Keney Park really is the best park

Doing my part and fixing the bridge to the Leadership Trail.

I know that it's cool to say that you like Keney Park. It's the edgy one. It's the one that unhip suburbanites say is scary, allowing you to be the cool urban contrarian and say that you go there at night without a care in the world. That's stupid posturing and you sound like you're just pretending to show off your grittiness.

Keney Park doesn't need your liberal defense. Keney Park doesn't even need you! It's you who needs Keney Park.

I was riding through Keney yesterday after a surprisingly difficult secured transaction exam. The trail system is slowly rejuvenating/expanding this spring because of that grant the Friends got and I was exploring some of the newly accessible stuff.

Probably the coolest thing about the park is how big it is. You can be off by yourself in the semi-wildness, but the park can actually be pretty full. There was cricket practice, some guy hitting golf ball at the improvised driving range, several little league games, lots of basketball, people on jungle gyms and just general park-style chilling. What really possessed me to wax poetic about the park began with some rhythmic booming. I was in Keney Waverly when I first heard it. I thought maybe there was a concert going on, which seemed weird because it was a Thursday. I was meandering south and the booming kept going and getting. Eventually when I ended up by the pond, I found the source of the booming. There was a drum line practice happening on the handball courts (Keney has handball courts. I've never figured out what handball is, but it's a big deal in New York. And according to that video, it's a way of life.).  Come on. How cool is that? There's no other park that I can think of anywhere where people can do such different things and everyone gets their own space. You can have a drumline, you can be a fixed gear cyclocross guy, you can be playing chess, you can drink a beer or you can fish. It's the ultimate recreation space. Try doing that at Elizabeth Park. Read more!

Keney Park Mountain Biking

I'm glad "mountain", "biking", "Keney" and "Park" don't have any s's in them, because I just went to the dentist and the tip of my tongue is numb. I'm going to have to say those words a bunch tonight because I'm* delivering a presentation to the City's Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission about putting a mountain bike trail in Keney Park. I don't mean like a walking path that you can ride a bike on, but a curvy and twisty thing that's funny to ride a bike on. As you know, this is something I've want to have happen for a long time and kizmet between people interested in expanding the trail network at Keney (Friends of Keney) and people wanting to expand mountain biking (Jon Tarbox) both talked to me around the same time. I'm really excited to start raking things with Jon. When I organized that 'cross race five years ago, he was awesome, so this should be equally awesome.

I'll keep you posted about what sorts of things you can do to help.

*Actually, it's a we. Jon emailed me to say that he'll be able to make it tonight. Read more!

Mountain biking in New Haven and the Detour

I'm working on a secret project in Keney Park. In order to do research on it, my friend Marko invited me to go mountain biking in New Haven. Actually, it had nothing to do with Keney Park or research. We'd been planning on riding at West Rock for like six months and it never happened until Thursday. On the way to the West Rock, we rode through the East Rock, which has a mountain bike trail. And, this mountain bike trail has signs indicating its use by New Haven Parks and Recreation. Ratcheting of the New Haven/Hartford war, they've got a legit mountain bike trail in a city park with fancy signs. Not to mention, they've got that huge skatepark in Edgewood Park. I know we have cricket fields and some parks with a lot of roses, but we need to bring our parks in the 90's with some skateboarding and mountain biking. We don't want to lose to New Haven. I know we've got the state capitol, but all that does is not pay property taxes.

The East Rock trails aren't really that long, but they're pretty fun. West Rock is also pretty cool. I really like that road that runs along the top of the park. I am jealous of New Haven and it's rocks.

Also, Salem's Detour, which goes nowhere near any cities, is happening again this year (Apr. 26, 2014, 8am, leave from the beginning of the Hop River Trail in Manchester) and it looks like the snow will be melted in time. I think it's the same route as last year, which is a great route. I had some friends living in Hampton, but now they live in Lebanon. It's nice that they stayed on Detour route, so that I have a place to spend the night when by constitution gives out.

