Did I Mention That Amtrak Sucks?

Time and time again I sing my song of hatred to Amtrak, the cruel tyrant of the rails. If you read the news, you know that Amtrak has lately taken its anti-transportation philosophy to a whole new level by preventing maritime movement with a stupid drawbridge that was stuck shut, obstructing movement between the (Mighty!) Niantic River and Long Island Sound. I could get into that more, but I'm sure NewLondonCommercialFishermensBlog.Blogspot.com is all over it. No, today I want to point out yet another dumb thing about the way Amtrak does ticketing: You can only get your tickets at the station.

I know that to our octogenarian readers, that seems like a silly complaint. "Where else would you buy your train tickets?!" they cry indignantly. "At the five and dime? What's next - will the WPA mandate that soda jerks, shoe shine boys, and trolleycar conductors sell train tickets as well, proving once and for all that Roosevelt is but a front for the dread Bolshevik, Eugene V. Debs?!! Phooey!" (That is how old folks talk, even when they are reading a blog.) But here's the thing: Amtrak has a website. On this website you can reserve tickets. But to get the tickets, you have to go to the station agent or to the ticket machine.

Why does this matter? Well, suppose, hypothetically, that you have to work late in Bridgeport, and you can't catch a Metro North train till 6:55, which puts you into New Haven at 7:23, and the train to Hartford leaves at 7:25. You have two minutes to go downstairs from the platform, walk to the main part of the station, go to a ticket machine, get your ticket, and return to another track to get on the train. If you could buy tickets online or on the the train (or even on the platform), this wouldn't be so tough. If you could buy a New Haven-to-Hartford ticket from an Amtrak ticket machine in Bridgeport, that would solve the problem. But you can't. So you're pretty much relegated to the 8:30 train.

Unless, by some stroke of luck, the Acela from Washington to Boston runs late, causing Amtrak to delay the regional train from New Haven to Hartford, in which case, our hypothetical traveler (who is actually me, yesterday), like all the fish in the Sound that avoided being caught because the boats that would catch them were stuck on the Niantic River, gets an unexpected reprieve born of Amtrak's incompetence. Read more!

Something I Don't Understand About Technology

So I was just looking at this post on the Wired website, which lists "Five iPhone Apps That Replace Bike Hardware" (sadly, none of them is a 15 mm box wrench, but whatever). One of the apps uses a microphone and a little plastic tab attached to a spoke to measure speed by timing the sounds that the tab makes when it hits the frame, using the wheel size, and doing maths. That's cool (if slightly too complex), but here's what I don't understand: The iPhone and iPod Touch have accelerometers in them, right? (Right.) Accelerometers, if their name is to be credited, measure acceleration. So if you have a device that measures acceleration, and it is programmed to presume a velocity of zero when you turn it on, can't it pretty much keep track of your speed? How come my Touch can't act as a speedometer just by being on, without the aid of jury-rigged craziness? Isn't that what this future technology is all about? And where is my flying car?!! Read more!

Commuter Racing

Bianca recently directed my attention to the Brompton World Championships, a bicycle race held in England yearly, the entry qualifications for which are (a) that you ride a Brompton brand folding bicycle and (b) that you wear a suit and tie. When Bianca told me about this event, she did not realize that the brand of folding bicycle was specified and limited, and thought it might be ideal for me since I ride a folding bicycle while wearing a suit with some regularity (I don't have a picture of me in a suit on the bike, but here I am in business casual attire, in a picture actually taken by the very Bianca I'm talking about). Now, I could get into it about how Brompton should, in the spirit of unity among cyclists and general corporate magnanimity, admit all folding bicyclists to its competition, but that would be quixotic at best. Instead, I think maybe we should have a commuter bike race here in Connecticut.

Because I'm big-hearted and love all people, I wouldn't limit my commuter race to folding bikes. Instead, I'd invite everyone to ride on the bike they actually commute on, and if its a Litespeed or a 40-pound cruiser, or a unicycle, it wouldn't matter - it would be honor system: if you say you commute on it, we believe you - but you would absolutely have to wear a suit and dress shoes. Naturally, it would be in a city (Hartford comes to mind), so it would be what the kids call an "alley cat," and maybe there would be prizes and a party. Does this sound like a good idea? Shall we make it happen? Read more!

Coastal bike touring

The New York Times has a standard travel article about a couple of rich guys (hey you're probably rich too! Check it out it's great news!) who ride a section of the Oregon Coast. It looks like a sure-fire good time. These guys did it in posh style, paying for fresh linens and waitress service.

Have you ever done a multi-day tour in coastal southern New England? Read more!

Making a folding bike look tougher

Honestly, I don't think there is a way to make 20"-wheeled bikes look tough. Wearing a suit while riding one is definitely not the way: when I do that in Bridgeport, children laugh at me. But the other week I went to pick up some spare wheels from a guy from craigslist, and carried them on the rack of my Raleigh Twenty. It looked like this:



I like it, because it almost does look tough somehow, probably because it makes the bike resemble a car with its spare tire stylishly displayed on the back, like this:



That is all. Read more!

drop it like its hot

Last week, locked up at the rack at Home Depot; I spotted this bicycle; which, apparently, can work it, twirp it and make money money. This bike has more moves than that last sentence has commas. 21 speeds of delight! Yeah baby yeah, your bicycle’s ass is making me randy. I was at home depot picking up parts for a prototype rack I am building to tow my kayak.


