I Saw the Sign, It Opened Up My Mind

The title for this article is not just the lyric for a 90’s pop song.  Signs, and their placement, make a world of difference. If you can’t find it, it doesn’t exist for you.  Unless you are interested in obsolescence and avoiding the majority of those interested in your city or product, pay attention to signs.  I’ve noticed in my recent travels that many cities do signage in a more proactive way than Hartford, Connecticut.  Particularly from the viewpoint of a pedestrian or cyclist, there isn’t much to guide you in getting around Hartford and the near suburbs.  Finding the best route from point A-to-B, say for a work commute, usually involves internet research, asking local experts, and then testing the route out on the weekend to determine if you’ll become roadkill when you brave the trip during a morning commute.  In Columbus for example, there were several bike signed routes crisscrossing the city that included bike lanes, multi-use paths, and shared use roads (with Sharrows).

Learning up on history.  This sign was about the Homestead Strike.

The 2014 Parks Plan proposed (and was accepted by the City) a signed and color coded system of bike routes throughout Hartford, connecting the parks, and more importantly providing clear cross town routes for those choosing to make their way via bicycle.  This portion of the parks plan was the only section that received applause during the Parks Plan presentation and public comment session.  Since being adopted very little has been done to implement that beautiful and forward thinking concept.  Hartford residents, cyclists, and Parks users should continue to ask the City (City Council, Hartford’s Mayor, and the Department of Public Works) what they are doing to achieve the vision set out in that plan.

The East Coast Greenway runs directly through Hartford.  This is a nationally significant bicycle route connecting the entire East Coast, from Calais, Maine to Key West, Florida.  A significant portion of the trail (~30%) is on multi-use paths and that non-road share is growing.  The purpose of the trail is to provide safe and enjoyable routes connecting cities all along the Eastern seaboard.   The cities and states that embrace these non-car multi-use routes get benefits galore.  Weekend recreational users come from the nearby areas to take short trips, shop, and dine at the nearby restaurants.  Organized regional bike tours choose those cities for tour stops, filling up hotel rooms and restaurants.  Bicycle and hiking tour books list those trails and cities, drawing in out of state visitors that come from all over to experience the day trips and loop rides from a convenient central location.  Cross country cyclists, the tail of the bell curve, carry a lot of weight when making recommendations to others on where to ride – and where not to ride.

I bring up the East Coast Greenway because it is pathetic how little and sparse the signs are for the route in the Hartford metro region.  The East Coast Greenway Alliance has provided signs, and the local committee has valiantly hung them, but they are small and far between.  There isn’t a “Hartford Welcomes the East Coast Greenway” sign on Founders Bridge or at the Bloomfield border, and there aren’t signs directing ECG users to the nearby shopping and restaurants downtown.  Signs noting that there are temporary lockers for panniers at the Science Center and Wadsworth Atheneum would free riders up to economically cavort around the city with their bikes and locks alone.  A half dozen clearly labeled “bike lockers” located on Founders Plaza could be used by commuting employees and bicycle tourists alike.   This is a ripe opportunity for the Hartford Business Improvement District.  Spend a couple thousand dollars bragging about what you’ve already got and shout about the existing East Coast Greenway.  Pull folks off the riverfront and into your business establishments, and advertise that Hartford is welcoming to those that come to town via bicycle.

  

The Gold Street realignment would have improved the East Coast Greenway connection between the Hartford Club and Bushnell Park, but the expensive overreach of the project and a NIMBY short sighted condo board squashed that plan.  There are several infrastructure projects on deck in East Hartford (see page 19 of the linked PDF) that will massively improve the ECG route.  Connecting the multi-use path from Forbes Street to Simmons in the I-84 corridor is one of them.  The CT DOT is also looking at a way to connect Riverside Drive to the dirt road that comes off of the Route 2 off ramp.  Riding up the off ramp to the dirt road is a favorite non-road alternative to Main Street, but you run the chance of getting collared by the state police.  Closing that 400 yard gap shouldn’t be difficult, until you consider that it involves working with both the CT DOT and Pratt and Whitney.

