Bro'd Rage: My ugly encounter with a dangerous young driver. PART III- Brospotting, follow up, and support

This is the truck.

Only 1 of 4 wheels remain on the driveway, so your highest possible grade would be 25%. You definitely failed, dude.

Whilst traversing campus on my Wednesday lunch break, I caught a glimpse of a familiar sight: the nose of a green Toyota Tundra with New Jersey plates. It was driverless and parked this time around, thus thankfully not split seconds from hitting me head-on, so I walked over to have a look. It was clear that: 1) This was definitely the truck from last Friday's run-in. and 2) It had been parked by a person severely deficient in the finer points of parallel parking. The truck was where the people are supposed to go.

What? No truck nuts?

As I made my way around the truck to snap a few pictures, a young man approached and got into the driver seat. In our short, seconds-long conversation, he said it was his truck, that he was not on campus on Friday, and that his roommates borrow the truck. It's not my job to grill the guy, but I recommended that he get in touch and cooperate with Campus Safety and the Hartford Police ASAP. He seemed genuinely surprised to hear of the Friday incident. If I give the benefit of the doubt that this is true, then that means that the college administration had not contacted him five days after the incident. If it's not true, he's an accomplished liar. Either way, somebody's BSing me, and I don't appreciate that one bit.

Schleppi said this photo looked like a "TMZ shot"

 In the meantime, I had gotten nothing meaningful in the manner of updates as to progress being made by Campus Safety and the Dean of Students office. Either nothing was happening, or I was not being updated in a timely fashion. I got a few more updates and clarifications on Friday, but only after I had sent out a rather exasperated Thursday afternoon email that pulled no punches. Not long after my Bro-spotting lunchbreak, I did receive an invitation to speak with the Campus Life office, which I will do early this coming week.

As much of a drag and a timesuck as this incident has been over the past week, it has brought out the best in a lot of people. A number of Trinity staff and faculty approached me with encouraging words and, fairly often, a personal story of a student whose misdeeds went unpunished. Trinity Professor Jack Dougherty composed and circulated a letter of support which was co-signed by Dario and other bike riding Trinity faculty and staff members. All of the above lifted my spirits and reminded me that I work with some truly excellent people (and that they are by no means in short supply.) I still believe that positive outcomes and change can come from this ugly encounter.

My work week ended on a high note. The weather was beautiful, the day was full of unexpected delights, like a dogs and (Tastease!) donuts gathering on a nearby quadrangle late in the morning, an impromptu Spanish guitar and percussion jam outside of the Austin Arts Center, and a successful opening at the Broad Street Gallery. This Saturday Hartford will be filled with Samba, films, friends, and one of the best parties for one of the shortest sporting events of the year. In between that, I have some bikes to repair and ride. It will be nice to get back to that.

Lucy in the Quad With Donuts

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A list of cool roads in Connecticut

NEW ROAD ADDED!

Like six months ago, I decided that I was going to make a list of cool roads in Connecticut. I started, but the project was too ambitious and too difficult for an idiot like me. Nonetheless, I wanted to start a fascinating discussion of cool roads. Even though it isn't done, I'm putting my draft out there and ask you to contribute to it.

Lists are way in right now. It seems like everything is a list. I have no idea why. I like cool roads and there are many lists of cool roads and even a few for Connecticut. However, the Connecticut ones are all wrong and appear to made by people who have never been to the state. My list may not all be accessible by car or truck, but this is a blog about bikes after all. Actually, some aren't accessible by bike all year either. So, here's my list.

1) Olive St., Hartford
If you've driven on I-84 in Hartford, you've driven over Olive Street. It's nestled into the secret Hamilton St. neighborhood by the Bullpen Cafe. I assume at one point this used to be a pleasant little neighborhood, but 84 came through and now it's generally abandoned. Olive is blocked off on both ends by cement barriers and it's best visited at night. There's broken glass everywhere. From Olive, you can go through this path in a muddy field to get down the Park River banks and ride around on steep sloped concrete. Any urban decay tour of Hartford is incomplete if not visiting Olive Street.

2) Mt. Riga Rd., Salisbury
Lots of people know about Mt. Riga Road, because it's awesome and rumored to be the best hill climb in Connecticut. This guy is into hills and he likes it (Sunset Rock Road is in NY and it's a way harder climb). Once you get to the top, you're in this high valley between the Taconics and the Berkshires. I once broke the exhaust off of my car when it becomes Mount Washington Road. One time when it was still covered in snow, I drove all the way out and there and walked up it with my bike. The snow was deep and it was sort of a stupid waste of time.