We have all ghostridden a bicycle before. Maybe to a friend’s house or back to our own spot. Its not an uncommon sight. However, seeing someone ghostride a bicycle while on a scooter is something I haven’t seen before. This dude banked a sweet left at the intersection like it was nuttin’ and just motored on his way. But where? And why? Perhaps he is enroute to have his paltry rear suspension upgraded to a Fully Active Rear.


Ironically, this is a common sight! This guy and his wagon/dog trike caravan pass by Guy Harvey’s Island Grill pretty much every shift I work. He makes decent time with a solid pedal cadence in the afternoon. But whenever he passes by at night, he pedals one slow stroke, rests for a second, and down goes the pedal on the other side.







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Insanity defense

I took a break from work today to ride to La Paloma Sabanera for a cup of coffee and some solitaire on my 2004 model cell phone which doesn't seem to ring very often lately. I set the solitaire mode to all games winnable so I can feel good about myself. Side note: Virginia wants a bike rack. As I was leaving the garage at work, a fellow bicycle commuter explained his near collision with several oncoming cars blatantly turning left in front of him on his way east, down the Asylum St. hill this morning.

It seems counter-intuitive and it's probably not true, but I'm wondering if riding with certain quirky/not-necessarily-advisable manners might actually decrease your chances of automobile-related accidents by making drivers think twice before they pull some dumb shit. These manners might include going really fast and slow in alternating bursts, giving the impression of shakiness/swerviness as you approach an intersection, wearing an inflatable alligator strapped to your helmet, or smoking a pipe while riding.

I was watching a self-defense video on youtube where the instructor was telling you how to react the moment you get a sketchy feeling at an ATM. First hit the cancel button. Then feign anger, whacking the machine a few times and yelling about how you can't believe your significant other took all the money.

Maybe the best safety equipment you can get for bicycling with motorists is one, a properly-fitted helmet, and two, a facade of potentially belligerent/unpredictable behavior. Read more!

More Free Jazz, And Wagering!

Well, let me explain: On Monday, my beautiful wife, my two impossibly handsome and charming sons, two of my co-workers and their respective dates, Joel, Kenny, Wildelice (sorry Wizzy, but I don't know how to spell your name), and I went to see free jazz in Bushnell Park. It was great. The weather was perfect, the music was good, etc. Enthused by this, the wife and I vowed to go to as much free outdoor stuff as possible, and tonight there is free jazz in Middletown, which would seem like a long way to go for a concert, except for the fact that she's already there ('cause she works there, see?). So weather permitting, we're going to do that, and you, dear reader, should go too, because it's fun.

Now here's the wagering part: As I often mention, nous sommes une famille de seule une voiture, and today my wife is in Middletown with said voiture, having used it to drive our younger son to daycare. I, on the other hand, am in Hartford with the velo, having used it to take our older son to camp in the trailer. So rather than make ma femme drive la voiture au Hartford to collect me and the boy then drive back to Middletown, I'm planning to tow the boy to Middletown. But here's the thing: On a fast-ish, road-ish bike like the (5-speed) Special Tour de France or the (8-speed) Xootr, I can cover the distance to Middletown, sans trailer, in an hour and change. Today, I need a folder so I can return in the car with the fam, so the STDF is out, but the Xootr is having chain-skipping issues since I replaced the chain, meaning that it needs a new cassette, meaning that it, too, cannot make the trip (using a skippy cassette with a new chain prematurely wears out the chain, allowing the terrorists to win, plus riding with chain skip is annoying). This leaves me with one option: Tow the trailer to Middletown with the Raleigh Twenty. Now understand this: The Raleigh Twenty is a fine bicycle with three fine speeds. But it is not a fast bicycle or a light bicycle. You might even say that it is slow and heavy. Another thing that is slow and heavy is a trailer with a sleeping five-year-old in it. So here's the question: How long will it take me to get from 335 Bloomfield Avenue in Hartford (Max's summer camp) to the Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown? It's 21 miles of mostly flat terrain, I am 6'5" of pure, slow-riding bike muscle, and you, dear reader, will earn yourself two beers if you can guess my travel time to within ten minutes. I promise to be honest about the time and not to throw the result with purposeful delay or hurry. I cannot promise that I won't get a flat, need to stop for coffee, or get caught in the rain and stand under a tree till the storm passes. You just have to account for that in your guess.

UPDATE: Well, just as I was picking Max up from camp, the skies opened up and it rained a wicked lot. Then I called Anna and had her check the internets, and it said thunderstorms in Middletown around 7:30, so we bagged the whole trip, so no one wins, until I attempt the trip again next week, weather permitting. Read more!