  

Despite wrangling a $500,000,000 tax deal Pratt & Whitney (or someone at UTC corporate HQ) is against routing the East Coast Greenway from Pratt & Whitney Field and down Willow Street.  P&W is building a supposedly “green” engineering headquarters right on Willow Street.  One would wonder why a company trumpeting their environmental chops is against the best routing of a sustainable transportation connection for the both their employees and the community.  UTC just moved its headquarters out of Hartford to Farmington, where the amazing Farmington Valley Trail provides all the benefits that I’ve described above to the towns it passes through. I encourage folks at P&W, UTC, and the Town of East Hartford to ask about the plans and where they stand.  If you’re not asking for it, it will never arrive.

IMPORTANT NOTE - The other huge thing that affects the route of the East Coast Greenway is the I-84 Redesign.  This is the biggest infrastructure and public works project that Hartford will see in our lifetimes.  There is a public comment session next Tuesday (Sept 22nd) in Hartford at the Lyceum.  Go there.  Be loud.  Verbally and in writing include the importance of Complete Streets and the Greenway.  Can't make the meeting, you can still comment online.

Obvious sign showing the way.  Come spend money here.  And I did.

This type of sign is common along the gap.  Where the local amenities are.  Spend money guide map.

That being said, there are already amazing trails in the Hartford metro area that are woefully under-utilized.  Why?  Because there aren’t any signs and the publicity of those resources is non-existent. Only those that read the Beat Bike Blog know about these multi-use paths and trails.  I’ll list a few below:

• The Hockanum River Path – Part of the East Coast Greenway.  You can pick this up at the end of the East Hartford Great River Park trail or jump on behind East Hartford Town Hall.
• The Charter Oak Greenway – This path starts on Forbes Street just a block North of Silver Lane and follows the I-84 / I-384 corridor.  You can ride to Wickham Park on a spur or go straight to downtown Manchester.  This trail almost connects to the Hop River Trail between Manchester and Willimantic.  
• The East Hartford and Hartford multi-use paved paths along the riverfront.  There are several miles of paved paths along both sides of the river.
• North-South off road trails along the dikes and Connecticut River.  One can ride all the way from Hartford North to Windsor on off road trails – on both sides of the river.  Heading South from Great mountain biking right from Downtown Hartford.
• Mountain Biking in Keney Park – Right in our back yard.  Easy carriage paths and rather technical single track.  Keney is such a big park you could camp there for a week without bothering anyone.
• The I-91 overpass between North Downtown and Hartford's Riverside Park.  I wrote a whole article about that under used connection.
• The trail system from New Haven to Westfield, MA.  This nearly cross state route only has a few gaps remaining.  This is also part of the East Coast Greenway route.
• The 5 miles of trail along CT Fastrak between Newington Junction and Downtown New Britain.  

What do we do about this lack of signs?  I suggest we make our own.  I’m tired of waiting for cities, committees, and the DOT to turn their broken rusty gears.  I would love to see Hartford Prints design and hang their own way finding signs that takes walking and biking visitors from Bushnell Park, Downtown North, and the Founders Bridge to Pratt Street.  Hartford Prints could then offer "way finding sign design services" to the other businesses clamoring for the exposure to directed and hungry foot traffic.

Sign for Round Bottom Campground.  I like signs.

Free camping trail side.  Round Bottom!  Like both.

Listed below are other "proactive" things I’ve noticed while riding the Great Allegheny Passage, an economic engine for many cities along its route.  The more of these we do along the Connecticut East Coast Greenway route, the better.

• Camping.  Informal, free (or cheap) primitive camping at ~10 to 15 mile intervals.  These sites are maintained by the local park district or volunteers.  The lean-to shelters are for through hikers and bikers only and are built by the local scout troops.  This would be an ideal amenity in the Riverfront Park on either the East Hartford or Hartford side.  Cyclists that stay at the shelters are guaranteed to stop in your city for groceries, tourist activities, and restaurants.  They’ll also wax ecstatically about the awesomeness of your city to friends.  Examples – Connellsville, PA has 4 lean-to shelters on a grassy rise outside their business district.  I ate a huge breakfast there and they just got free advertising.  Confluence, PA has $5 hiker / biker camping at the city campground, walking distance from the city center.
• Obvious and advertised lodging, hotels, and bed and breakfast directly along the route.
• Mileage signs along the route letting you know how far you are from nearby cities and amenities such as lodging, restaurants, and bike shops.
• Warm Showers hosts to provide options to budget bike tourists.  These bike tourists are usually on a tight budget.  If you can’t get their hotel dollars, they’ll still eat in your city.  Hartford fortunately has an active group of WS hosts, but it would be good to get more of them along the route in other Connecticut ECG cities.
• Connectivity.  Connect the damn segments.  Even if there are on road segments.  Put up clear signs that hook trails into each other so that folks don't have to guess - or miss the connection altogether.

