BBB Pub Crawl II: Repeal Day

Friday, December 5th marked the 75th anniversary of the ratification of the glorious 21st amendment to the US Constitution, and an end to 24 years of prohibition! And we celebrated! Many weeks ago our loyal reader(s) read Rich's original call to action! Well, we acted, and drank that action well!


I rode up to the rear of the spigot and found a dozen bikes locked and chained in all sorts of various configurations. Some looked familiar and i looked forward to seeing friends as well as finding out who the new bicycles belonged to. It was super wonderful to see a bunch of friends after being away for almost two months.


Rich gave a passionate sermon extolling the wonderful virtues of the 21st amendment. His hand gesturing was so full of energy his right arm is captured only as a blur, speedy beyond the realm of digital photography. We reveled, we gave thanks, we stayed late past the schedule and enjoyed the breaking of such earthly rules.


Mere glass cannot stop the energy flow of BBB dap, especially if involving Rich and a liter of beer and el Presidente de China. I believe I once got a text from Lucas proclaiming vegas as "the place where wasted happens!" Yep, pretty much. Two Fridays ago i stayed for two rounds of the special, a liter of any draft and any shot for $10. Dang. But as usual, a good time was had. More amazing photos after the jump including Joel working the stripper pole at Mad Dawg's!




Is Rick doing an anti-flat ritual of some kind as Rich double fists multiple liters of beer and Julia laughs nervously and protects her pizza.


el Prez pimpin' on my old Mercier. Well done!


As promised, Joel working it for Kristen and looking quite sexy!


A few went to Sully's, the most at the Spigot, half made it to Mad Dawgs and a few to the Red Rock. A great night and a hell of a way to return to Hartford! Read more!

Favorite Ads: Alternative Fuels

Ride on, patriot.

Today's snow event makes this the ideal time to post this. If the ad embedded below isn't my most favorite commercial of all-time, it's certainly on the short list. The calm serenity and silence of the falling snow. The look of gruff, self-satisfied, determination on the face of our protagonist. The stark blue-gray colors of the scene. The tone of extreme masculine admiration by the voice-over. And of course, the constant tink-tink-tinking of the worthy cargo. This ad is wonderful.

Apparently this whole campaign for the Champagne of Beer was done by Errol Morris. I think it's a requirement whenever you blog about any of these ads to mention that, despite me not knowing exactly who that is. But his wikipedia page shows he's somebody impressive. Here's a page with links to all the other ads from that campaign.



Click here, if having your video embedded isn't your thing. Read more!

The Sandpit of Death Clean-up

before the clean-up!


after the clean-up!

This is the Sandpit of Death if you are riding a bicycle on the pedestrian sidewalk and bridge connecting Bushnell Park to the LOB/Armory area. Well, pedestrian except for the all the various police cars that drive across the narrow bridge! The soft sand has been threatening many a riders’ balance for years now, but it’s gotten much worse in the past few weeks. Many of us have almost busted our asses here lately, especially with skinny tires! I made a spur of the moment plea via texts and emails Sunday afternoon to friends while eating lunch at JoJo’s on Pratt Street. As fate would have it, Maureen had ridden through the sand only minutes earlier and thought someone was gonna bite it soon there. She and Hanna volunteered to help out at 6pm! Good on ya, mates!


We met up at my house for a beer and some delicious homegrown salad. We happily packed up my bike with a snow shovel, a heavy metal rake, one spade shovel, 2 brooms and a pickaxe garden hand tool thingee.


Here’s me, Hanna and Maureen taking a break as a Statey watches us from his cruiser in front of the LOB parking garage. We were certainly not looking for attention, but figured, due to the location between Amtrak and the National Guard, we’d be getting harassed. But up to this point, no one had paid us any attention and he soon drove off without a word.

There was a whole lot more dirt and sand than we had realized. Most of it was at least a few inches thick and the middle half was all 3-4 inches thick with a very solid bottom layer. We had a bit of an assembly line going for the thicker parts. First the heavy metal rake or spade shovel was used to loosen it up. Next was the snow shovel to move the stuff to the edge of the sidewalk. Most often the above was repeated, as the dirt was quite stubborn. Finally the broom whisked away the remaining dust. And it was quite dusty indeed.

Hanna and Maureen helped with most of the job before leaving due to dinner plans. Helder of Mira Hartford passed by with his doggy minutes later as I was continuing with the work. Soon after that we were joined by the Statey who pulled up to us in his cruiser, got out and walked over to us.

Click Read More for the rest of the story and more pics!