Making Do is Where It's At

I have been gently teased for my inclination to rely on jury-rigged solutions and creations when it comes to bicycles (see, e.g., the adapter to avoid pedal strike when using 26" wheels in a frame made for 27" wheels, the second seat I built so my son could ride on the rack of my Raleigh Twenty, or the post-in-post extra-long seatpost I made for that same bike). Just last night, I solved a vexatious squeaky-brake problem on the old Xootr by entirely replacing the front wheel (I had already replaced the brake pads, readjusted the brake pads, and cleaned the rims, so I was out of ther options). And this morning, in anticipation of possibly riding to Middletown on the Raleigh with a trailer in tow (more on that later), I stole some pedals from one old, not-in-use bike to replace the questionable, mismatched pedals on the Twenty. So what I'm saying is, I don't think bikes need to look pretty or have matching parts or any of that. They need to go, because that's what's bikes are about - movement. But my scrappy, home-brew, spare-part-using aesthetic just had its battleship totally sunk by the owner of this bike, which I saw near Blueback Square a couple days ago:

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bicycles and sailboats and jugs of wine

I get to write about a blog appropiate afternoon of sailing that actually involves a few bicycles. Sweeeet! My unexpected day on the water began when I shouted “hoo-dee-hoo” from my yard as my neighbor Maya rode by on her bicycle. She swung a u-turn and came back into my driveway and asked if I wanted to go sailing on a 19 foot sailboat for the afternoon. Five minutes later I had a drybag packed with a few sailing sundries and was pedaling with her and her roommate Redbeard towards Garrison Bight. We arrived at the Key West Sailing Club and locked up our bicycles on the half-full rack. Maya checked out a sailboat and soon we were on our way; powered by the wind and totally enjoying the ride.


We cruised past Rat Key and through the Seaplane Basin towards open water and just wandered aimlessly for a few hours as Redbeard and I shared a jug of wine he had brought along. On our way back, we spotted the cruiser on the side of the sailboat and circled around for a good shot of the bicycle. Thanks Captain Maya! I love seeing bikes on boats. Another person doing the dingy/bicycle commute and avoiding paying rent on land!


Yep, another hard day in paradise. I really wish I knew some Viking songs. We were really wanting to sing Viking songs as we passed several different Navy SEAL boats on training missions that kept messing up our tacking. I hope I spelled that right. There was talk of outlaw canoes taking over the Navy and controlling the oceans. I am not sure I still think that’s a great idea. Anyways, we made it back to the dock and pedaled home, quite content and sunkissed.

Click READ MORE for an inappropriate photo for the blog!







A few weeks ago Mary Beth and I were returning from a kayak trip around No Name Key. We spotted a waterspout about a mile away and watched it slowly grow and drop down from the clouds to the water. We threw on our life vests and watched as we pretty much just continued paddling towards it to get to the take out. We were far more worried about the lightening suddenly coming at us from two different storm cells. It began to dissipate in 10 minutes as we continued hugging the mangroves on the coastline under the flashing sky. Its official…summer in the keys!


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The High-Speed Rail Line Will Be Constructed Out of Newsprint

Enthusiastic as I am about rail commuting and the construction of a useful rail link between Hartford and New Haven (and, well, Springfield too, I guess), I am starting to feel like the Courant will cover the 65 miles with column inches before Amtrak, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and federal stimulus money cover the distance with actual rails and stations. Today, another breathless update on this project, in which CT DOT chief Joseph Marie tells us it will take but five years.

What, too cynical? Yeah, I don't know what's come over me. I just really want there to be a good rail link, but I don't want to get my hopes up, because, you know, I lived a life of disappointment at civic improvements that always seem to come right after I move away: A slew of waterfront parks, bike access to the Manhattan Bridge, and a bike path on the Williamsburg Bridge that doesn't have big holes in it all came to New York shortly after I left; Super-super bike friendliness and bike nerd culture mecca status came to Portland shortly after I left there; during all the time I lived in Boston, all I got from the Big Dig was delays, cost overruns, and constantly changing jersey barrier arrangements all over the damn place, and now that I'm gone they have a sweet downtown park and you can actually see the North End from downtown. With my luck, the day that bullet trains with a bike-parking car start going from Hartford to New Haven twice an hour every hour, my beloved wife will get a professor job in Anchorage or something.

Anyway, my pessimism notwithstanding, things are looking up for the train. And, in perhaps the most encouraging sign, public opinion may be turning in favor of more rail lines. How do I know? Pure science: At the time of this posting, not one of the 11 comments to the Courant story contained a rant about how driving is our James-Madison-given 10th Amendment birthright or how people who ride bikes are terrorists (both of which, by the way, are true propositions).

Oh, and one other thing: Amtrak, my dear, justly maligned quasi-public agency, I realized two other ways that you are lousy: (1) When I go to one of your automated ticket machines, I can only buy tickets that originate or terminate at the station where I'm making the purchase, so if I'm waiting in Bridgeport for the Metro-North train to New Haven, I can't buy my New Haven-to-Hartford ticket ahead of time. (2) You actually require all passengers to sign their tickets. Why do you do this? I have seen conductors stand and wait while passengers search for a pen in order to sign a ticket. This is dumb and unnecessary and you need to cut it out right now. Read more!

