this week in the beat. may 20-23

grease your chains y’all cuz its gonna be a wet week and there’s much going on in the city.

Progressive Happy hour at Kenny’s (red rock) 9:30 pm til close usually! Corner of capitol and Lawrence street. Look for the outdoor patio with lots of bicycles locked up to it! There’s more iron fence to lock a bicycle to than you can shake a stick at! Or a lock! Or just come inside and shake it! There’s Karoake! Join a bunch of progressive thinking, veggie growing, meat eating (well, some of us!), bicycling, political debating, beer drinking, curly fry eating boys and girls! The nickel and dimers that make it happen! The true best and brightest of Hartford!

The Ride of Silence will begin at Elizabeth Park at 7pm on Wednesday, May 21st. The Hartford ride will be about 12 miles and is expected to take just over an hour. This is one of 277 rides being done on the same day in 17 countries around the world. It is a memorial ride to remember and honor fellow bicyclists who have been killed or injured on public roads. Please check the Ride of Silence website for more information. The ride will be led by Dave Rinquest of the CCBA.

Thursday, May 22, the Farmers’ Market at Billings Forge opens with many vendors, live music, picnic tables and a grand ‘ol time from 11am to 2pm. Its fresh! The market is located in the Firebox parking lot on Broad street only a few buildings south of Capitol Ave. (Shell station) You can pay with EBT/Foodstamps, credit card, debit card and they even take US cash! Bring your own reusable bag and buy fruits, vegetables, honey, locally roasted coffee, salsa, local beef, fresh ice cream, arts and crafts, falafel and empanadas ready to eat! Dang I’m getting hungry. Mad props to the Market Master Hanna Grant!

The market will be open Mondays and Thursdays though the month of October, 11am to 2pm. Its Fresh!


Friday House Happy Hour @ the Tiki Bar @ sully’s! yeah baby! get down with dj mike Johnson keepin’ the house beats bouncin’ outside and dj darkman inside with old school hiphop and r&b early and the band sirsy later on. $5 donation requested.
Free pizza, drink specials, chair massages and the usual chill vibe. lots of fence to lock to, but harass chris and rob to make it easier for bicycles to lock to it!! Also check the new waterfall, its super mad ridiculously chill there now.


it says READ MORE!

but there ain't no more to read suckas!


HEY! i said there wasn't no mo to read fool!

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Bike Everywhere! (to Happy Hour)

CCBA Bike Everywhere Bike to Happy Hour. friday, may 16th


I’m going to cut to the chase here, and give props ASAP to the core group that laughed at the rain and rode their bikes to the Bike Everywhere Happy Hour at the Corner Pug today. Big ups to Steve Tudisco, Ben Bare, ChillWillme!), Rich H, Matt Spader, Kevin Sullivan and Robyn Baena. Good on y’all mates! Well done! ‘nuff respect.

All in all, we were 11 strong, with most people biking or walking, and only three or four drivers. Long commutes (from Enfield etc) and massive bicycle tire and clothing issues resulting in wide spread wetness and bandaged fingers all get free passes...this time! Its great to see people putting the B of the CCBA to good use! Woo-haa!

So what happened? Well, what happens at CCBA happy hours stay at CCBA happy hours. I can say many wings and nachos were consumed and washed down by rounds of pints of frothy, beautiful beer. mmmm…beeeer! Flyers were passed out, stories shared, plots schemed and other things occurred as well. The club even bought the first few rounds of brew and noshes. Good lookin’ out CCBA!

Expect another CCBA Happy Hour next month and we shall welcome the weather no matter what mother nature feels like sharing with us! Rain, sleet, snow, heat, river mud or locusts, we shall ride on. Hopefully in June we will be sitting outside in the late evening sun; plotting a late night ride through Bushnell Park, snaking through downtown and down the stairs and along the riverfront and across the river. Bridges! Hells yeah! Y’alls know what I’m talking about.

Always bring your lights and spares/tools etc cuz ya never know what might happen.