The officer walked up politely and asked what I was doing. I explained that the dirt and soft sand had made the sidewalk super dangerous for bicycles and a few calls to 311 had not gotten the walkway cleaned (311 is a city services phone line). I mentioned the situation had gotten considerably worse in the last few weeks. He agreed that skinny tires were super sketchy on that type of service and asked, “ And so y’all just decided to clean it up yourselves?”
“Yeah, pretty much” I answered, “We’re sick of almost bustin’ our asses here!”
He laughed and explained he had seen us and needed to check it out and left with a smile. No worries, no problems! I had also worn my 2007 CCBA Discover Hartford Tour t-shirt…perhaps that gave me the bicycle cred I needed!


I pretty much finished it up except for some very damp, sticky dirt that wouldn’t move easily. It’ll dry up in the sun manana and then be easy to scrape and sweep away.


This kid passed by Hanna, Maureen and I on a scooter. This would not have been possible an hour earlier due to all the sand! Great job guys!


Here’s the next mission. I will call 311 again on Tuesday and see what happens. There is quite a bit of sand on the lower right side of the bridge where water tends to pool up due to drainage issues. Also, both sides of the bridge sorely need a sweeping. The whole bridge would benefit from a sweepin’ actually. Hopefully the city can send over that sweet street sweeper gator thing and make it happen.

Mad thanks to Hanna and Maureen for all their help with the hardest, thickest and most brutal part of the battle with the sand monster. Helder pushed a broom for a bit until his doggy protested with much vocal vigor. My landlord, Mary Lee unknowingly helped as I used a broom from the garage and Joey Babaganoush unknowingly hooked us up with a snow shovel.

UPDATE TUESDAY, SEPT 2ed.

here is the email i sent to 311:
Good morning,

The sidewalk and bridge connecting Bushnell Park with the Armory and LOB is in need of a very good sweeping. There is much dirt, sand and broken glass along the walkway.

There are also two spots with drainage issues, that will continue to cause a sand problem after it rains, the southwest end of the bridge and the sidewalk along the armory.

If possible, could the larger cracks in the sidewalk also be repaired. It is easy to trip on them while walking and can damage bicycle wheels.

Thank you for making the city cleaner and safer for cyclists.

William


Read more!

Critical Mass. August 2008.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

This was a great ride on a beautiful night with lots of new people and another foray through our beloved Keney Park. Colleen brought her pops, Valdez brought his daughter, everyone brought a great vibe and we all had a great time. There was also a father and son from South Carolina. or was it North Carolina? Gimme a holla! Minimal car issues and more people stepping up to cork intersections when needed and talk to drivers kept things running super smoothly.


i was running super late in a mad dash to get my old school 3speed on the road for the ride. i met up with the group in East Hartford with only one speed, but one sweet looking bike!!! yeah baby yeah! The 3speed was one of a dozen or so free bicycles i picked up last week. Want one? check this post for what's left.

The ride crossed Founders' Bridge and wound its way to Main Street in East Hartford, where everyone pulled over to wait for Dawn, me, Karma and Brenden. It was fun arriving late having no certain idea what had been decided and where we were going. We headed North into South Windsor and across the bike/ped lane of the Bissell bridge. Rachel flatted out in the boat launch park and Rick and Krash got her fixed up as others rode in circles to escape the bugs. Dang skeeters! Others chatted, new friends were made and there was interesting relay riding with tastey, frothy batons!

Then it was off to Keney Park as the sun set. We passed several parking lots full of life; car stereos bumping music, BBQ's and North End peoples enjoying a great Friday afternoon in the park drinking brews. Everyone was super cool, waving, shouting and we all shared some great energy. Ahhhh. Sometimes things in Hartford just flow wonderfully.

We exited the park in the dark at Tower Avenue and rode straight down Barbour Street to Capen St. and then east to North Main Street. Barbour was a pretty crazy, sketchy, wonderous, great, paradoxial ride to say the least. We passed the scene of a recent shooting, though i don't think many knew it. Most groups of people and all small kids waved and yelled with genuine smiles. A few yells of, "Duuuude and Awesome" in faked "white" accents were kinda funny. The large black dude that came into the street and was pretending to grab cyclists as they rode by while yelling, "gimme that bike!" seemed more of a joke gone too far than any kind of threat, but some people certainly didn't enjoy that. There were certainly a few other negative and ignorant comments here and there, but by and large it was all good. No, F that. By and large it was all great!

We took a lane down Main and returned to the club area where many of us went to Mad Dawgs for pizza, 40's, beer and pole dancing. yep, that's a winning combination right there.


Rich was really making it happen!


