Found My Paw

The majority of this tour has been solo with just a couple of days riding with other bike tourists that happened to be heading in the same direction.  I was pleasantly surprised when my father, my paw, took up my suggestion to meet and ride the C&O Canal path.  One month ago Bill Cherolis traded up from a 2-wheeled recumbent to a three-wheeled, low slung rocket trike.  The trike affords the same comfortable position as two wheeled recumbent, but a benefit that many 65 year olds are loathe to admit a need for – stability.   Getting started, riding slow, and climbing hills the trike are hugely improved.  The only drawback is the width.

2nd Day - Shoving off from Hancock

Dad chose the C&O Canal over the Great Allegheny Passage.  On paper that seems to be a prudent choice to avoid climbing the Eastern Continental Divide, but in practice the National Park Service does a poor job of trail upkeep on the C&O.  Instead of firmly packed stone dust, the C&O is a mixture of double track, dirt roads, some single track, and a very little quality stone dust.  This is an issue if your bike is wide (a trike) and one wheel is in the middle grassy island of the double track.  We upgraded to wide tires on the trike before setting off out of Cumberland and dropped the tire pressure, but it was still much slower and more effort than Dad was expecting.  Sixty miles felt more like ninety – and he thought sixty was a sporty target.  

Fort Frederick - Restored British Fort from French and Indian War

Luckily we had dry weather prior to and during the three days of riding.  With rain the C&O can turn into a muddy, soft slog.  The temperature peaked out on day one at 91, but much cooler on the shady trail.  Days two and three were perfect early Fall days in the 60’s and 70’s.  After maxing out on the first two days, Dad opted to take a short third day and head into DC early with my Mom.  Mom was graciously running sag and meeting up with us for dinner and the hotel stay.  We bit off a bit more than Dad was ready for, but he still had a great time (I think).  The roughest spot for him was on day 2 when we realized that he’d misheard me and that instead of almost being done for the day at 61 miles, we actually had 7 miles left.  Dad discovered his fourth wind.

Enjoying a trail side Paw Paw snack.  Like a banana except FREE!

Along the trail I found oodles of Paw Paw trees.  One of the canal tunnels along the route, the Paw Paw tunnel, is aptly named.  This time of year these native understory trees have delicate ripening fruit that tastes like a custard-like mix of banana and mango.  After picking fruit, I’d hustle up to catch up to Paw (intended) who was dutifully plugging away at the double track.  In addition to the several I consumed on trail, I gathered a bag and made a smoothie type dessert while visiting Christopher and Tania for dinner in DC.  You won't find this fruit in stores, but all you have to do is take a walk or bike ride to fill up a bag at the right time of year.  The fruit is made more special by its season.

Desert Rose Cafe with Rose in yellow.  Coffee, sandwiches, and bike tubes.

We both noticed that the trail signs for near trail and city amenities is sorely lacking on the C&O.  It was explained to us by Desert Rose (yes, that’s really her name) at a coffee shop (Desert Rose Café) in Williamsport that the Park Service doesn’t allow any advertisement or signing on park property.  The city signs and maps were amazing on the connected GAP trail, and the city economies were noticeably benefiting more from the trial patrons.  It blows my mind that the Park Service doesn’t lease a 15’x15’ sign area to each town or chamber of commerce for a welcome sign and map of local businesses.  If we’re spending tax dollars on the trail, wouldn’t we want to get a maximum economic benefit to the cities along that trail?  Get better at that C&O, it’s embarrassingly short sighted to prohibit signs.  This linear park is different from a scenic national park.

Bike racks are coming to 95 Park Street and BiCi Co!

BiCi Co. Thoughts – When I was foraging the plentiful Paw Paws, I thought about how BiCi Co. will be a similarly local and sustainable enterprise.  Rather than expensive and inappropriate carbon fiber bicycles from China (extractive economy), BiCi Co. will support recycling and reuse of existing bicycles that are already available and under used in the Hartford metro region.  Rather than dropping used bikes into the waste stream, whole bikes and parts will be repurposed on Hartford streets as city bikes and useful transportation.  We’ll harvest useful parts from bikes we can’t save and hearken to a sustainable and efficient model that respects and values using up something entirely and fixing rather than wasting.  We’ll forage among used bikes – providing a legal resource for inexpensive bike parts – and nourish our community both with enhanced mobility and community connections.  Local money, spent locally on an environmentally sustainable mode of transport.  Bicycle commuters tend to contribute more to their local economies by shopping local and having more disposable income than their car driving peers, great news for Park Street and the Spanish American Merchants Association members.  Now we just need more bike racks on Park Street and Sharrows.  Center for Latino Progress is creating some momentum by installing bike parking across from the building this Fall!  Stay tuned to the BiCi Co. Facebook page for the latest information on our Fall bike programs.