Also this summer: Bike to Jazz in the Park. Live jazz in Bushnell Park Monday Evenings. Picnic blanket republics form and establish pot-luck trade routes of noshes and wine under summer night skies. Enjoy the city, the music, the people, the entire vibe of the park. This annual series is always an evening my city shines and I am super happy to live and work here.

more photos after the jump:
(hey! that means click READ MORE!)




Rich (seen in the backgroung looking quite amused) has the most amazing eyeglass case. take a good look at him. if you ever see him out at a party, perhaps enjoying happy hour or about to sit down and enjoy the theater … make a point of saying hey, hello, hi, how ya doing and ask to see his eyeglass case. Its brilliant!



Ha! Double B leaving “coincidently” right after the CCBA tab runs out. hmm….






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bike week in da beat

bike week in da beat. its on and poppin’. been mad busy. no time for sleep.

check the bike everywhere BIKE TO HAPPY HOUR event today, Friday, at the corner pug in west Hartford. 5:30 til yer done.


last night was creative cocktail hour at real art ways and, as usual, the bike rack was full…and then some. hopefully will will put in more bicycle parking. ha! i said will twice. there was lots more art this month than the last few CCH's and I was super happy about that. I like the party aspect, no doubt, but i really do enjoy getting there before it gets crowded and spending time time checking out the art. I really liked a few of the pieces. the hanging plexiglass installation was fun to wonder through and I did like the wall of old photos. it was like a peak into someone’s life, their past, and I thought of my own old family photos. the headphone/video/interview pieces weren’t making it happen for me. perhaps on a non-party night and some time to willingly invest, I might like it.

great food too from barca on park street. Jamie gave me a card good for a glass of wine. and then more good food. mmm…..food.

more photos way below after the jump.


this morning was Bike to Work at the old state house sponsored by the CCBA and several state departments. juice and bagels and some crazy bikes too! check ben bare’s ride. two crates! dang that’s sweet. i don’t find the front basket overkill either and I heard some talk about a trailer being attached. I think its just missing a cupholder.



el presidente de china and his folding bike were in the house. check the shifter. WTF? the man is a crazed, unelected, out of control madman with a finger on the button and a beer in his other hand. this is the bike that rides dikes, rides stairs and rode to the dirty water.


Wednesday night about a dozen CCBA members and a few new heads met up at Lena’s for the bike everywhere! bike to dinner dinner. ha! I said dinner twice. we sat outside in the back patio near the new waterfall and enjoyed $2 drafts from the tiki bar. The CCBA kicked in for the pizza and I believe somewhere out there exists a photo of everyone. if a second photo of me flashing ever surfaces, please understand, its just a photoshop job, trust me. it’s a fake I tell you!

want more? click on the read more button for the rest of the story:






i don't remember how we got those to stick to people. thanks for the exposure tj.



the george keller hood was well rep'd. hollerrrrrrr.



there was a really good reason for taking this photo...i think...but i don't remember.



sweet boots! i really wish i got more of the boots in the photo! what was i thinking? what are they thinking?



and what are they thinking? every time i take a photo of three people it comes out strange. i initially just thought it was the staten island ferry, but perhaps its far more wide spread.



i have no idea why we are smiling. we were hungry and walked across the street from the spigot to get wings from wings, but it was closed. but we were there. and happy. but hungry. but happy. the post CCH party at the spigot was in celebration of the birthdays of maura and johnny. happy birthday again y'all!


i think this photo speaks for itself. but i have no idea what its saying.












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Its Bike Week of Bike Month!

its sooo nice outside! don't be a fool...ride a bike!

Wednesday, May 14: Bike to Dinner Lena's at 5:30pm.
2053 Park Street, Hartford, CT 06106

arrive early to drink beer at the tiki bar in back!
and be sure to harass rob about a bike rack!
Lena's / Sully's is the freakin' spot.
come meet fellow bicyclists.
what more could you want!?!?!?

BIKE to WORK. friday, may 16th, Old State House. 7am-9am
bike to work is this friday...not the last friday!
come enjoy a free breakfast and 100 of your newest friends.
its free! even i can afford that.