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Hartford's Zoo - Found it.

While wandering around today taking in the last of the leaves and generally exploring areas Northwest of Hartford, I came across a curious "No Parking" sign on an abandoned road in Keney Park.  Then there was the animal enclosure.  Putting the clues together, I'm guessing that I stumbled across the ruins of the Sherwood Forest Zoo that closed in 1976.  Keney Park is always surprising me.  I've got to get out there for some rustic urban camping.  Maybe a weekend overnight soon to try out my new winter bag.

In honor of all the whiny folks complaining about parking woes in Hartford.

Who knows what they kept here?  

And a ride is not complete without some gratuitous graffiti peeping along the train tracks.  There were several new burners near the Hartford and Windsor line.  I'm bummed that I won't be able to make it to the ground breaking for the new skate park at Heaven on Monday (@4PM).  The neat part about Heaven having "legal walls" is that I actually get an opportunity to watch the process of creating graffiti.  Just stop by the park and there is good chance you'll find someone working on a new piece.

Riding the dike behind the dump mountain on the North side of Hartford.  They are capping the mountain with a seam sealed rubber membrane and covering that up with something that looks like AstroTurf.  The fences are down, and I'll bet (but I haven't checked) that the views from the top of the mound are pretty stellar.  I'm excited that the space may be converted to novel uses in the future, but curious where we are sending all our trash in the meantime.  Out of sight, out of mind I guess.

And you shouldn't miss the Bike Walk Connecticut Annual Dinner.  Tuesday, November 12th at Central Connecticut State University.  Get your tickets before the 5th and save $5.

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Keney Park singletrack

I went for a very pleasant bike ride yesterday up through South Windsor. I finally crossed the rubicon that is the Stoughton Brook and, with wet, cold feet, discovered that the river trail just sort of ends in a farm field with nice tobacco barns that I'd been to before.

I went through Keney on the way back and, for whatever reason, I decided to check out the old Leadership Trail. I rode it once five years ago with Chill Will. It was in slightly rough shape then. I walked on it a little more recently when Luis and I were investigating where exactly they were proposing putting billboards in Keney (thankfully, we kept that at bay). It was pretty forgotten about at that point. However, judging by the Friends of Keney's flickr page, they did work on it as part of the trail work they did last year. Although, from riding it yesterday, it looks like someone cleaned up more this spring. It's totally clear now and fun to ride. I think it might get the prize for best singletrack in Hartford right now.

It's too bad Chill Will's photobucket account is dead, because there are nostalgic beat bike blog pictures on there.

There's a fox in this picture, but you can't really make it out.

Also, I found a sweet cut through at 999 Asylum that saves you from having to ride Woodland to get back to Farmington.

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Keney carriage roads are being cleared out

Very cool. I wonder who's doing this. The park is the cleanest since I've lived here.

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Bikes on Dikes

It began with what was meant as a short detour on the way home from Colt Park -- a jaunt along the paved Riverside path.

But Saturday was the first time this summer that we were not faced with disgusting humidity, 85+ temperatures, or some crazy hail-tornado-thunderstorm-Armageddon warning. Instead of turning back when the pavement ended, we kept going on the path between the Connecticut River and the flood barrier.

Every single time I have ridden past the paved part of the path, I have encountered less than optimum riding conditions -- ice, mud, and most recently, sand. Starry Starry Bike would be awesome for these rides, but for some reason, I am always finding myself here on a bike that lacks awesome knobby tires.

Still, it's quiet. As Interstatement reminded me while I was kvetching about the precarious ride, we had not seen any pesky baby carriages in some time. Nothing makes me happier than being away from screaming babies and their often smug, entitled parents, as one is wont to be subjected to in the disputed territories.

A deer jumped across the trail. We did not encounter anyone once we reached the sandy part of the path, though we could hear the whining of dirt bikes across the Connecticut River.