A contested dam during the Civil War

Son of Paw

Crossed a lot of viaducts.

Recently added cliff side tow path.  Amazing to ride!

Trail hugging the cliff.  Where are all the people?

When Dad realized we had 7 more miles to go.  Map consulted.

Crossing into Harper's Ferry

Mom and Dad at Harper's Ferry

Dad with John Brown

More on John Brown later.  A very interesting figure from US History.  

Great Falls along the C&O just outside of DC.  Amazing!

The bike infrastructure in DC was off the chain!  Hartford take note.

 I'm sure there is going to be a follow up blog post on how behind Hartford is relative to bicycle infrastructure.  Stay tuned for that.  After seeing DC, and countless other cities, blowing our doors off the City of Hartford needs to get focused.  Increasing downtown and neighborhood residency requires us to embrace biking, walking, and transit to keep the machine from locking up with single occupancy vehicle traffic.  This is not a new concept.

Trip out to Mt Vernon with the folks.  This looks fun.

Faithful Servants, eh?  Will discuss more later.  White washing slavery.

Arlington National Cemetery

Finally.  Some global leadership on consumerism and global issues from the Catholic Church.

Leaving DC, I have to detour around the Pope.  My folks are purposefully making a trip towards the White House and saw him once already in the Fiat Pope-mobile.  I'm keen on the Catholic Church finally getting a clue on the damage that hyper-consumerism and waste causes for both out soul and the planet.  Seriously folks - look at your life and ask if serves your neighbor and your grandchildren - including your neighbors in entrenched poverty and urban ghettos.  All human life is equal in value and wearing blinders that focus on a your tiny suburban unit is pretty f'ing evil if you consider the implications.  Don't be evil.

Changing a spoke in front of the Hilton.  Klein tool worked great.

Fuzzy, but great dinner with Whitney, Christopher, and Tania in DC.

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38 Special

The other day marked my completion of 38 trips around the sun. While not the birthday party type, I'm more than happy to use it as a guilt-free excuse to clear my to-do list for a day and indulge in a bit of meandering on the bike. I started with a hearty lunch of "Texas Caviar" (a seriously tasty black-eyed-pea salsa) from the Urban Gourmet at Bushnell Park. From there I made my way toward the Connecticut River and followed the Riverside Park Trails to the railroad tracks by the Windsor line. From there I followed the newly-paved Windsor multi-use path north to the Bissel Bridge and crossed the river to South Windsor.

Keeping the river on my right (albeit mostly out of sight) again, I pedaled south through East Hartford to Glastonbury, where I visited the bike shops, refilling my water and lingering in their air-conditioning. I meandered along Southward toward the ferry, taking in historic homes, farm fields and unmanned honor-system farm stands along the way. I picked up some peaches, tomatoes and hot peppers (honorably) for my short-and-medium-term eating pleasure. I arrived at the east bank of the river and bit into the first of several peaches as I waited for the ferry to land and offload.
 

Edibles with a stern warning taste better.

I love riding the ferry.  This 350+ year old institution will never get old for me. For something so close to Hartford, it has a quaint, Brigadoon-like remoteness about it that makes me happy each and every time I use it. I'm going to make a point of taking more ferry trips this season. To that end, I prepaid for a special order part at Bicycles East, ensuring an easy excuse for a return trip this week. Note: the operating hours (10:30-5:00 every day) on the CT DOT site don't match the longer hours (M-F 7-7, S/S 10:30-5:00) posted at the ferry.







Back on the west bank, I hopped on the abandoned rail line near the Rocky Hill ferry landing and rode north into Wethersfield. There was more natural and man-made debris in the way than I recalled from the last day I spent along this stretch of track, but it wasn't that bad. With late-afternoon temps still holding in the 90's, the added effort of riding the traprock and rotted, uneven ties of the tracks made quick work of draining my on-board water reserves. I left the tracks in Old Wethersfield, where an impromptu visit with nearby friends provided snacks, water bottle refills and good conversation in front of a blessed electric fan. As dusk fell, I pedaled off refreshed, making my relaxed way through Wethersfield and the South End to home and a refreshing shower. It was a very fine day.

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