Let’s all see the signs – and where we don’t – we’ll create them ourselves.

Mckeesport.  A narrow bike way under a building overhang, next to rail.  Creative!

While leaving Mckeesport, PA outside of Pittsburgh on the GAP trail I noticed many creative infrastructure solutions that accomodated a multi-use path on a constrained or otherwise challenged corridor.  I challenge the CT DOT and Hartford's DPW to stop being whiners about "corridor width" and look to other cities for solutions.  Part of the solution is a city (and businesses) that cooperate.  We're all in this together.  If mountainous Pittsburgh can be a bike friendly city (with winter, cobblestones, and so many rivers), Hartford has it damn easy.

An unused (so far) rail bridge connection.  I chilled here for a bit.

Can you spot the coal seam?  

Learning about coal from a sign.  Holding in your hand is akin to reading porn.

I'm not sure why, but touch coal feels illicit.  I just want to burn it and act like a romping caveman.  So much history, geologic and human, in that small handful.  And so much slow destruction of our climate.

Entrance to a mine... that horizontal sliver.

Peeking into the mine.  Rotten timbers support the rocks above.  

Ohiopyle is beautiful!

This summer we most definitely made signs for BiCi Co.  You won't catch us under publicizing a new Hartford gem!

Summer BiCi Co service project - Painting signs with Brendan Gingras!

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Pygmy Village

If you've ever gone passed the DMV in Plainville, you end up in a weird place. I went there one time in high school with my friend Bobby and it was our mutual opinion that it was weird. Later, I learned that it's the site of the Pygmy Village on Rattlesnake Mountain. While some dispute its spookiness, the rest of the internet is convinced of it spookitude. I had never been from the New Britain direction, so I set out that way on Saturday. 

Crossing the I-84 overpass on to west side of the highway, there are these walls made of giant concrete blocks that are about eight feet high on both sides of the road, creating an Escape from New York aesthetic. The blocks end and there's a fenced off area with a lot of no trespassing signs where someone was mowing followed by two rundown occupied houses and one abandoned one. My goal was to ride down North Mountain road back into Plainville, but what appears to be North Mountain road is just a cut for powerlines. Perhaps that's where the Pygmy Village lies, but it did not particularly possible to ride that way. Instead, I continued on what was sort of Long Swamp Rd up Rattlesnake Mountain and eventually came out at the Tilcon quarry. There was some very impressive corduroy.

I'll admit that the spookiness of the area discouraged me from checking out the powerline cut further. Perhaps that's where the Pygmy Village is, but I'll never know for sure. I am interested in exploring more of the ATV trails on Rattlesnake Mountain. I once rode the Metacomet over Rattlesnake, but it was mostly unrideable, hike-a-bike stuff. It looks like it would be possible to do a Tour de Talcott-type ride, but south from the West Hartford Reservoir. I rode once from there to Southington and the Rattlesnake section was the most discouraging. Other than that, it was ok. Discovering these ATV trails and dirt roads make for a pretty good alternative.

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Giant tires

I don't know anything about downhill. I go on pinkbike sometimes, but I can't figure it what those people are talking about. Too many motorcycle helmets, goggles and pushing bikes up hill. I thought you get good at riding a bike to avoid walking. Then again when they jump off cliffs, I'd probably be waking that.

Anyway, a few years ago I bought a pile of tires for $50*. Included were a number of downhill tires that I haven't know what to do with. A lot of them are tubeless, so they're also really hard to mount. However, there's a set of Maxxis Minions that are not tubeless and are 2.5"s. 2.5"s are usually no trouble in the front, but I don't really have a frame with that kind of clearance in the rear. Actually, that's not true. I somehow got it to for my mongoose Alta. I took it or yesterday and now I understand how those downhill guys stick to the trail so well. These things are amazing. Maybe not amazingly fast on pavement, but sure footed beyond what I'm used to.

*Really a pile of tires. Johanna was not happy about this. I've decided to sell some of them and if you want to buy them, they're on ebay.