Monday Night Jazz in Bushnell Park

Do you know how hard it is to find a picture that is truly appropriate for a post about riding your bike to an outdoor jazz concert? Kinda hard. Luckily, there is a cyclocross bike, made by Van Dessel, called the Gin and Trombones (frame pictured above). I think that is pretty good: Bike + Booze (good for sipping discreetly at an outdoor concert) + Trombone (a great jazz instrument) = WIN!

Tonight the Monday Night Jazz in Bushnell Park series begins. As the title suggests, it features jazz, on Monday nights, in Bushnell Park. What the title sort of implies but doesn't make clear is that this is live music and it is free. As it happens, the weather is supposed to be fairly nice tonight (20% chance of thunderstorms after 8:00, but the music starts at 6:00!), so it is a good time to go canoodle with your fellow Hartfordites and enjoy some live music (tonight features the saxophone stylings of George Blackman, Jr. (whom I have never heard but have decided to like on the basis of his being, like me, a Brooklynite living in Connecticut), and the Afro-Semitic Experience, who win on the basis of their name alone). Having conferred with my dear wife, I can say that la familia presidencial will be in the mix, and I know that Joel and Ken (contributors to this very blog) mentioned last week that they intended to go to as many Monday night concerts as possible. I strongly urge our five regular readers to go as well. Bushnell Park is a great jazz venue for bike riders because it is park, so you should ride your bike there and listen to jazz, and maybe bring some wine for sippin'. Also, cookies. Jazz and cookies go great together. Read more!

The Showdown in Old Town alleycat race

Key West's first alleycat race! And its gonna be tropical craziness! There's a lot of surprises in store for the racers and prizes for both fast riders and those on obligatorily rusted conch cruisers! I have certainly slacked on my blogging and organizing here, but this will more than make up for it. We got a lot of great local sponsors already supporting us with prizes and help. Props to Patrick at Fixed Gears, a bicycle repair shop on Simonton Street; Charlie at Help Yourself, a wonderful organic and green food spot on Fleming Street, Billy at Cowboy Bill's, the island's only Honky Tonk Bar, Charlie and Ron at Conch Traders, a great little gift shop at Clinton Square Market and hopefully a slew of other supportive businesses. Yeeeeehaaaawwww!

OK, enough with the bill paying, what about the race? You will need a basket or a bag and please don't forget your lock and lights. Meet at the end of the White Street Pier at 6pm to register. We need volunteers for checkpoints, please come a few minutes early and wear a cowboy hat if ya got one or bring a bandana to wear around yer neck to help the racers identify the checkpoint peoples.

The final checkpoint and afterparty is at a bar, so, unfortunately this race is 21+. But...I have worked out $1 PBR's all night for racers and volunteers!!

I'll post more details as the event gets closer. To all my peoples in da 'Beat, c'mon on down. I'll find you a hammock, tent space, floor space, whatever you need to get down here.

Here's the back of the flyer incase y'all have no idea what an alleycat race is all about:






no hints here about the checkpoints.....sucka!


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Vacation

If you're unmarried, like me, you don't give much thought to your left ring finger. You don't point at stuff with it or don't make hand gestures with it. It's just sort of there. Now, I'm giving lots of thought to it because I broke it on Sunday at the Reservoir. I'm leaving for vacation soon and I'm down a digit. It seems to be healing quickly, but I'm certain it'll be a bit of time before I can mountain bike with it. It looks like I won't get the Kingdom Trails time that I was hoping for.

Anyway, anybody have recent broken finger stories that can clue me into healing time? When I get I start riding my road bike? Tomorrow? In a week? October?

However, I will get to spend lots of quality time with Johanna!

Read more!

In furtherance of carless living

This week, my eldest son, Max (pictured above), began summer camp, which is of no particular import to you cycle-centric readers, except that it presents a new wrinkle in the ever-evolving tapestry of my one-car, two-job, two-child, multi-city family commute. Until now, Max went to pre-school in Middletown, which meant that my dear wife, who works in Middletown, could take him there and pick him up in our dear car. Now, however, he is at camp right in our home-suburb of West Hartford, so on days when I am not working in Bridgeport, it make sense for me to take him by bike and then go to the office. This has presented a couple of unexpected challenges.

First, it's a long ride. According to Google Maps, my route (see below) is exactly six miles, which I wouldn't think twice about by myself. But I didn't anticipate how much slower the going would be with a five-year-old in tow. The answer is, a lot slower. It takes me about 45 minutes.



Second, my much vaunted second seat, which I constructed so I could cart Max around on the back of my Raleigh Twenty in style, has a fatal flaw: It requires him to hold on, and after the first day of camp, he was so exhausted that he started to get drowsy on there. I was looking down and to the side to see the shadow of his helmeted head, and it started to loll this way and that, and he wasn't answering me, so I stopped and he was in fact asleep. Still holding on, but asleep. So I had to shoulder the sleeping child and walk the bike for several miles, which sucked.