Corey showing us how its done safely with a helmet and eye protection!


40's are fun! They really make me a better (pole) dancer!


Afterwards we decided to buy copious amounts of beer, pizza, burgers and have a postride firepit bbq party in my backyard. Wow! What a great way to end the night. By the way, the party planning and flat fixing was great to be a part of. I saw lots of people stepping up, wanting to help and really making it happen, especially at the party. Beer was bought at several locations. Krash and Wizzy brought two pizzas. Boz was persistant as not one, but two grills failed him, and he had to finish cooking in a frying pan in my apartment! Everyone really worked together and looked out for one another. I really like that.

Thank you and big ups to everyone in the ride and along the ride, it was a great time!

many more photos if you click Read More below!




North Main Street.


This was fun to carry in my messenger bag and on my handlebars from the local bodega.


i wish i had a better photo of the bicycle parking in my garage for the party. T'was a beautiful sight to behold!


Rich has mad stupid skills; he can even hoolahoop!


But it was Dawn's and she's a hoolahoop master and had the thing going up, down and all around.


hmmm. looks like lucas is handing me a beer. jeff, stop staring at Dawn's butt! Rich, stop bragging about yer skills!


Dang! Rich! You dance too! I also remember dancing with Bianca, but i also remember spinning myself into a fence as i fell into the flowers.


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Bring Your Rubbers alleycat roundup

Holy Shit that 1st band was loud! The hood was scared!

The alleycat popped off very well indeed. The police only came twice and the fire department once...not too shabby. We had three super loud bands and a super unloud stereo for the afterparty as well as a keg and other libations. Many thanks to Krash, El Presidente de China, all the bands (Fruit Punch, Dirty South Revolution and Own Life), the peeps who held down the checkpoints and all the racers. And the sponsors! Manhattan Portage, for the 1st prize messenger bag, Play in Traffic Productions, for the Monster Track DVDs, 5-Boro Generals, for the t-shirts, and CCBA for the stainless steel, non-carcinogenic water bottles and Brendan for the whiskey.


TJ proudly wearing his medal of fastness. He shoulda paid attention and worn some rubbers as he found himself thigh deep in the flooded Connecticut River carrying his bike to the bonus checkpoint. That’s core dude!


manifests and maps

Here’s the list full of misspellings:
1 TJ (dreads)
2 Shanesaw
3 Valdez
4 Sean
5 Aaron
6 Jeremy
7 Tony C
8 Mourad
9 TJ (no dreads)
10 Steve
11 Rich's eyeglass case
12 Robin
11, 12 or 12,11. Who knows!?!?
Opton missed a checkpoint and got a flat, but won a 40 for the breakdown
Rick and AmyZ never left my checkpoint!
Two others?…Orion and Matt didn’t finish? Got swept away? Traded to the Mets?

the checkpoints:
pope park pond, keney park pond, elizabeth park pond, lincoln's horse EH riverfront, park river @ asylum and woodland, constitution plaza fountain, chillwill's backyard, and prove you went to wendy's on airport road. bonus spot: hock river ped bridge in EH


The band, the crowd, the keg, a MP lanyard...i dunno, its freakin dark!

there's prolly another dozen photos after the jump.
click on "read more" fool!


pay up!


robin and jeremy enjoying the park


lauren and that dude whose name i got wrong at the park...help!?


15 minutes til "GO!"


Tony C, an army of one.


where's that sculpture of Lincoln's Horse!?!


that's right suckas, you gotta climb two sets of sketchy fire escape stairs to get yer shit signed.


jeremy and aaron navigating the Stairs of Death


this dude was flying down Cap Ave


steve trying not to eat metal steps


once they pulled out the buds...there was no leaving!


dirty south revolutionaries


steve, bianca, ozzy and more manhattan portage schwag


own life


tony makin' all the right moves


krash, chris, and that dude from the dirty dirty. he was mad cool.


i am not sure i improved much from the 40 i had the night before


ken demands the 'stache is back


bicycles, bicycles, bicycles, bicycles, bicycles, bicycles


el prez lookin' el serious


eva chulita and meeeyoo! i don't sleep anymore cuz of these chicas, but its all good. (be nice when you tell me how to spell yo name)


watching the van back out and in and out and in to get out was funny. i have a cargo van and feel thier pain in that parking lot.


wow! the pope park checkpoint and friends. eva, wizzzzzzy, laura, meeeyooo and leslie who also won the pullup competition!



rich is proud of his DFL prize, an acryllic block with a CT quarter that says, "you belong in connecticut."



el prez on his Xootr just seconds before bailing on going to the diner at 3am






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