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A race report, strangely

I haven't raced a mountain bike in awhile. The last time I did that was at the Circumburke. That was a pretty high note, because I won. In fact, it's memorialized on their website in a pretty funny way (I'm lying there because I tweaked my back, not because of exhaustion. I swear!). I really like mountain biking, but back when I was a Cat 2, it sort of sucked: drive to race, ride on mediocre trails for and an hour and fifteen minutes as if it were a 'cross race with some rocks and go home. Circumburke was cool, because that took a long time. Racing for over five hours means you got your money's worth. I upgraded, because I had some good finishes awhile ago, but I hadn't really done anything with it. The entry fees had also gone up, which wasn't particularly attractive. Also, I sort of suck and didn't want that to be further proven by getting my ass kicked by all those fast guys.

But lo! A race that was only $25 and it was on those weird New Haven trails I rode with Marko a few weeks ago. And, I've finally started getting up the gumption to ride a singlespeed bike in public. I should enter that one. So, I did. The start time wasn't too early, but it wasn't too late. It was 20 miles and for $25, that seemed like a reasonable deal.

Preregistering didn't have too many people registered and no more registered day of for singlespeed. It was a field of four. One of whom, Gary Hoehne, I have raced the cyclocross bikes against and two I didn't. One guy was older than me and friendly and the other guy was wearing jorts. I like riding in jorts, but not when it's so muddy.

The start was on payment and we were spinning at our crazy maximum speed of ~17mph right quick and then dropped into the woods. I was in second, but all four of us were tightly packed until the little ascent, where I took the lead. Then we crossed a road and there was some more ascending, but there was also a bog, so there was some walking for a minute, then back on the bike whereupon it turned into stone steps and then there was a guardrail where people were helping lift your bike over said guard rail. Afterwards, there was a climb on the road for like a half mile, then a little bit of rocky single track to climb and finally a this nuts rocky, steep descent. I think it dropped like 400 ft in a tenth of mile. The rest of the course was mostly gravel paths with another rocky single track section that had one mildly steep ascent that caused me to drop a chain on laps 1 and 3. On lap 1, I got passed by the guy who was older than me and friendly. I didn't realize that it was him at the time and thought it was the leader of the 50+. So, when I caught him at the beginning of the second lap, I was all confused and he said that he passed me when I dropped my chain. Then I felt really bad for having sort of accused him of cutting course.

He never caught me again and I kept on doing my thing. The course deteriorated and so did I and I ended up walking a few more steeps than I would have liked on lap three (well, really just one more than the previous laps).

So, that was that. It was a good race and I was really impressed that the New Haven parks and rec people came out and opened up their facilities for us: two hoses, a bathroom and a little spot for me to stash my messenger bag (I parked really far away) in the nature house.

Apparently, CT singlespeeders haven't been doing great this year, because winning one race also made me state champ. I wish I could do Winsted Woods, but I have law school graduation that day. Stupid law school ruining my life some more.

Photos stolen from the Root 66 facebook page and taken by Geno Esponda.

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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!

Bike tour

I was looking for a good map of Nepaug last weekend and I stumbled upon this. Now, I pay for racing sometimes and sometimes I'll even pay for one of those charities ride, but I've never paid some dude to go for a ride. Nepaug might very slightly inscrutable with its majority ATV and truck trails, but there's really only like four trails there. If you look at the Bike Rag map, I don't think you'll get that lost, especially in the era of googling phones. As part of my desire to explore new mountain biking spots this Fall, I headed over there.

As if magically triggered by my reading of that guy's advertisement, I met this dude in the parking lot who offered to show me around on account of my not riding there in seven years. Steve from Benindorm was a great riding partner, though we eventually got separated and then somehow rejoined going opposite directions on the trail. I have to admit that's the first time someone in a parking lot wanted to ride together and like the second time someone offered to show me the way on unfamiliar trails. Even during the ride, the two other riders I encountered were super friendly. Two, no three! cheers for Nepaug.

Today I went for a ride at Penwood. It was really pretty, though it started super icy. This was a direct result of me talking trash about studded tires.

On the studded tire tip, do you need some studded tires? Mike from Wethersfield, who's moving to Texas, gave me two sets of studded tires because he wrongly believed that it doesn't snow it Texas (it just snowed in Texas). Drop me a line.