Third, there is practically no way to get where I have to go without traveling along busy, highway-esque streets. By myself, I would not care about this, but with the next generation in tow, I'm a little more conscious of the narrowness of roads and the heedless proximity of busy drivers (to say nothing of the jokers who cut me off and do other crazy stuff, when it is very obvious that I have a goddamn child trailer).

Has all of this deterred me? It has not. Has it made me sweaty and late to work? Sure. But not that sweaty and not that late. And Max is very very proud of the fact that he is the only kid who arrives by bicycle, which is a good sentiment and signals that his nascent values are good and should be encouraged. (Then again, he often expresses the same level of pride in the size of his poops, so maybe I shouldn't read too much into it.) Read more!

Allan Williams Memorial Service and Bike Procession

It is with regret to write about the memorial services for Allan Williams whom i met through the CCBA and all the work he did for the organization. My best to his family. This is a great loss for them as well as everyone Allan helped with his tireless work. Allan was the first person I met in the CCBA, during the weeks before the first Discover Hartford Walking and Bicycle Tour a few years ago. He was a super nice guy and gave a lot for the tour to work so well. Upon reading his Obituary I learned how much more this man has done for Earth! Well done Allan. Wow!

I really wish I could have posted this sooner, but tomorrow is the funeral and a bicycle procession. Please see below:

Bike Procession and Ride:
Procession:
The Williams Family is happy to have cyclists ride their bikes along with the funeral procession at Cedar Hill Cemetery. You are welcome to drive your bike to the cemetery, ride in the procession, and drive to the reception or back to the rest of your day.

Meet: Cedar Hill Cemetery entrance no later than 10:15 like everyone else
Wear your Discover Hartford Bike Tour T-Shirt!

Riding from downtown Hartford to the cemetery?
Meet at 9:30 AM in Bushnell Park across the street from DEP, 79 Elm Street, Hartford




Allan, you will be missed. Thank you for all your dedication, time and work. Ride On!

Read more!

Filler

I've got nothing profound to write about, but I went down to the Great Meadow and the rocky hill and took some pictures yesterday.




Also, in Hartford bike messenger news, TJ is building patios this summer and not downtown. I saw him at The Spigot last night. Don't get your hopes up, though, I don't think there's a job opening. Read more!

Chuck Schumer Sings the Praises of Bike Riding

Chuck Schumer, a Senator from New York (for whom I have voted, though not recently, what with how I haven't lived there for a while) and a native of my hometown of Brooklyn, has written a lovely little piece for Huffington Post, pointing out that there is no better way to get to know a place (especially Brooklyn) than on a bicycle. Read the nice thing he wrote. Read more!

Strange Terrain

On Sunday, I took a mostly bad mountain bike ride. It rained for most of the time and was super muddy even at the beginning of the ride before the rain started to fall. I probably shouldn't have gone. But, as you know, weekends only come once a week, so you really have to exploit them. I had also endowed my Stumpjumper with a working drive train, so I wanted to test it out.

Despite the bad riding, I did see some interesting things:

The weirdest pavement ever.


What remains of the West Hartford leaf dump.



A secret gazebo, about a half mile south of Heublein Tower.


A south branch of the Park River watershed plaque. I had seen this plaque many, many times before, but never took the time to read it.


I also wanted to see if the Avon Land Trust's trails on the west slope of the mountain below Heublein were any good for a bike. They're pretty tough and were profoundly muddy. I forgot to take a picture. I don't know if I really have an opinion. If you're coming from West Hartford or Bloomfield, they strand you on Nod Road, which sort of sucks. Read more!

Day 1

I received two texts from my friend Joel today.

This is the first one:
And, this is the second: "Made it!".

Joel is on his way to Michigan and is presently in Rhinebeck, NY on his 61cm Bianchi Volpe. He's a tall guy. I still haven't figured out why he's riding there, which is great because it allows me to speculate wildly. The official reason I got on Saturday at the Spigot was "to visit family", which I don't think is an adequate explanation. Our meeting at the Spigot was ostensibly an "interview", but it was far too alcoholic, so I can't remember that much about what we talked about. It was also Dan's last Hartford visit before he moves to SF.

I first met Joel four or five years ago when he arrived in Hartford with his then girlfriend Anna. She was going to graduate school for the 'cello and he was doing Americorps. I met him through mutual friends. Anna had a car and Joel rode an old Miele road bike around town. I didn't know that Miele made bikes, I thought they made fancy appliances.

Anna and Joel broke up awhile ago and she took her car to Boston with her. Since then, Joel has been living in West Hartford with Alicia, Jacob and Will. He's a free lance art handler, doing work for Real Art Ways, the Wadsworth Atheneum and the Cartin Collection. If you've seen art hanging in the last few years, he may have done it. He's really good at it. He's been doing the Catalog thing with our friend Joe. He gets to those places on his Miele.

For a guy with no car and who gets around the Hartford area by bike, he's very low-key about. He's not one of those vicious bike commuting proselytizers. In fact, I never could quite tell if he liked to ride the things. Up until the weekend before last, we'd never even gone on a bike ride together.

