Return of the Scorcher is one of the movies on a Ted White DVD, which also contains the more talked about, We Are Traffic. WAT is a great documentary about the Critical Mass movement and its creation in San Francisco in the early 1990’s. It gave me the inspiration to begin making flyers for the Hartford ride and try and get people to come out and enjoy the city. I love this movie. It certainly changed my life and helped grow the ride in Hartford.
My smoldering romance with Return of the Scorcher has suddenly erupted with fireworks! I watched a borrowed copy of the DVD for the longest time, which my friend Steve had bought to use at a CCBA event. At some point last year I finally returned the movie to him and haven’t seen it since. A few days ago I received my own copy from this link and have watched it a few times. I cannot get enough of Return of the Scorcher and all the amazing vingettes of bicycle culture from Guangzho (Canton), China back in 1991. Most of the citizens use bicycles and tricycles for commuting and business as well as dating. The whole part about riding women sidesaddle is wonderful! There’s also a scene in which George Bliss describes giant intersections with no traffic signals and bicycles competeing with cars, trucks, busses and motorcycles to cross lanes of traffic. He described the bikes leading the charge across the street as a critical mass; which gave the founders of CM the idea for the name!
There’s also quite a bit of footage from Amsterdam showing bicycles as daily transportation and showcasing all the infrastructure built to support a lifestyle on two wheels. The use of the bicycle in the Women's rights movement is also really interesting. Dang, the whole DVD is super interesting and super inspirational. I am not sure how many people have seen or heard of this movie, but I felt a need to thank Ted White for making it and encourage y’all to enjoy it.
And here is the rest of it.
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Wednesday, August 5, 2009
thank you Ted White for Return of the Scorcher
Beat bike blog considered legitimate blog!
There are a number of blogs in Hartford and most write about news and politics. I consider news and politics to be work, so I have no desire to write about those things unless I'm getting paid. To that end, I write about bikes with my fellow beat bike bloggers. Accordingly, we usually aren't regarded as a very important blog, evidenced by not making on to the lame Laurel Club's blogroll (although we are on the Courant's City Line).
Thus, you can imagine my surprise when the Wadsworth invited us to this:
This Sol LeWitt is actually found at MassMOCA, not the Wadsworth, but I didn't want to steal their image.Don't Forget, Blog This!
We heard our 4:30 start time was tough for many of you-if you can't make it then, join us when you can, we'd still love to hear from you and admission is still free to Phoenix Art After Hours!
Check out the recent coverage of Blog This! from Fox News. We hope to see you this Thursday at 4:30!
For those that missed it, the complete invite is below.
The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art invites you to join us at our inaugural Blog This! event, on August 6, from 4:30 – 6:30 pm.
Blog This! will provide a forum for social media writers from throughout the state to connect with each other, while connecting with great art! We also hope to gain insights into how we can better work together to position both Hartford, and Connecticut, as a premier cultural destination (and not just someplace between New York and Boston!)
The agenda includes an update from the Director, Susan Talbott, an overview of The Amistad Center for Art & Culture by Director, Olivia White and a Docent led highlights tour of the museum’s permanent collection.
Come for the formal part – but stay for the fun part - join us from 6:30 – 8 pm for our First Thursday festivities which will include temporary tattoos, the opening of Skin!, an exhibition of photographs created by teens in The Amistad Center for Art & Culture’s Neighborhood Studio summer youth program, and original hip-hop beats performed by Connectbeats. Food and cocktails will also be available.
• Date: August 6, 2009
• Time: 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
• Location: Wadsworth Atheneum of Art
600 Main St., Hartford, CT
PS. I ate at Hiep Phat Vietnamese Fast Food again yesterday. It's still awesome! Read more!
Monday, August 3, 2009
2 cats
So, that race in Massachusetts happened yesterday. As promised, Brendan raced Cat 2. Brendan's bike, however, had no desire to do that.
I pre-rode the course, well some of it, and thought it was going to be a fun race. It felt fast and manageable. I stopped pre-riding when I came upon this crazy floating bridge.
Crazy floating bridge.
