A Slow Roll Toward a Sustainable Hartford

After gorging on walking and biking this weekend, I'm ready to go to bed early.  Late night dancing my arse off at a birthday party has contributed to the battery drain.  Before I nod off to sleep, I wanted to give the good people of Hartford a heads up on some bikey things not to miss.

Chris Clark jumping off some big stuff next to the Wadsworth at Envisonfest

Slow Roll - On Monday, September 22nd you can meet up with some friendly folks to ride in a leisurely manner (a Slow Roll) around Hartford neighborhoods, finishing up at a local establishment for food and drinks.  They are meeting at 6:00PM at the carousel in Bushnell Park and heading over to Red Rock Tavern after the ride.  You really should bring lights with you, and don't expect to go fast.  The group will also be making a point of riding safely - so aggressive a-holes may find themselves unwelcome.   Although this is a slow ride, informal events like this are making big steps toward building a future sustainable Hartford with more residents living in the city (not suburban commuting), using efficient and city friendly transportation, and frequenting local businesses.

Walk Hartford - Hartford's new and bustling group Transport Hartford is organizing the Slow Roll rides.  Transport Hartford advocates for more complete bicycle, pedestrian, and pedestrian infrastructure.  In addition to the Slow Roll events, there will be "strolling" events with a similar theme.  The first "Walk Hartford" is planned for September 28th.  The group will meet up at 1PM at the Bushnell Park Carousel.

Bike History - Through the month of September there are two bicycle related history exhibits in Hartford.  Running through October 7th, there is a FREE Hartford bike history exhibit at the Hartford Public Library on the 3rd floor - Pedal and the Path.  And last but not least, there are some very old bicycles in a small exhibit at the Butler-McCook House.  The Butler-McCook house is jam packed with Hartford history and housed continuously one family lineage for 4 generations and 200+ years.  I highly recommend all both the library and the museum, and not just for the bicycle exhibits.

Certain to be under publicized Cross Race - 2014 is the year of multiple events for Hartford.  Recurring Slow Roll events.  Several bicycle history exhibits.  And now two cyclocross races.  Just last weekend there was a cyclocross race at Riverside Park, and coming up in November (the 8th), there is a race right next door to my house in Colt Park - the Veterans Memorial CX Race.  I doubt the navel gazing cyclocross race organizers will bother to invite the general public.  If you haven't seen cyclocross racing it's rather fun to spectate and / or volunteer.  The course in Colt Park is stacked up on the hill such that you can see the entire course from one spot.  If one cross race makes Hartford more bikey than New Haven, then we're leaving them in the sand pit with two cross races in the same year.  Now if they could just figure out how to get some spectators (and potential future club racers) off their couches and out to the park.  Save the date!

Nightfall - Another plug for this great event coming up on October 11th in Colt Park.  Starts at 5:30PM.  FREE.  And there will be a designated bike parking valet.  BYO food and beverages.  There will be surreal puppetry, music, dance, and spoken word.   Nightfall Hartford.  I'll be organizing a neighborhood cleanup that morning on October 11th to put some shine on before we have a park full of visitors.  Meet at the Sam Colt statue near Wethersfield Avenue at 9AM.  Bring trashbags and gloves, as I'm not going to bother with getting the city or sponsors involved.


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It is Time to get Organized

*** Meet at 6pm on Monday, April 7th at Fire and Spice.  Hartford specific bike, walk, bus advocacy group is forming.  ***

What is with all the surface parking lots?  Why are there very few neighborhood to neighborhood bus route connections?  How come bus route frequency falls off a cliff after 6PM?  What can we do about it?

"Hartford Has It!"  Hartford has a lot of bus transit, walking, and cycling for transportation.  A significant portion of the mode share is not single occupancy motor vehicles, particularly for those living downtown and in the surrounding neighborhoods.  The question is, "Why isn't there more attention paid to and money spent on those options?"  Some might say that the issue is income, race, and class discrimination.  While I'm sure that is part of the problem, I'd say that another contributing factor is that there isn't an organized group of citizens and community leaders advocating for transportation alternatives.