The path dumped us out somewhere near the highway, a dike, and a giant billboard advertising pizza, which is basically torture when there are no decent pizza joints in that neighborhood. We rode alongside the tracks for a bit before finally finding ourselves back on the pavement, cutting through Keney Park, and then heading home.

*Somewhere along this route, I believe, is where I picked up a case of poisonivy. I won't post pictures of that.
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Riding the East Coast Dirtway: Let's Go Ride a Bike Summer Games

Is it right to say that I missed the boat? Maybe if it's a hybrid boat-bicycle the idiom would make more sense.

Really, I do not know how it happened. I read Let's Go Ride a Bike religiously, which for me is more often than sporadic, sometimes with vodka involved, and no dread of hellfire. Then again, I'm not getting younger and certain pieces of information go in one eye and out the other. What makes my neglect in this instance particularly odd is that prizes (that I would want) are involved.

I noticed that the LGRAB Summer Games existed sometime in mid-June, yet did not figure out until a few days ago -- conveniently during a heat wave -- that I could still participate. Just in time for the third part (new territory), I was able to go on a little adventure that incorporated three of the challenges, and provided for a possible new one that they might include in future competitions. I promise that I'm doing this for all the right reasons, but the possibility of winning a Queen Bee pannier sweetens the deal.


On Sunday, I met the following challenges:
1. Explore new part of town by bike
2. Ride a greenway
3. Have a bicycle picnic

That's the short version.


The recent heatwave kept me inside for days on end and before that the Jenny was making some unhappy sounds (still bitter about being strapped to the front of a bus I think) as well as automatically shifting through several gears, so I had not ridden in awhile. I took the LGRAB Summer Games as the incentive to make time on Sunday to go for a picnic just off the East Coast Greenway, and to get to the ECG, Interstatement and I would travel through a section of Hartford that I'm not too familiar with. This loop would take us through Hartford, Windsor, South Windsor, Manchester, East Hartford, and then back into Hartford.

Before fun and games, I agreed to accompany Interstatement to his church in the North End of the city, as it was on the way. To be more precise, it's in the North East neighborhood, which is terribly stricken with violence. This is where Hartford gets its reputation from. I was not thrilled to be going through here, but it was early on a Sunday morning, which meant that most of the troublemakers were probably still sleeping after causing problems all night. I had not biked in this area before, so this fulfilled one challenge.

I have also never evaded a cop before.

I did not mean to, exactly. As we were traveling past the site where a police officer was shot a few nights before, a cruiser rolled up. The cop rolled down his window and began talking. I had just gotten into a good rhythm and did not feel like breaking it. About a block ahead it occurred to me that maybe I ought to stop. By the time I did and turned around, I saw that Interstatement had satisfied the officer with some answer that caused him to go on his way. In my own neighborhood, I'm not exactly among the racial/ethnic majority, but I spend a bit of time outdoors and must look like I fit in more. The experience yesterday annoyed me, but I guess it is not horribly offensive. White people, traveling in that neighborhood, are most likely there to buy drugs. (Side note: the data is a few years old now, but only 1.1% of people living in the North East neighborhood are white.) And yesterday, before my day of riding, I was definitely white. Now, I'm more of a red hue.

We did the church thing and then fielded questions from churchgoers who were surprised to see bicycles (instead of cars) being used as going-to-church-transportation. (Hey, if you want to show respect for God, stop crapping all over the planet with your SUV.) From here, we traveled through more sections of Hartford that I am not too familiar with, but which felt far less blighted and dangerous than those we passed through to arrive at the church. We went through a section of Keney Park, which I had not been through before. Keney Park is one of the largest parks in New England and I had previously only seen about one-third of it.

Eventually we landed on Windsor Avenue and started searching for the side streets that would get us to the Bissell Bridge, which would take us over the Connecticut River and along I-291.