Crazy floating bridge with Brendan and some other guy.I figured that the Cat 2 start would be faster than the Cat 3. It was, but not that much faster. I was in fourth going into the singletrack in the woods. Positions changed a bit until the crazy floating bridge, but I was in fourth getting to the bridge. My rear derailleur had started shifting funny, but I didn't really think anything of it until the other side of the floating bridge. It promptly shifted the chain into the spokes on the other side of bridge. I fixed it and on the next shift, it did it again. Things were not looking good. I lost a whole slew of positions and realized that I had bent the derailleur, though the hanger looked ok. Needless to say, this made riding with speed up any hill very difficult because I couldn't shift into any of the lower gears. I took it easy for a while, trying to figure out which gears worked and which gears didn't. I finally settled into a groove and could ride at maybe 75%. I caught back up to two 19-29 people and was started to feel a little more confident. It being my first Cat 2 race my expectations weren't very high, so I was just riding for the sake of riding and having a pretty good time.
Then my chain broke and I stopped having a good time. I ended up jogging the second half of the third lap and finishing with a depressing +2 hours time on an 18 mile course. Although, my wonderful girlfriend, Johanna, was waiting for me a little ways before the finish for some cheering up.
Brendan on foot.Also, Cat 2 seems to be a good fit, though it'll be awhile until I win some socks again.
2nd also, one of the reasons that the crazy floating bridge was so crazy was that the water on either side was like four feet deep. I was told that in the Cat 1 race, someone tried to do a slick pass by running around the bridge and he sank. Also in the Cat 1 race, someone tried to jump on to the bridge, busted his ass and crashed into a tree.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Big hill & Vietnamese food
Riding down the mucky Kingdom Trails singletrack of Dead Moose Alley and Moose Alley and all that stuff was also pretty cool. In my opinion, the trail network on Darling Hill is pretty cool in its buff-ness and twistiness, but the Burke Mountain trails are so much longer, tiring and better.
This is the view from Monadnock's fire tower:
I find it weird that two of New England's monadnocks are simply named Mt. Monadnock or Monadnock Mountain. The drumlins of the region aren't all called drumlin. Other places are able to think up more creative names.
Also, the new Vietnamese place, Hiep Phat Vietnamese Fast Food, on Park Street at Dorothy Street is really good. I highly recommend it. Very authentic, or at least, it seems authentic to a guy named Brendan Mahoney.
*I stole that Burke picture from Snow-forecast.com.
ps. Sorry for subjecting y'all to my crappy attempt at a narrative about riding at Kingdom Trails.
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economics + fancy helmets = pretentious. But we can at least link to Prez's old posts like they're Seinfeld reruns.
I'll tell you what, this may be chi-chi and it is definitely expensive but it's the kind of thing I've been thinking about lately.
I'll act like an economist here. On the one hand, they are expensive. On the other hand, maybe if more people wore these helmets, rode in regular clothes, and rode at a stately pace, more people would ride bicycles. That is, if the marginal benefit of one more person wearing these helmets is an increase in bicycle-miles ridden valued at 100 dollars, and the real cost of producing one of these helmets is less than 100 dollars, then buying one and wearing it would be a socially optimal choice... I think.
Funny, I just found this old post from Matt Yglesias. I can't believe he and all those commenters beat me to! It's a good comment thread about helmets.
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Not dead yet
While I'm glum that Josh is no longer writing in these parts and that we're got some personal turmoil floating about, I'm not going to let that derail the blog. My guess is that our few readers were here to read about (greater) Hartford & bikes not other, more dramatic things.
So, I'm going to write a bit about some bike stuff.
First, I met with Art & Jason last night about our plan of attack for Hartford 'Cross in October. I think we're in a good position to make a pretty awesome race. So, if you're part of some kind of something and want to do some sponsoring, shoot me an email at oiseaux@gmail.com. Otherwise, come and race or come and watch. You really should come, it's much easier to get to than that race in Maine.
Second, the D2R2 is in two weeks and I'm sort of terrified. I think that I'm in ok shape, but like, it's supposed to be the hardest ride in the world. It's like the Leadville 100 meets Alpe d'Heuz times 50. I've decided that I'm going to ride my rigid mountain bike with semi-slick 1.5"s on it. I don't know if that's a good decision of not. Maybe someone can counsel me. It's a light and comfortable bike with low gearing. That seems like a good choice, right?