3) Millstone Rd., Hartland (north of 20) (nearby Pent Rd. is also cool, but lacks the strange MDC memorials (actually, I have no idea if they have anything to do with MDC))
When I was in high school, I used to drive my Saab 900 up to Hartland to drive around on dirt roads. You can't drive on this one. When I got older and I started riding my bike to Hartland, I went and found out where this one and the others go. In all honesty, I think all the roads in Hartland are awesome, including Rt 20.

4) Cedar Ln., Middletown & Mountain Rd., Newington
These roads are very similar in there spookiness and proximity to closed state run mental institutions. Mountain Road is partially blocked off, but Cedar Lane isn't. Cedar Lane is longer and there are other roads and stuff nearby to explore. Mountain Road is next to Cedar Mountain (and Cedar Lane). Sounds like a conspiracy. Connect the dots.

I'm not sure why I'm counting these as one road, because they're like 20 miles apart.

5) Central Turnpike, Eastford
There used to be a Turnpike that ran from Tolland to Boston. It's still part of the shortest route from Hartford to Boston. Despite these high speed-sounding statements, it's actually a dirt road through the Yale Forest.

6) Schaghticoke Road, Kent
This road goes past the smallest Indian Reservation in the country, is dirt, follows right next to the Housatonic and has some cliffs right on the side of it. I can't believe I forgot about this one earlier. The first I walk down it with Johanna, we had been hiking the Appalachian Trail, which is up the hill from it and it was dark and super spooky. I recommend it at night. I also recommend walking Dark Entry Road at night.

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Things Worth Saving (Monday, Wednesday and beyond)

1) SAVE YOURSELF

Triple-digit heat and news feeds full of horrible things made the last couple of days lousy ones to spend indoors or out. It also would have made it easy to miss hearing about a Milford, CT Driver's depraved vehicular assault on a cyclist. This past week, 20-year-old Louis A. Melfi III, having reportedly verbally threatened and knocked down a bicyclist with his car, then reversing toward the man again, crushing his bicycle, was arrested and slapped on the wrist with a paltry $500 bail and evading responsibility and reckless driving charges.

Think about that.

From a minimal blurb about this case, I'm hearing an assault using deadly force, multiple counts of threatening by TWO people including a death threat, violation of the three-foot passing law and destruction of property. From the charges and the paltry fire-sale bail, it sounds more like a lousy driver who pulled a stupid and took off. That sounds astoundingly and irresponsibly inadequate. Would someone who deliberately fired a gun at someone's head TWICE but merely grazed their ear be let off so easily? Would the person who shouted, "FIRE!" to the shooter face no repercussions whatsoever? If so, remind me to stay the hell out of Milford. I feel safer in Hartford. It sounds like the Milford Police consider a person to be less than a person when they climb on a bicycle. Shameful. If this angers you, one of the things you can do is support Bike Walk Connecticut's efforts to protect vulnerable users. Advocacy is the more positive and attainable goal than, say, crushing Mr. Melfi's car with a monster truck (though, in theory, if you did so without being reckless or fleeing the scene, Milford Police might not charge you at all!)

2) SAVE THE FERRIES


The historic Rocky Hill-Glastonbury Ferry, hobbled by reduced hours of operation, is being dangled over the chopping block by Governor Malloy along with the Chester-Hadlyme ferry. The ferry is the nicest way I know for a bicyclist to get across the Connecticut River, and it connects two especially nice areas to ride to boot. The threatened Aug. 25 closing of the ferries would be a sad day, indeed. If you'd like to get involved and informed, there will be a Save The Ferry Roundtable this very Monday, July 25th at 7 PM at the Welles Turner Memorial Library, 2407 Main Street, Glastonbury, CT.

3) SAVE CEDAR MOUNTAIN

As mentioned previously in this space, Cedar Mountain in Newington is threatened by the Toll Brothers' desire to replace natural settings with shoddily-built McMansions and condos. Your next opportunity to speak your mind about this affront is this coming Wednesday, July 27. The turnout at last week's Conservation Committee meeting was weak, so please take some time this Wednesday evening to be seen (I seem to recall organizers suggesting that supporters wear green) and heard. Newington Town Hall is at 131 Cedar Street, Newington, CT. Meeting is called to order at 7 PM. Read more!

Reflect on This

American exceptionalism and auto-centric culture go hand-in-hand. These foolhardy beliefs make me want to get back to investigating handlebar-mounted weaponry. Maybe a bayonet?