Friday, May 16: Happy Hour- Corner Pug at 5:30pm
Bicycles and Happy Hour! Celebrate if the weather is good! Drown your weather sorrows in beer if its not so good!
Corner Pug is on the corner of New Britiain Ave and New Park Ave.
they'll have a bike rack out for us!

ps! get famous! help the cause.
this an email forward from Adam Bulger, a writer at the advocate:

I'm a writer for the Advocate, working on a story about different ways of getting around the Hartford area without resorting to cars. I'm looking for comments from people who ride bikes instead of cars (I'd like to emphasize commuting to work, but this will not be the entirety of the article). This will be quick, non-intrusive questions, like why and when did you start riding bikes, what do you like/dislike about it, if you have any interesting stories or experiences or if you have any other observations. I'm happy to hear any criticism about how municipalities/drivers don't respect bike riders, so if you've got axes, grind away.

chillwill was nice enough to forward this on my behalf. If you'd like to respond via email, you can contact me at abulger@hartfordadvocate.com, or if you'd prefer speaking with me, my direct line is (860) 548-9300.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Adam

pps. if you ask nicely, he will also ask long intrusive questions. Read more!

The Scruffy Peloton rides again!

The Mark Twain House to the Spigot, a 25 mile ride? yep, if you do it Brendan's way via Avon's Rails to Trails! Check the ROUTE.

Our group shrunk to four riders for last thursday's ride, Brendan, Johanna, Joel and ChillWill. The ride over the mountain through Talcott Notch wasn't bad. The twisty road by Avon Old Farms was fun and cars couldn't pass you due to the width of the road, so they had to go slow. No worries. No honking. The Rails to Trails path was mostly empty and flat and enabled lots of conversing, scheming and planning. I bunny hopped over a speed bump in some randomn parking lot off Hopmeadow. Yes! I am no longer a virgin thanks to pedal cages!


Ahhhh.....bridges and bikes! We should maybe rename this blog!

Some jack-ass in Porche hooked Johanna and missed her by a few feet on rt. 185. Jerk!!!

The wings from Wings and the pitchers at the Spigot were delightful after the ride.

i am looking forward to the next ride of the Scruffy Peloton. Read more!

The 5 Boro Walk Your Bike Tour

The Beat was well rep’d this past weekend by a hardy group of current and former Hartford peoples converging in the rotten apple in what was prolly the most blogged event in the long, extinguished history of the Triple B. Woo-haa!

El Cinco Burros! There is far too much to think of organizing into a digestible meal of a post; so instead I shall cook up a stew free of high-fructose corn syrup and full of beer and pedaling…lots of pedaling. I suppose about now is a good time to explain that the 5 Boro Bike Tour is a 42mile car free ride with 30,000 of your closest friends though all five boroughs of NYC including riding on the FDR, the BQE, and crossing the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. In case you can’t do the math, that’s over 60,000 bicycle wheels spinning and avoiding NYC potholes!

El Presidente de China has well educated y’all about the ride from the Beat to Dirty Water, so I’ll just curse him one last time for that one massive hill and mention again…shorter isn’t always better; like cock size for example. Otherwise, besides the evil hill, and Klan drive, the ride was pretty nice and scenic. Doing 30mph down a hill through the Waterbury ghetto is also worth a mention I reckon.


In this exciting photo one can barely see the bikes of Chill Will and El Prez de Cheeenay with all the action going on riding the train to Bridgeport. Though no accommodations for bikes, this train was all good. On the train from B-Port to NYC we had them in the middle doorway of the car which was a pain depending which door opened. The idea of spending a few days in the city with my bike and living out of my messenger bag made me as happy as the lack of Metro-North in Hartford pisses me off. Amtrack sucks. Go fuck yourself with your overpriced tickets!!!!

Upon arriving at Grand Central we were greeted by Shoupy, the Shoup Shoupsta! I am not sure if he rode there from Ann Arbor, but he very well might have. El Prez decided against the formal motorcade and instead bombed the crap outta Broadway; speeding through the traffic, checking cabs and leading us quickly and dodge-ily to the Brooklyn Bridge. We soon split, to meet up later; as I was going with Shoup to Park Slope to his friend Megan’s apartment, who was hooking us up with a spot to crash. Thanks again Megan, good lookin’ on the couch…very comfy! And puffin' on the rooftop was sweeeet!