A chicken or egg conundrum, it seems.

Well, rather than simply talk in circles and debate, Justin Eichenlaub has decided to organize some citizens in Hartford.  In ten years or so, we can look back on this and decide whether the organizing was useful.  I'm going to put my money on organized citizens, as talking in circles is so fucking tiresome.  The next informal meeting of this fledgling group of active transportation advocates is on Monday, April 7th or 14th at Fire and Spice, because people are hungry after work.  He's taking votes right now on which night works best for those interested.  To make things easy, I'll post the date of the actual meeting in the comments once it is announced.

Single occupancy vehicle travel.  Going the way of the dinosaur.

While we're talking about transit.  Ken and I visited New Britain this past weekend via the mostly paved CT Fastrak route.  Aside from Ken's two pinch flats en route (railroad rocks), it was a very rapid transit on bikes.  Unfortunately once the bus route opens the only sanctioned bike path will run from Newington Junction to New Britain.  In the meantime, I unofficially encourage you to check it out.  Fastrak commuters will get a solid dose of industrial back waters, dynamic graffiti walls, and natural areas - without having to ride their bicycle on train tracks.  Not much better if you ask me.

Beat Bike Bloggers sampling the future of Bus Rapid Transit

Check out these sexy stations.  There is a place to stand, sort of out of the elements.

And industrial wastelands.  My favorite thing.

Reminder.  Dinner and Bikes.  Saturday, June 7th.  Vegan food.  Bicycle movie shorts.  Bikenomics.  Get your tickets ahead of time and put it on your calendar now.

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Beat Bike Bloggers in the News

A couple of weeks ago Brendan made the national news cycle when he went through the hoops associated with the Affordable Care Act, tweeted about it, got quoted in the Courant and then I guess Rush Limbaugh griped about it.  Crummy poor students getting health insurance.  That and now everyone knows that there is a fiscally conservative Brendan doppelganger exactly the same age in Hartford.  I would posit that Brendan L. Mahoney is a more than upstanding Hartford resident that very much betters his community, and that Rush Limbaugh is a bag of hot air - but I don't think I'd be arguing with anyone.

One of my favorite headstones in the Old North Cemetery.

This week I managed to get honorable mention in the Courant as a Hartfordite with a reputation for doing stuff that Colin McEnroe finds exciting.  Occasionally I organize things, and like to volunteer at events and such.  Otherwise I make sure my friends know about the almost overwhelming abundance of fun events in Hartford, although Real Hartford does a better job of this.  All of these things are second nature.  I'm glad that Hartford is getting more residents that find civic engagement and creation of local events to be part of their day-to-day.   I expect that my standing out enough to get mentioned in an editorial will happen less often as the rising tide of even more interesting and productive people keep Hartford hopping.

For example, there are two Hartford based movie events this Friday.  Movies that were created in Hartford, filmed in Hartford, and now screened for the first time in Hartford.   Both on Friday night.  Serious event gravity.   A couple good friends put together "No One Wants to be the River", which is a short film that is based on the beautifully complex "Toward Union Lines" sculpture along the riverfront.  The short is the start of a planned series called "Hartford River Dreams", and will be screened at the Carriage House Theater at 7:30PM.  The other movie is feature length "Diamond Ruff" that is being shown at 6:30PM at the Bushnell Center.  I'm tempted to try and attend both, but I don't think it will work out.

So get out there folks and do the local stuff.  Organize your own local stuff.  Tell your friends, co-workers, and acquaintances about all the amazing local stuff.  Basically do your part to make Hartford awesome.  It doesn't take much, and you might even get honorable mention.

Anybody else got some local stuff they want to tell me about?  Or want to scheme on something upcoming.

FYI - Don't forget IceBike to Work at Maddies this Thursday, October 31st, in East Hartford from 7-8AM.  You can get there earlier or later, we don't care.  It's totally informal.

Keney Memorial Clock tower in Hartford's Northend

The two photos are from a stroll through Hartford's Northend.  Beautiful day for a walk.  I don't bike everywhere.  And you get to notice details like the ironwork on the gate when you're ambling along the sidewalk.


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