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Stop leaf blowing trails

Riding on leaves can be difficult. They're slippery and unpredictable. I was riding with Salem the other day and he was cruising through the leaves like a cool guy and I was carefully picking my way down hills.

But just because I can't ride like a cool guy on leaves, doesn't mean I want to get rid of them. In preparation for this cool blog post, I read this. They're talking about erosion control if you rake leaves and I was wondering if they had ever actually been in the woods before. Leaves are the first barrier against rain carrying away your trail's soil. All over the woods where you see leaves, there's minimal erosion. Where leaves are gone and there's bare soil, lots of erosion. People get rid of leaves because riding on them is hard, but apparently have cooked up this trail maintenance theory to lie to themselves. One thing the Reservoir has going for it is that no one has started carrying in leaf blowers. Sadly, I was riding Nassaghegon this week and to my dismay, I found a bunch of leaf blown trails. I always that it was pretty remote out there, but I guess I was wrong.

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How to make yourself tired

I like to think I'm a tough guy and that I'm a fairly in shape one, too. I'm not so sure.

At the Hartford 'cross race last week, Doug proposed that we ride to the Cheshire race. I love the Cheshire race and try never to miss it. There are trees and rocks and those things make for 'cross course that I like. It's pretty much the only time that I feel like I'm a competent mountain biker.

So, Doug, Tony and I met up in the south end of West Hartford and rode down. I think we must have had a tailwind, because even our speed-capped singlespeeds made it there in just over an hour.

The race went ok, but I've realized that I can't go fast. I can do the bike handling and catch people that way or ride away from them, but when it came to pedaling through the flats, I just couldn't hold on. I don't know if it's these zip-tied folks shifting or being able to better select a gear day-of after riding the course or I just suck. I'm leaning towards the sucking thing. I still had fun, but I think you have more fun when you're not sucking. I even had a good start this time. I was like 7 or 8 coming out of the woods on lap one, but I ended up finishing 16. I mean, I gave up like three spots at the end of the last lap. That is not good.

I also bent my front wheel when this guy in front of me went down and I crashed into him. My fear of taco'ing and brake drag probably didn't help much on the last lap.

I've been having this general feeling of sluggishness lately. I went mountain biking on Thursday and explored the trails around Bolton Notch, some of which are pretty awesome and some of which strand you in people's backyards. I wasn't feeling like I could really get my bike moving too well. I was trying to blame it on the leaves being really slippery, but I think it's just that I suck.

Part of me feels like I still have some of that nasty cold from a few weeks ago in my lungs. My chest has been tight a bit lately and I'm still sort of phlegmy. Maybe I have diminished lung capacity from it. Or, maybe I just suck.

Anyhow, riding to and from the race was actually a lot of fun. We went through the scenic and industrial sections of New Britain. We also avoided that sense of regret from racing on a really nice day wherein you only rode for 45 minutes, but invested the whole nice day in the race. Instead, we got a nice 50 mile ride in plus a 'cross race for good measure. Of course, this makes your 60 miles feel a lot more like a hundred. Today I've got some tired legs.

I only took pictures of the kid's race for some reason.

 This guy doesn't worry about sucking at cyclocross. Also, secret tip: there's a spigot right behind him if you're running low on water during a ride through Cheshire.

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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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In My Own Backyard

Went out for a spin this weekend, initially with the intent of camping near the Barkhamsted Reservoir after exploring some of the dirt roads.  It was a soft plan, so soft that I changed it part way and looped back to Hartford after bush whacking a particularly gnarly gravel road (Broad Hill Road, off of Simsbury Road), that degraded into quad track (Weed Hill Road), and then became a vague memory of what at some point seems to have been a trail.  The rock walls on either side of the downhill track were the only thing that hinted at the creek bed having a prior life.  Somehow I got from Weed Hill Road to Firetown Road (LINK), which Google doesn't recognize as a road.  Lots and lots of undeveloped preserve land out here.  Prime for a weekend out and back trip with primitive camping overnight.

A beach in Hartford.  WTF?  

Part of the reason I turned back after lugging my camping gear most of the way to Barkhamsted was to catch the Pipes in the Valley festivities at the Hartford Riverfront.  An amusing pale alcoholic crowd, with a few in kilts.  In addition to the numerous beer tents, there was a whiskey tasting table and an Irish coffee booth.  I didn't stick around for the later shows, but I'm guessing the crowd was well soused, perhaps enough to even dance, when the Red Hot Chili Pipers went on at 9PM.