While I have traveled over I-291 numerous times by car, I have never done this on a bicycle, nor have I seen the part of South Windsor that is still farmland. This is exactly where the bike path took us. South Windsor, a town I grew up near, is a place I associate with the worst ills of suburban culture -- strip malls and cheaply-built McMansions. Despite what the graffiti on the bridge might want us to believe, it's not threatening enough to "run this shit."



After a pleasant ride through corn fields, we cycled through an industrial section, finally winding up at where I-291 begins/ends in Manchester.

We arrived at Wickham Park dripping sweat and more than ready for our picnic lunch of wine and cheese.


A lot of parks in Connecticut do not permit alcohol, a fact I had forgotten until we arrived. Not sure on Wickham Park's policy, we planned to do a quick photo shoot, pour the wine, and then put the bottle back in one of Interstatement's cargo bike panniers.





I took photos, poured wine, set out the crackers, and was just about the open the cheese when a ranger came over. I had already evaded a cop that morning, but I have the utmost respect for park rangers, so I took a deep breath and waited for it. We learned the area we were using was actually reserved, but that there were other non-reserved areas in the park we could go to. He suggested we "chug" the wine and find another table. What? No trouble?

Since the church group of 150 or so people were supposed to show up for their tables any moment, we quickly packed the crackers and smartly chugged the wine. Just following orders.


The new picnic area actually worked out well, if not better. There was a lot of shade from trees and it was closer to the side we would be exiting from anyway. After lunch we visited the park's Aviary (or "birdiary" if, like me, you can't ever remember the word "aviary"). My photos are not as awesome as they could be since the fence was in the way.













The last stretch of the adventure would involve riding on a greenway. The East Coast Greenway is described by its website:

The East Coast Greenway is the nation's most ambitious long-distance urban trail project. By connecting existing and planned shared-use trails, a continuous, traffic-free route is being formed, serving self-powered users of all abilities and ages. 3,000 miles long, the Greenway links Calais, Maine at the Canadian border with Key West, Florida. Alternate routes will add another 2,000 miles to the ECG trail system.

This green city-to-city travel corridor was launched in 1991 when the East Coast Greenway Alliance formed to make this vision a reality. The East Coast Greenway will be entirely on public right-of-way, incorporating waterfront esplanades, park paths, abandoned railroad corridors, canal towpaths, and pathways along highway corridors.

I had previously ridden on most of the section planned for that day, but it was when I rode less frequently; thus, I was looking forward to conquering the hills that used to be awful for me. No such luck. I rode it, but due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act the pavement was all dug up! Almost the entire section was dirt. Not hardpacked dirt, or even gravel, but loose dirt which made riding even on flat surfaces a challenge I was not expecting. We had to keep stopping because my thighs were burning. Little did I know, I was also getting wicked sunburn in spite of having diligently applied SPF45 sunblock that morning.



By the time we hit the street section of the ECG, I was happy to ride in traffic because it meant a hard surface. Next time, I am bringing more water and the bottle of sunblock.
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Happy Olmsted Day!

Today, April 26, is Fredrick Law Olmsted's birthday. He's responsible for making Hartford's parks awesome. At Keney Park today was the CT Olmsted Heritage Alliance's celebration & conference. The guy who wrote the Hartford parks book, John Alexopolos, spoke and then there was a bus tour of Keney. I went on a one man bicycle tour.



I hadn't been on any of the Keney trails since the bizarre call I got from an ATV owner complaining that the police were enforcing Hartford ordinances and confiscating his ATV. They're really ripping up the trails north and west and of the golf course. It's a shame, because they'd never really been that bad.


From there, I took the very long way back to City Hall.

my thumb shifting diamond back in all its glory.

And, in case you were wondering, I've always been a bad writer. I think I submitted that in sixth grade.

Finally, if you're ever cruising in the vicinity of the Portland Reservoir, make sure to check out the skills of the Wesleyan architecture students:

Weirdos. Read more!