Third, I'm doing my first Cat 2 race on Sunday at Hodges Dam. I'm making the jump from beginner racing to mediocre racing. I'm expecting a last place finish. I also haven't raced since two months ago at Winsted Woods, so I'm totally out of practice.
Fourth could have been about my vacation to Vermont and riding my bike, but I didn't take any pictures of it. No one wants to read my narrative about getting muddy at Kingdom Trails.
This is Still Hill Rd in Glover, VT. Imagine if you got to commute to work on this!Thursday, July 23, 2009
Au Revoir
Interpersonal feuds are rarely worth celebrating, let alone exposing to a wider audience, and blog-based feuds are almost always painfully presumptuous. However, a disagreement among the Beat Bike Bloggers has put me in the unfortunate position of having to quit this fine and worthy undertaking. Hereunder, a brief explanation.
You see, dear reader, we used to have a contributor named Rich. Some months back, Chillwill, our founder and Editor-at-Large, had a falling-out with Rich, over a personal matter wholly unrelated to the blog. At the time, Will sent Rich an e-mail expressing his anger and disappointment at Rich's transgression, and Rich denied that he had done this bad thing. Later, Will got some independent confirmation of said bad thing, and he and Rich pretty much ceased to be friends. Months later, while doing some administrative maintenance of this blog, Will recalled the offense and decided he simply didn't want to collaborate with someone who would betray his trust. So he removed Rich's posting privileges.
Will and Rich are both friends to me. I don't have any interest in the underlying facts of their dispute, although I certainly sympathize with both Will's feelings of betrayal and Rich's feelings of being wrongly accused. My feeling, though, is that none of it has anything to do with writing about riding bicycles in Hartford. I also feel that while the blog was Will's idea and he set it up, promoted it, and generally put much hard work into it, it belongs to all of us. (Not for nothing, but I've accounted for 29.7% of the posts to date, while Will has written only 15.3%).
I have put this matter to Will privately a number of times, telling him that the fair thing to do is restore Rich to posting privileges and put the matter to a vote of all the contributors. Most recently, a couple of weeks ago, I told him that I would quit if he didn't make this right. We talked today and he said he simply could not work on a shared endeavor with someone he feels has betrayed his friendship, that he didn't want to put the matter to a vote of the contributors (being justifiably concerned about needlessly airing personal matters), and that he would absolutely not resolve the problem by quitting the blog he founded (fair). So principle demands that I go. Oh well.
Thanks, dear readers, for your jolly comments and good advice. I think I'll start blogging at the New London Commercial Fishermen's Blog, which I started yesterday just so I would have a funny link in my last post. Come check me out over there, and keep riding your bikes!
Showdown In Old Town recap
“I have two boats in dry dock, a busted longboard and a fuckin’ busted-ass bike.” Words spoken by Jonathon, the winner of the Summer Showdown in Old Town. Actually, RJ and Rydel arrived 5 or 10 minutes earlier, by they forgot stop #7, which was to pick up a free copy of the Blue Paper. Prolly about half the racers had to run back out of Cowboy Bill’s and around the block to the Parrot, the nearest spot to grab a copy of the weekly newspaper. Suckas! So due to this and that, the winning bicycle, a $20 cruiser, beat the roadies and the fixies!
17 people met up at the end of the White Street Pier for the island’s first alleycat race and all had a great time. We had a few DQ’s due to missed stops, but most everyone finished and got a prize. All racers got a water bottle from Fixed Gears and a koozie from Cowboy Bill's, who also hooked us up with $1 PBR’s all night. yeeee-haaaaaaw! Thanks again to Re-Cycle , Guy Harvey's Help Yourself , Conch Traders, Turtle Kraals and Bad Boy Buttitos who were super kind with donated prizes, thanks y’all! Miami Bike Scene also covered the race.
johnathon conch cruiser
pedi eddie conch cruiser but i should have had him as a roadie
rj
rydel fixie
jason
david
amy fixie
travis conch cruiser
sasha
nick
lou
george conch cruiser
matt conch cruiser
Instead of putting the manifests and maps into envelopes, they were tucked inside waterbottles donated by Fixed Gears, which was the start of the surprise coconuts and mangos checkpoint tasks. Instead of signing manifests, Ray was handing out coconuts to be delivered to a house on Olivia Street. Thanks to Randesh for the coconuts. You can find him at Help Yourself chopping them open with a machete for the delicious water inside. Help Yourself was also a stop and they made everyone do a shot of super cold juice!