Wee driftwood campfire on the beach.

Instead of spectating the bag pipe fueled shit-show I rode North along the riverfront path, past the boat house, in search of a camping spot.  It was a beautiful evening, and clear.  Camping could still be had.  While considering potential spots to tie up a hammock for the night I noticed that the island just off shore appeared to have a passable land bridge.  I'd heard this happens with low water levels.  It ended up being a surreal location tucked behind a large pile of trees deposited by higher flood levels, but just a few steps from a great view of the city.  I set up my camp and put together a small driftwood camp fire.  The sand on the island was great for lounging next to the fire and gazing up at the heavens.  Now that I've told all 8 readers of the BBB about this priceless spot, I'll have to kill you all.

Rolling fog and amazingly quiet.

On the topic of amazing stuff in Hartford's backyard, if you didn't get enough during Hartford's bike-splosion last weekend, Providence is trying to do one better this coming weekend.  During the day on Friday, October 4th, Providence is hosting the New England Bike Walk Summit.  That night in the same venue you can catch the FREE New England Builders' Ball.  The ball is chock full of regional frame builders with their drool worthy rigs.  Saturday and Sunday brings the Providence Cyclocross Festival.  Just a short drive.  I'm planning to catch a carpool over on Friday morning, and ride back to Hartford on Saturday.

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More on flat pedals

I was eating an omelet this morning, so I was thinking about pedals. The skillet I use the most often is this large Lodge cast iron one. Upon googling that, I learned that there's a 12" one that's the same price. It would be cool to have an even larger skillet, but I don't think it would fit on the stove. This 10" already prevents me putting anything but the smallest sauce pan behind it. When you put beaten eggs into a large skillet they really spread out. In making an omelet on a large surface like that, I find that if there is a lot of filling in your omelet, it requires a second fold. Instead of having a half circle omelet you get a pie wedge omelet. It's a different eating experience, because you get three layers of egg (sort of four, but two of the layers are touching each other) and two layers of filling. In today's case, it was a cheddar cheese and turnip greens.

The foregoing paragraph was a metaphor: a metaphor for pedals. I think that my cleats are slightly too far forward in my shoes and after the big ride this weekend my ankles hurt. Going running did not make them feel better. You know what did make them feel better? Going for a ride with flat pedals. Instead of putting pressure further forward on my foot like I do with clipless pedals, I slid my feet forward and pedaled from the arch. By the end of the ride I went on yesterday, I had worked out a lot of the stiffness in my ankles.

Also, I saw the Skull Trailer:

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Sometimes, it all just works right

Yesterday, I went out to the secret trails in Manchester. It was transcendent. Everything was flowing right, I saw several otters swimming in the Hockanum and solitude abounded. Today, I rode down to the Blow Hole and there are all sorts of people where there usually aren't and they were peeing. Also, I fell down an escarpment when my bike ghost shifted going up a steep thing. Then, I got into an altercation with some miserable middle-aged woman (damn, couldn't complete the alliteration) in Wethersfield. Originally, I had all this deep and philosophical stuff to say about the ride along the Hockanum, but today ruined that.

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Sir, come Burke

Since it started three years ago, I'd been interested in riding this thing called "Circumburke". It's in memoriam of Dave Blumenthal, whom I've never met, but seemed like a really cool guy. It goes around Burke Mountain, but doesn't really use Kingdom Trails much. Now that Kingdom Trails is expensive, I've only been there once. The first two years, I guess it was pretty small, but it's quite big now. I think there were like 170 mountain bikers and like 40 runners or so. It is said that the lap was 24 and participants could sign up for one or two. I signed up for two. I've never done a long mountain bike race before (further, I'm not sure if this counted as a race anyway), but I like mountain biking for a long time. Those Cat 2, 'cross race-style mountain biking races are for the birds. I upgraded to Cat 1 this year, but I don't know, mountain bike racing really hasn't interested me much this year. It's a lot less fun than just going for a bike ride. 'Cross racing is different, because it's such a silly concept that it is fun.

