwhelming tiredness seemed to smack just about everyone in the face simultaneously. The friendly buzz of the beer, taste of soupy-goodness, and smiles on our faces made everyone realize how good that night's sleep would feel. Slowly, we all trickled out in spurts. Brendan & Johanna were first to sneak out. ChillWill's posse left next. The bulk of the group still remaining saddled up not long after. I wiped a nice, fresh layer of dew off my seat and as we hit the road to head home, it was absolutely striking to me how starkly empty the streets of West Hartford were. No cars to be seen, as about a half-dozen of us completely owned the road. The only sounds I could hear were the cranking of our own gears, the whoosh of that welcome autumn air, and our own laughter as we spread out across the lane.

Karma and Meg peeled off first, and the few remaining pedaled on and hit the Hartford city limits in no time at all. Joel was next to veer off to his place, and soon I was saying my good nights to Shoupy. All alone, with a big, stupid grin on my face, I rode on silently into the night. Into Fall.

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summer's waning days

Photo credit goes to Bill and Kent. I don't know who they are, but I know where this is.

It appears that summer is coming to a close. I went for a ride at Penwood last night, back and forth from the chimney, and on the return climb from that road whose name I forget, it was already getting dark. I returned to the car to discover it was only 7:15. Labor Day weekend is almost upon us. Anyone got any cool plans? I'm going to Vermont (again). Read more!