Shoupy and I met up with el Prez much later in Bed-Stuy at a party with some of el Prez’s administration, lots of bikers, assorted hipsters, and three fireman with large iron tools suitable for hunting wild boar. We drank, talked and tried not to inhale burning particle board before retiring early as we were to assemble the Beat Crew at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge at 6:45AM the next morning. Shoupy and I arrived at 7:15AM the next morning! Our crew of about a dozen soon took off for lower Manhattan.


Lots of people. This was the first taste of the 5 Boro Walk Your Bike Tour. As the day progressed the sun burned away all the clouds…and a few faces too I imagine. The day turned out wonderful.





Real men wear leg warmers. Later, in a bizarre twist, Shoupy removed his shorts and finished the tour in bike shoes, leg warmers, a hand-carved wooden cod piece from Turkey and his tour vest. Sexy? Yes, of course! But somewhat disturbing to the elderly and those younger than them.


A media circus surrounded El Presidente de China through most of Queens and was quite a spectacular sight. I was harassed for my crate of bootlegged bananas that I was selling 3 for $10 or one for free.


Welcome to Brooklyn! Woo-haa! I had a freakin’ good time chillin’ here the night before as well as the ride through on the tour. The only sucky thing was walking my bike for 45minutes in a bicycle traffic jam on the Bronx-Queens Expressway where four lanes became one. This was where the ride officially became the 5 Boro Walk Your Bike Tour. The car traffic jam on the other side was moving more quickly! The trike next to me had a louder stereo system than the cars! It was total fuckin' bizzaro world!!!

Eventually we were able to pedal again and riding on the highway along the water with a cool breeze felt great. Crossing on the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge is always super cool. Guinness and grinders at the irish pub was even better.


Taking pictures of groups of three on a ferry always has funny results. See above!


And again if you need further proof!



Much, much later, after learning the 7:20 train didn’t exist and I’d be taking a 9:07train back to CT, I decided to scoot on down to the west-side to watch the sun set over Dirty Jersey on the Hudson. I soon found myself pedaling unexpectedly through Times Square. Sunset, libations and a chance to rest and relax on the riverfront was a wonderful way to finish my visit to NYC.

On the train ride back from Bridgeport to Dirty Water I had to again store my bike in the middle doorway of the car, but this time the conductor made everyone get out the end doors and never opened the middle doors. Thanks dude! Metro-North is pretty good. Amtrack, not so good.



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bridges and mud. and mud.

Bridges and mud and gin and juice. Well, as my esteemed blogging collogue mentioned; last Tuesday night was all about the bridges. Unknown to us before the ride, it was also gonna be about mud, river mud! We prolly ended up on a dozen bridges, including the nice metal pedestrian bridge over the Hock in East Hartford.


The pedestrian bridge over i91 from the back of a Market Street Parking lot to Riverside Park is like pedaling in prison. The only thing missing was razor wire, but as you can see, Joel doesn’t seem to mind. None of us did, it’s BRIDGE NIGHT! And we were laaaaid back.


We had a nice break on a dike with a great view of the city, but noisy due to the interstate. This was the first spot Josh whipped out his musical camera tripod. I took the above soon afterwards on the next bridge. T’was much more peaceful and quiet there.


We rode another dike in East Hartford and wound our way back to the riverfront to cross on the Bulkley Bridge (i84), which is super loud and hectic due to all the traffic. Not fun. And we realized getting back down to the river to bike along the water to Charter Oak Landing wouldn’t be quick and easy. We pedaled up to Constitution Plaza, crossed a bridge over Columbus Bulevard and then carried our bikes down the stairs to the river, under the Founder’s Bridge. After a rest we decided to head north, just to see the flooding. The river walk dips down under the Bulkley Bridge and the path we were on would soon be under water. We sped up, racing to the edge of the water on the sidewalk…soon realizing…well before hitting the water in the dark…there was slick river mud! Like ice, but oozey. Fun!