Around two months ago, Joel told me that he'd been drinking one night and decided to ride his bike to Michigan. I say weird shit like that a lot, so I figured it wouldn't come up again. Although, we did spend considerable time that evening talking about websites like crazy guy on a bike.

The subject didn't die, though, he started asking me about my Long Haul Trucker (I'm a poser touring guy) and potential touring bikes. Joel had a hard time finding bikes, because he's really tall. Eventually, he found a big Volpe on eBay at a pretty good price. And lo, he bought it, though not off eBay. He went to down the Newington Bike and bought it through them. He also got some panniers and other stuff. Strangely, Joel and I wear the same size bike shorts (medium), but he's a foot taller than me. Since they look like half shorts on him, he hides them under regular shorts.

The 80 miles out to Rhinebeck puts him at 10% completion of his trip. I'm totally jealous and very impressed. Much of the trip will be on the Erie Canal route. When I was younger, I rode on some of it with my parents (so, not very much) and then he'll go into Canada on his way to Grand Rapids, MI (that website doesn't really make me want to visit Grand Rapids).

I got another text from him during the process of writing this: "Meeting my friend in Red Hook. It's cute. Must find beer."

Expect more updates as more texts arrive. Read more!

New Bike Commuter Guide

C.I.C.L.E. (Cyclists Inciting Change thru [sic]Live Exchange, which should really be C.I.C.T.L.E., but I can forgive them) is, by its own description, "a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles working to promote the bicycle as a viable, healthy, and sustainable transportation choice." (So they're basically just like the Beat Bike Blog except they do a lot more stuff, are an actual non-profit organization, have a much more beautiful website, and are in Los Angeles.) The good folks at C.I.C.L.E. have created a 30-page intro to bike commuting called the "Bicycle Lifestyle Guide," which is available for free online, and which is, basically, awesome. It has pretty pictures, handy, practical tips for becoming a bike commuter, and doesn't take a hardcore, holier-than-thou approach that would likely scare off people who are well accustomed to car dependency. Basically, it's the friendly bike commuting manifesto that I would create if I were nicer and more artistic.

I suppose most people who read this blog (if I'm not being too presumptuous with my use of the plural there) are already pretty much sold on bike commuting. But the Bicycle Lifestyle Guide is a great thing to pass along to our more bike-fearful friends who are so used to hearing us bloviate about the joys of bike-riding that they just tune us out. I'm going to e-mail C.I.C.L.E. and ask if there's any way we can get some copies to distribute here in the Beat. In the mean time, check it out (it's at the link above). Read more!

It's the little things

We here at the Beat Bike Blog are always singing the praises of bike-riding, and one of the things we like to point out is that when you travel at a more stately pace (very stately, in my case), you take notice of more of life's little details. Case in point, the sign pictured below, which I espied on Newton Street, just off Capitol, on my way back to the office from having lunch with a friend downtown. If I knew any ladies, I would pass this along to them, but all I know is tramps.

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Life

What's the reasonable length of life for a chainring? I don't know, but it's got to be longer than a year. None the less, this famous purple chainring only lasted a year. I'm very disappointed. Hopefully, the fancy Salsa one on there now gets a little more mileage. Read more!

Free Folding Bike!

Well, you have to win a contest to get it, but still, it requires only minimal effort:

Some website called Inhabitat, which is "a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future," is sponsoring a contest to give away a Strida SX Limited, which is a very fancy, design-y folding bicycle that costs nearly $1000 (and which is pictured above).

What do you have to do to win this contest? Well, it's called "Pimp my Eco-ride," so you are supposed to provide one photo that proves you need a fancy new bike - presumably a photo of the lousy bike you have now, or of yourself being fat and needing exercise, or of a really sad face so people will be sorry and give you a bike. You also have to sign up for Inhabitat's newsletter, but I don't think that's the worst thing ever, especially if you get a bike out of it.

Anyway, as a loud and proud supporter of folding bicycles, let me urge you, dear reader, to enter this contest and ride this cool bike. Read more!

Seeking Sponsors - But For a Good Cause This Time

Just over a year ago, some Waterbury miscreant having absconded with my Dahon folding bike after breaking into my (now deceased) Corolla, I put out the call to the interwebs for sponsorship. As you may recall, Xootr, makers of scooters and folding bicycles, came through with a free bike, which I have come to love deeply, and Manhattan Portage sent some free bags, which have also proved useful, durable, and stylish.

Now, I am seeking sponsors not for myself an my co-bloggers (not to be confused with cob-loggers, who keep meticulous records of every piece of corn consumed at a barbecue), but for a worthy charitable organization, Youth Rights Media. YRM is a New Haven organization that teaches local teenagers media production skills and shows them how to put those skills to work to bring about social change. (Here's the trailer for their new documentary, about kids' getting pushed by schools to withdraw or drop out - I'm interviewed in the movie, and I say about eight words in the trailer, at 1:24.) I'm on the board of directors of YRM, and the Executive Director and I are organizing a fundraising event for the fall at Channel 1 in New Haven, for which we need sponsors and door prizes and silent auction items.