Brian and Agnes worked the Olivia Street surprise stop, where conch cruisers got their manifest signed, but roadies had to take a freshly picked mango back to Fixed Gears to get a signature. I am not sure how many people realized the Bill Butler Park checkpoint was down a tiny alley only two houses away!
Maya kicked ass and rode off into the sunset on the steel (and cardboard) horse she rides. Inspired by the race, she actually made a horse for her bicycle. Well done! She worked the checkpoint on the stairs at the corner of Duval and Front and made the racers go and find a tourist and make them yell, “yeee-haaaawww!”
This is a crazy story. George, on the left thought he had DFL and realized he had lost his wallet while racing. He rushed out of Cowboy Bill’s to go look for it and Matt, on the right, showed up and stole DFL from him. Matt also had a wallet he found on the street; which turned out to be George’s wallet! Dang, this town is getting small…
This was the most fixie riders ever together on this tiny island….six of us! Amy, Amy, Patrick, ChillWill and on the far right; Peppermint Patti and Rydel who drove down from Miami for the race. Riding around Saturday night with everyone was awesome. We had road bikes, fixies, conch cruisers and even a Penny-Farthing
Click Read More for a basket full of more photos!
Patricia arrived at Turtle Kraals and climbed the stairs to the Tower Bar but could not find the checkpoint person. She borrowed a menu to prove she was there. Good thinking!
Yep, someone really raced a Penny-farther! Scott also builds custom chopper bikes. I’ll mos def get a post out soon with some of his work and contact info.
We gave Matt, DFL, this rope lock hoping his bike would get stolen and he could get a faster bike! Ironicaly, Jonothn, who came in 1st place, actually uses a rope to “lock up” his bike at racks. Really, he does it all the time. I love this town!
By the way, Matt was one of the out-of-towners, visiting from Ohio; not for the race…but on honeymoon with his beautiful wife! Congratulations! They were super cool, hope to see y’all when I’m visiting Columbus in August.
Robbie was making people, like Jason here, go down the slide at Bill Butler Park.
RJ, in between Peppermint Patti and ??, prolly could have been the winner if not for a bit of disorganization on by both of us. He arrived at Cowboy Bill’s with Rydel an out-of-towner from Miami following his wheel, and they could not find me. They got back on their bikes and pedaled all the way to Cowboy Bill’s Reloaded, a smaller sister bar towards the northern end of Duval and returned…still looking for me. I was taking photos at three checkpoints as fast as possible. They forgot to pick up the Blue Paper and while going out to get them, Jonathon and Eddie arrived, putting RJ and Rydel in 3rd and 4th.
Scott, on the left, is the rider of the Penny Farthington. I don’t remember what Peppermint Patti was showing me and Patrick is blurry and out of focus…as promised.
An adorable couple and their bicycle basket of mangos! Thanks again Brian and Agnes for helping out.
me and lou
Rydel killin' the wings! At some point at Finnegan’s Wake I wrote down a quote from PP, “I’m not surprised he has chicken in his tooth hole!”
Rydel and the King of the Wild West, Jonathon, who bought a round for everyone!
Peppermint Patti chillin'
these tats were da bomb!
peppermint patti hugging what may have been the inspiration for The Giving Tree infont of the house where Shel Silverstein lived.
david on the penny! It was a bit awkward at first, but I liked riding it. with a waaay bigger front wheel than a 29’r, curbs were nuttin’!
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Wednesday, July 22, 2009
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.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2009
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?!!
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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?
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Thursday, July 16, 2009
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?
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Monday, July 13, 2009
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.
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Sunday, July 12, 2009
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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Friday, July 10, 2009
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.
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Wednesday, July 8, 2009
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.
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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.
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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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