Josh ain’t the only blogger with rare shots of a lost sneaker in the mud! (no, it doesn’t belong to us.) (and no, I am not sure how we all managed not to loose a sneaker too.)


We turned around muddier for the visit and headed south along the river, criss-crossing sides of the dike and flood wall and arrived at Charter Oak Landing. Here’s a massive amount of trees and random stuff that floats and is really big; all collected on the lower dock area. Oh yeah, there’s Josh too!



Our next bridge was the Charter Oak Bridge. We all had issues getting to the beginning of the ramp. My short-cut wasn’t shorter. It actually wasn’t a good idea at all. Joel had a chain issue as soon as he hit the path and Josh dropped something...i think. But we all persevered. I still like the view of the city from this bridge, but its super noisy.



Here’s a trilogy of GREAT ideas:

Carry our bikes down the stairs, down lots of stairs
Assume the East Hartford Riverfront is not under water
Assume any leftover mud will be pedalable. (don’t play scrabble with me if you don’t think that’s a word)

All went as well as one might expect. Joel bravely lead the way and took one for the team as the slick mud took him down. Soon we were actually pedaling on slick mud that was under water. It was treacherous and energy draining. Joel wisely (insert juvenile verbal attacks on his manhood here) bailed and fled for higher ground; but Josh and I somehow pushed on through deepening mud on the sidewalk until the path ahead was completely submerged. We didn’t want to leave the river. We talked of a boat, perhaps building a raft, but the upstream paddle didn’t appeal to us. We had to retrace our steps and find a way around, eventually passing through a school parking lot and regaining river access, and Joel, at the boat launch parking area. Mud. We actually pedaled through water!


This is the best photo I have of the three of us. We’re crossing Founder’s Bridge; returning to the Beat; and really wanting to eat chicken tenders and sweet potato fries at kenny’s…and drink beer. The freakin’ barrel of gin and juice was long gone at this point.


The other half of this pair of gloves was also gone at this point. If you find it, holla at me! The only exciting thing I can remember after the last bridge and before Kenny’s was hearing Joel come down the stairs behind me. Then I immediately saw him in front of me and realized Josh just took the stairs on his folding bike. Yeah!


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Critical Mass and Afterparty April 2008

Meet at the Bushnell Park Carousel at 5:30, last Friday of every month.

Brendan and I left the Hook & Ladder happy hour at 6pm and arrived early to the meeting spot. Some time later, about 18ish of us left the park and spun through the traffic circle heading to the south end. Cars weren’t really hatin’ on us too much, but a few groups of people were real assholes. One group of about a dozen latino boys hanging out on a porch at the beginning of Maple went wild talkin’ shit about getting BB guns and shooting at us. They were way too excited and enthusiastic! I think they were trying to scare us, but it was more sad and depressing than anything else. A few other groups just yelled dumb shit, but not much.


On a brighter note, there were the usual cheers and the random round-the-way person joining us for a short bit. Kids waved and pointed, we waved back and woo-haa'd!Other peoople shouted happily and we all had a good, but kinda short ride.

Hopefully the mass will continue to grow and someday become critical! I also wish we rode longer, a bunch of people were ready to continue on. Keney Park woulda been nice. Maybe next month the ride will grow bigger and longer and lots of people will enjoy a great ride!

After the ride, people and groups split up with a bulk of people planning to converge on Evergreen for a post party and Shane’s slow race. A bunch of us headed over to Kenny’s for a few pitchers and some beer to go from the bodega across the street. There was also a stop at my spot for whiskey and greens. Gotta get that roughage! We finally arrived at Evergreen to a small fire that much later would be bigger and have people hopping 180’s over it.


here's a sexy pic of footdown with a fire and holes in the ground. i think this was somehow safer than later in the parking lot next door!



I remember playing footdown pedaling around the fire avoiding holes and soft dirt and later the circle moved to the parking lot. TJ ended up with more dollar bills than a stripper, but I think Shawn out rode him backwards. I think. I dunno; it was late, it was dark, and alcohol is a hell of a drug! The slow race did finally happen. Who won? I don’t freakin’ remember. I know I passed out a bunch chocolate chip cookies though.