Naturally, I e-mailed Xootr and Manhattan Portage to see if they wanted to kick in some prizes, and naturally, Xootr hit me back right away to say, "Fo' sho'!" They are running behind in bike orders but will send a Xootr Mg scooter, which is a $219 retail value! Nice, right? My girl Lauren at Manhattan Portage is running the idea past her cruel corporate overlords, but I have some faith that they will see the wisdom in having their name down as sponsoring this event.

Did I mention that the event will feature original pieces of art by local New Haven graffiti writers and other artists, and will have a live DJ? These things are true. Did I mention that there will be booze? This is also true. Hopefully, I will get many Yale Law students and other hip up-and-comers to attend, so SPONSORS, HOLLER AT ME TO GET DOWN WITH THIS IMPORTANT AND WORTHY JAM!!! There will be stylish fliers blanketing the New Haven area for this event, and you want your company's name on them, feel me? We especially need:

- BOOZE. Wine shops, local breweries, moonshine distillers, please get at me.
- MORE COOL SILENT AUCTION ITEMS OR DOOR PRIZES.
- MCs. Everyone loves a freestyle battle. There will already be a live DJ. Some off-the-dome rhyming would be great, dontcha think?
- FOOD. Right now the plan is for me and Laura (the Exec. Director) to make the food ourselves. We're pretty good at this, but if anyone is a professional or an amateur who would like to lend their assistance (more hands = lighter work) to make some nice hors d'ouevres, let me know.
- ART. There is certainly room for more art to be auctioned off.
- ANYTHING ELSE. We will not turn anyone away. If you have a tool and die shop and want to do your part, we will give away crescent wrenches as door prizes. If you drive a soda delivery truck and can arrange for some refreshments to get "damaged during shipping," that's cool too. Leave a comment and I will get back to you.

And now, since no blog post without a picture is worth its salt, here is a photo of the coolest board game ever created in the 1980s. Enjoy.

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What is this?

My mother, bless her heart, has a long tradition of sending me weird gifts. Not only does she never miss a birthday, Christmas, Hannukah, or other traditional gift-giving occasion, but she also periodically sends gifts on random dates (or what I perceive to be random dates, since she never explains them). Once, in mid-February, she sent me a copy of Jack Kerouac's "On The Road," which would have been a lovely gift except that this particular copy was in Italian, which I do not read. Another time, I received a very lovingly rendered, highly detailed, hand-drawn picture of a German shepherd (not drawn by my mom), framed and under glass. At the bottom right corner of the drawing, someone (presumably the artist) had written, "Chief" including the quotation marks, suggesting to me that the dog might have another name, his given name I suppose, such as Clarence, but that everyone who knew him called him "Chief."

Since Saturday is my birthday, it was not altogether surprising that I received a gift in the mail today. Since I am impatient, it is equally unsurprising that I opened it right away. Inside, I discovered the following fascinating item:



You should definitely click on it to get the larger view. It is a glass cylinder, about five inches in diameter, sixteen inches long, and open on both ends. It sits in a metal display stand that appears to have been made especially for it. If I had a cherished wooden stirring spoon, this would be the perfect display case for it. I do not have such a spoon, so I ask you, dear reader, what is this item, and to what use can I put it? Read more!

Plans and mans

I could have sworn that these meetings were already held last year or something, but this just arrived in my inbox:

Don't miss the upcoming public meetings on the Draft Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan and Map Update. There will be a series of 4 meetings with one in our region (Mon. June 29 in West Hartford) - please plan to attend. (I will be out of town, so I am counting on all the bike and ped advocates in the region to be out in full force, in my stead!) Following is the CTDOT press release on the meetings. Go to www.ctbikepedplan.org to view the draft plan.

Newington, CT – The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) will conduct four public meetings to present information and gather input on the Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan and Map Update. The meetings will be an opportunity for the public to review and comment on the Draft Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan and Draft Statewide Bicycle Map. The study team will be available at all meetings to gather resident and traveler input on the components of the 2009 Plan and Map. After the public meetings, the Plan will be finalized and presented to CTDOT for adoption in the summer of 2009.

The public meetings will be held on the following dates:

• Wednesday, June 24, 2009 from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM at Southeastern CT Council of Governments, 5 Connecticut Avenue, Norwich, CT

• Thursday, June 25, 2009 from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM at Litchfield County Cooperative Extension Center, 843 University Drive, Torrington, CT

• Monday, June 29, 2009 from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at Elmwood Community Center, Auditorium, 1106 New Britain Ave, West Hartford, CT

• Tuesday, June 30, 2009 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM at Fairfield Public Library, Rotary Room, 1080 Old Post Road, Fairfield, CT

All meetings will have the same content and format. Each will begin at 6:00 PM with an informal interactive open house session. A brief presentation will begin at 6:45 PM, followed by a discussion period. CTDOT and members of the study team, led by Fitzgerald & Halliday, Inc. of Hartford, Connecticut, will be available at each meeting to discuss the Update and answer questions.

Directions and parking information for the four public meeting locations are available at http://ctbikepedplan.org/html-pub-involve/meetings.html.