Anyway, I think some number of people signed up to do the two lap version, but we weren't organized into groups and there weren't different numbers or anything like that. So, I'll never really know. There was a mass start from the parking lot at the lower Burke lodge. There were a whole bunch of people, but it was pretty easy to get a spot in the first row. The start was medium pace, though I thought a bit fast for having to ride like almost 50 miles. I stayed out in front, because I didn't want to have a lot of traffic going up the singletrack climb to the CCC Road mid-mountain. I had the hole shot for the first quarter mile or so, but the pace was too fast, so I let a few people start passing me as the field stretched. They were going way too fast. I figured they'd either blow up or they were doing only one lap. The grade lessens at the CCC Road, but it gets way rockier. It being fall and all, the rocks were all covered in leaves. It made line selection sort of difficult. It wasn't really bad on the climb, but there's a long descent after all the climbing and I rode it very conservatively because I had no idea where the rocks were and I was riding a rigid bike. Lots of people passed me, but we were only like four miles in, so I wasn't too worried. 

After the leafy descent, the course came out on a dirt road. There was some farm equipment to avoid. After the dirt road, the course went through a really nasty bog. On the second lap, I ran sections of it because it was so gross after all the riders going through. Eventually, I arrived at the singletrack section. It was super twisty and loamy and went on for a long time. I got stuck in there with a bunch of super aggressive weirdos, which was pretty unpleasant and put me in sort of a sour mood. Eventually, we got out of the singletrack at some point after the first aid station. That gave way to the Gold Trail and North Pasture Trail, which were pleasant forest roads except for terrible water bars. I rode with this guy on a nice singlespeed for awhile, who was also a pretty nice guy. He wrote a blog post about the event, too; I'm the guy on the rigid green bike. Eventually, we got to Trillium or some boggy trail or something and he railed this descent and I never saw him again. When the trail came back out to the road, I knew the lap was almost over, so I started to take it easy, because the big climb was coming. Also, my back was starting to hurt something fierce. On one of the water bars, I tried to hit it like a double, but I wasn't going fast enough or I just suck, because I cased it bad. It didn't hurt at first, but it was starting to get pretty painful. When I got to the start finish, there were a bunch of people milling around, so I assumed that they were the one lap people. I saw one other guy starting on lap two and I went that way, too. The first lap was 2:24, I think, so I was well under the cutoff. 

My back was killing me on the climb, though not as much when I stood. So, I stood when I could and spent most of the climb very unhappy. The guy whom I saw start on the second lap had made a wrong turn and I went an got him. I rode ahead of him up Camptown, but I were reconnoitered at the water station on the CCC Road, because I was crouching down trying to stretch my back. He said that he hadn't seen anyone else start lap two and I hadn't either, so we were fairy sure that we were the only two lappers. I found that surprised, especially since it cost more money to sign up for two laps, so why wouldn't you get your money's worth. Anyway, I kept riding and my back loosened up slightly. The singletrack was much more enjoyable in solitude. Eventually on the Gold Trail and on the North Pasture trail, I caught up to some of runners. I was starting to cramp up and by the grace of God or the race organizers, there were pickles at the last aid station! I took a big gulp of pickle juice and my legs were instantly better. I had no idea how that stuff works, so it must be magic. The second lap was more or less like the first, but I rode somewhat slower. The other two lap fellow never caught back up to me. 

It turned out we really were the only people who did the long version, so I finished first out of two. It was fun. For insurance purposes, the event isn't a race, so I'm not sure if I won anything. The weather was really nice and the course had that back country feel so that I like so much about riding in Vermont. My back still hurts, but it responds to ibuprofen. The end.

I had really nice conversation with John McGill, the director. Very cool guy and he wants to put on an ultra cross event up there, which I think would be totally awesome.

Since I didn't take any pictures while I was riding, here are some pictures from canoeing the day before. The top one was from the day of and its beautiful sunrise.

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Cheap or expensive?

 

When people started singlespeed mountain biking back in the Tour de France or the 1870s or whatever, there weren't really any singlespeed frames. People took old ones with vertical drop outs or horizontal drop outs and used tensioners or didn't. Therefore, the bikes were pretty cheap. I've only read about this, because I think it took a long time to get to Connecticut and I wasn't born yet or something. Now, as you know, they make whole bikes of this sort of and they're fancy and not fancy, but with the exception of Redline Monocogs, I only ever see the fancy ones.

Anyway, which way is it meant to be? The lowest functional thing that can get you through the woods or the artisanal jewel? Can they co-exist?

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