A local teenager was recently struck and killed while riding his bicycle. For possibly the first time ever, the newspaper had the decency to not delve into the blame game, leaving any mention of helmets, reflectors, or distracted driving out of the article. They even used this as another reason to support better treatment of pedestrians and cyclists. Fucking unheard of! And the first comment on that editorial?

I totally agree however even though stated, more emphasis must be put on bikers. I leave the house in the dark every morning. On my way I pass people on bikes with no rear (maybe no front) lights, dark clothing and maybe a reflective stripe on their shoes. This is on country roads that aren't that wide and curve around. Often you see them very late and although not difficult to avoid a moment of distraction and it would be tragic. They may have the right to use the road, but they also must use it safely.

I see dark cars with tinted windows often driving with no lights on. Sometimes the annoyingly loud music is the only indication that a car is nearby. Those with hearing impairments would be at total loss. Typically, because such motor vehicle operators can not be bothered to either fix or turn on their lights, they also can not be bothered to stop at intersections or pay attention to others on the road.

All of this is to say, what the hell is your point? Most suburban and rural cyclists make themselves visible from outerspace with neon racing gear, reflectors, and lights. Urban cyclists are a more diverse lot, but even people who are more difficult to see are not invisible. If one is driving his vehicle with headlights on, he should be able to observe people, animals, and other objects that might also be on the street. I drove rural Connecticut for years and never hit anything while I was driving the speed limit. I mention this because I killed an opossum and the guilt with haunt me for as long as I can remember it locking eyes with me that split second before I crushed its head with my tires. I was going well over the speed limit on a winding country road. If I had been driving more slowly, I would have had the ability to miss the creature. Every time other animals -- squirrels, dogs, cats, raccoons, deer, chipmunks, and one emu -- darted in front of me, I was able to avoid contact. I could be wrong, but not one of those bastards was equipped with reflector vests or lights. Read more!

Bicycle Rage?

In the midst of all of our discussions about conflict between bicyclists and motorists I caught wind of this story from the West coast. Looks like a L.A. doctor has been translating his frustrations with bicyclists into action and is taking the laws of the road into his own hands. As one would suspect his lashing out has come at the expense of bicyclists' safety, most recently and notably the two who suffered series injuries seen in this recent run-in with Christopher Thompson.

One might be consoled by the words of the doctor's lawyer who stated, "We regret the incident," however, all compassion is rescinded in the following statement, "we regret that charges have been filed." Well thats no surprise, nor is the fact that related charges have previously been filed against Thompson as the piece reports. All I can say is that thus far we are lucky that our conflicts have remained within the insulated walls of the Topix discussion boards.

A more complete description of the incident can be found here.
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A big thumbs up.

On the blog we often discuss the issues cyclists have with motorists. Over the last week the discussions have gotten even more frequent as we mulled over articles in the Economist and the Courant, and watched the lovely video of a rabid pregnant woman in New Haven. As we all know confrontations between persons on bikes and people in cars can be confrontational, emotional, and at times dangerous. This fact sits in the back of my mind every time I ride my bike, whether it is the daily commute to work, the library, the grocery store, or a long scenic tour of the Connecticut hills, and as it was when I left work yesterday. However, yesterday was a little different in that I was taking home the recyclables for which our plaza lacks appropriate disposal methods. So there I was with a bag three feet in diameter full of bottles and cans strapped onto the rack of my bike riding through West Hartford, a scene that reliably adds to the number of strange looks, horn honkings, and clever comments from teenagers such as "nice bike" or "get a car" that I get along my ride.

So needless to say I expected much of the same as I rode down Ridgewood Rd, cars zipping by me annoyed that they had to slow down to pass someone obviously so destitute that they not only cannot afford a sensible mode of transport but they have stooped to collecting bottles and cans. Coming up to a red light I zipped past most of the cars that had just passed me and rolled towards the intersection when one of the car windows rolled open and a guy of peak rude commenting age starts to stick his head out the window. I think to myself, "here it comes, lets see what this guys got." To my surprise he looks at me, pumps his fist in support, and says entirely sincerely, "right on man." Completely shocked and speechless all I could muster was a "heyyoooo" in response and I flew past as the light concurrently turned green. After settling back into the saddle I thought about what had just happened. I had expected the impending confrontation to leave me angry and frustrated but rather it had been quite the opposite. I sat up tall with a big smile on my face and road along proud to be on my bike carting a large bag of refuse.

The moral is, while the majority of our confrontations with motorist may be negative we need to take the time to appreciate those fleeting moments when bikes and cars do get along. So to the guy heading North on Ridgewood Road at 5.30 yesterday afternoon in (what I think was) a light blue Passat, kudos to you! Borat gives you two very big thumbs up! Very Nice!
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