Additional information and the DRAFT Plan and Map are now available for review and comment at www.ctbikepedplan.org Other questions or comments may be directed to Mr. David Balzer, CTDOT Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, via email at david.balzer@po.state.ct.us or phone at (860) 594-2141.

I don't know if we're supposed to go and and complain or like the plan. It seems we're supposed to just show up and look like concerned people with wheels or feet. I read some of the draft and it sure sucks the fun out of riding a bike or walking.

Speaking of sucking, this article does.
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More Michigan

Some of you readers maybe remember that our friend Dan Shoup rode from Michigan to Connecticut last year to come visit us. I guess MI-CT trips are the cool things to do, because my friend Joel is preparing to ride from CT to MI next week. He's got himself a new Bianchi Volpe and seems good to go. At some point soon, I'm going to do the BBB's first ever interview with him. Read more!

What makes a road bike a road bike?

Our loyal reader will recall the Special Tour de France, an orange bicycle bequeathed to me by Chillwill upon his departure from Hartford to warmer climes. When I took possession of the rig, it was a single-speed with no handlebars, no saddle or seatpost, and only a front brake. Thereafter, I made it into a serviceable three-speed with a coaster brake, excellent for banging around on and off the road. Well now, moved as much by the need for tinkering as the need for speed, I have made it into a five-speed with 700 cc wheels:



Now, considering that it used to be a three-speed, and that my other two bikes are both folders with eleven speeds between them, you might think that a five-speed bike with skinny tires and wheels the same diameter as those used by Tour de France champions would pretty much seem like a super-speedy road machine to me. You would be right. In fact, I was so enthused about the long-distance, high-speed, roadie potential of the STDF (hey, what a great set of initials, no? it's like a combination of Sexually Transmitted Disease and Shut The Fuck Up) that I went so far as to add that most essential of road-riding accessories:


(Yes, it's an actual water bottle cage. No, it is not held on by electrical tape. The frame has no braze-ons, so I secured the cage with three hose clamps, but that left sharp pieces sticking out, so I covered it in tape for safety.)

Thus equipped, I took the next logical step and went on a fifty-mile ride with my friend Rami. This was great fun, but I learned something: Five speeds and a water bottle cage is no match for, like, a real road bike (especially when you are wearing sneakers and your real-road-bike-riding companion has clip-in shoes and pedals).


That's Rami's bike in the back. It is made of some sort of space-age polymer and has many speeds well-suited for going up steep hills, of which there are many in East Hampton, Portland, and Haddam, where we rode.

In the end, Rami was gracious in staying with me while I plodded up the hills, and we had a great ride on a beautiful day (Sunday). Afterward, my legs hurt a lot, especially when, late that evening, I rode the Xootr to Bradley to pick up a rental car. On the plus side, I saw neat sights, two of which are pictured below, and which you should click on to see the larger versions.


Pocotopaug Lake, where we stopped for a little rest.


The Checker cab with the Top Dog trailer hitched up to it was in a driveway in East Hampton. If you click to see the larger version, you will notice that the people in the back seat of the taxi are actually (creepily) mannequins. Read more!

Prisoners and Glastonbury

I just read this article in today's Times about a bizarre prison program in France that involves cycling. While the article doesn't mention it, are we supposed to equate cycling with punishment or is it a reward for good behavior. The article explains that the French believe that cycling will help reintegrate the prisoners into society. Things must be different in France, because cyclists pretty much feel like outcasts here.

Also, I made it down to Keeney Cove in Glastonbury finally yesterday. I was on an attempted mission over there once before, but a persistent flat tire scattered the plans of the intrepid. There's a trail, mud and some farm fields. It's pretty cool, though very buggy. I also hit a branch with my right eye, but didn't get a black eye. Here are the pictures:




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This is why I'm hot

Being as how la Casa Presidencial is a one-working-car-family since the untimely demise of my terrible, awful, no-good Ford Focus, when the wife goes out in the car in the evening, the youngsters and I are effectively marooned within walking distance. OR SO YOU WOULD THINK! But honestly, did you think I got to be Presidente de China by sitting around and letting carlessness keep me and my sons from after-dinner ice cream? Come on, now. As the photos below demonstrate, I fashioned a handy, modular seat that fastens neatly and securely to the rack of my Raleigh Twenty, which, when I add some extra handlebars, makes a swanky (and free!) tag-along-style ride for my five-year-old. Then I attach the trailer for the two-year-old and voila: Nous avons de mobilite!


Here are the boys all saddled up, full of ice cream and ready for the ride home. Note the stirrups hanging down on either side of Max's seat - they are made from an old tire.


You can't see him, but Reuben's in the trailer saying "cheese."


Scrap wood, an old tire, and good old American ingenuity. If you click for the larger version and look carefully, you can see a carefully placed screw that, along with two others, keeps the seat from sliding side-to-side. Once the strap is cinched down, pulling the whole business toward the bike's seatpost, it doesn't wobble or move at all.

OK, is it possible that I'm a little too proud of myself for this relatively modest feat of engineering? Yes. But goddamnit, it works, it cost me nothing, and Max loves it. If a man can't take pride in all that, what can he take pride in? Read more!