TJ isn't riding towards the fire. he riding backwards towards the camera after hopping over the fire and bustin a 180! woo-haa! having a mountain bike, which all the fixies LOVED during footdown, allowed brendan to just ride rightthrough the freakin' fire!
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Progressive Happy Hour @ Kenny's Red Rock

P to the double H was bangin’ Tuesday Night over at Kenny’s Red Rock. Great crew, great crowd, and the Karaoke with the most love. We dined on some sweeeet, sweet, sweeeeet potato fries and many pitchers of beer. mmmm……sweeet potato fries. I won’t even try to remember who sang what except for The Joel’s rendition of The Band’s The Weight. Who freakin’ knew what all the words really were?!?! Fanny?!?! There was even birthday cake tonight! And homemeade kombucha later on.

Lots of bike talk tonight from sharing folding bike commuter experiences to talk of a Hartford Restaurant Bike Tour, nibbling and noshing while pedaling though the city. Ital, bar bites and liters of beer…oh my! The farmers market at Billings Forge will begin soon, hopefully Hanna will comment with some details about this twice a week market on Broad Street near Capitol Avenue. Perhaps a ride to the Beyond Green Show at UHA and on to the Auer Farm in Bloomfield. And hopefully some other rides involving food. And beer. But especially food. There’s a ridiculous amount of good food in Hartford.



Seven bikes locked up outside too! I bet two weeks from now we could have a dozen bikes out there at 9pm, fresh from a night ride through out the city and the riverfront. An hour and a half would be plenty of time to cruise Park Street, check out Keney, Elizabeth and Bushnell, loop around the riverfronts and work up a good thirst. Read more!

CCBA Annual Dinner 2008

Wednesday was the perfect evening for a great bike ride to Manchester from Hartford along the streets and bike paths. Josh, Breandan, Krash, Rick and Joel and I met at 5PM on the Founders Bridge and took off without the pre-party brews i accidently left at work in the lunchroom fridge! ARRGG!!! The notes posted on the CCBA website were long but worked well and soon we were navigating the streets of East Hartford and made it onto the bike path just in time for a flat.

The flat tire provided a great opportunity to enjoy a fine bottle of wine and find out who carries spares and tools and who doesn't! I also noticed the few bits of trash that were around were mostly glass bottles and plastic bottles, no cans! no cans at all! there was a lot of broken glass on the trail though. earliera woman riding the other way warned Rick about it and didn't make eye contact with anyone else...and Rick got the flat! was it a hex? a coincidence? we will never know!

Many rights and lefts later, we turned right onto Adams Street and soon took over the lane to make a left into the Adams Mill Resturant (i told you lots of rights and lefts!). We locked up our bikes to some farm machinery and walked inside to the dinner, well, to the bar for drinks i should say. To our dissappointed surprise, we seemed to be the only people who rode? huh? but that was fine, we drank, bid on silent auction items, mingled and enjoyed dinner and a few speakers.





The ride home was more fun. We made a quick stop at a gas station for sundries and then took off with blinking red lights and white headlights shinning the road ahead...until mine fell off. That was pretty much the end of my light shining, which was good, especially when we got to the dark bike path. Who wants to see all that ugly broken glass when you can just speed through it, hurtling through the darkness!?!? no worries though, no flats from glass; it was as if we were lifted! and flying high above the sharp, tube eating menaces! now, that one, dark, curve where we all sped off the path, noooo problem.



speedbumps. now that was a problem. this time Joel was hissing. we stopped just inside a parking complex and quickly had lights pointed towards a removed wheel. Such skill and teamwork was displayed that some dude in a nearby second floor apartment watched us intently and maybe even video taped us. wow. maybe its all on youtube!

Back in Hartford, i snagged the forgotten beers from the fridge and we chugged them while pondering about the recently burned-down Virgin Mary Shrine. Why ohh why?

A few sprinkles of rain encouraged us to get going and Krash lead us on a fun route through the southend and eventually down Washinhton Street. Josh took off down Park Street to go home. The rest of us ride till two of us split down Russ and two continued down Capital Ave; all with the intention of a quick afterhours at my house.

All in all a great night. thanks for ridin' all.

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