#GiftsForCyclists Part III: From Pacific Swim Bike Run: The Gift of Wrench Smarts

Just as I said a few days ago when you saw it in front of Lorca: that awful-looking bike parked in front of Pacific Swim Bike Run deserves an explanation. But you’ll have to wait. This is still DIYBIKING.COM’s #GiftsForCyclists special and it can’t be slowed down.

On 575 Pacific Street in Stamford, you’ll find Pacific Swim Bike Run (the same shop that created the Hot Chocolate Classic to benefit The Pacific House Shelter for the Homeless a few weeks ago). On paper, it’s supposed to be a shop I’d normally avoid. It specializes in bikes that are fast that are bought by people who want to go faster and after riding argue with their friends over who was the fastest. 

But it’s not that. It’s a fun, non-intimidating place to shop or take a class. Even though I have mostly skinny tire bikes in this shot they also have a well curated selection of children’s bicycles and gear. And they carry a few bikes that would cause any cyclist’s eyes to light up on Christmas morning. 

This got my attention walking in the door. Like the beautiful custom bike that BikePort is raffling off it is just an outstanding color. Don’t you just want to hang it on your tree? 

Now you can buy this or any other bike here for a cyclist this Christmas. Because the shop is less than a ten minute walk from the Stamford railway station, New York City friends reading this can make an easy trip here to do a little Christmas shopping - possibly for themselves. 

But if you are shopping for the cyclist who has everything, I recommend you visit PSBR and get him or her a private class with a bike mechanic. For $89 an hour, a PSBR mechanic will teach one or two people (there’s a gift for the cyclist power couple in your life) any topic related to bike repair. Think about it: it’s like Batman hiring out Lucius Fox.*

What’s taught in this period of time is up to the cyclist: it can be as simple as fixing a flat, replacing a bottom bracket, brakes and drivetrain adjustments - any wisdom a cyclist wished they had before they had ruined a perfectly good shifter when building a mountain bike. 

So if the cyclist you’re shopping for is long on toys but short on how to maintain them, visit Pacific Swim Bike Run and give the gift of Wrench Smarts. Ask about getting this at the PSBR front desk or contact them at contact@pacificsbr.com or 203-504-8960. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

* or James Bond hiring out Q, if you prefer. 

Bikes Lift Cities. Art Does Too.

This Friday, June 27, Fairfield County is lucky to have two great events in both of its cities (and yes: this is worth interrupting the progress report of the bike generator I built last week).

One event is in Bridgeport, a city not thirty miles away from my front door and I've only ridden in it once. From what I can tell by what I've seen recently, that's a shameful admission. Especially since Cleveland is a tank-and-a-half of 87 octane from Stamford and I know that city better. 

Visiting BPT Creates the other day to drop some of my artwork off tells me I need to bring back my 'All Local Stops' series. 

Let me back up a second.

BPT Creates/Magnacon 7 is a gallery and workspace located at 1001 Main Street, Suite 14. What makes the first part of that address significant is the fact it is in the Arcade Mall (pictured above). All of the wonder of the mall in Cleveland with no five-state blend of bug pizza on the grill of my car to get there.

This Friday, from 6:00 to 9:00pm, the opening reception of BPT Creates' exhibit "I Want to Ride My Bicycle" is being held there. I submitted a few of my pieces (some of which you've seen at my exhibit at Lorca this past March) but from what I've seen on the BPT Creates Facebook page my stuff isn't going to be the highlights of this exhibit. 

It goes without saying, but attendees are encouraged to bike to the opening reception. 

In Stamford this weekend, we have ARTWALK, which turns downtown into an art exhibit. It begins on Friday and continues through Saturday afternoon. You can find out more details, including the calendar of events and the route map, at Stamford Downtown Special Services district web site. The weather looks like it will be good for riding and walking in the city I call home, and some of the exhibits, including some from artist Holly Danger (who was profiled in the Connecticut Post this week and has some of her art on display at Lorca) that may well stop people in their tracks as they pass through Kiwanis Park. 

I talk about bikes the way I do because bikes lift cities up. Art does that too. I hope you have a chance to visit both ARTWALK in Stamford and BPT Creates in Bridgeport this weekend - and tell your friends to do the same. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding.  

On the (Six Foot) Fence About The Merritt Parkway Trail

So on Monday night  I took my little folding bike to the Stamford train station, bought a ticket to Westport and then rode from their Metro North station to the Westport Town Hall.

Representatives from the Connecticut Department of Transportation were there waiting to make a public presentation showing the results of the $1 million-plus feasibility study on a proposed Merritt Parkway trail. You can see more details of the study here but the upshot is a trail would be built along the south side of the Merritt around 70 feet or so from the parkway itself. The trail would span the entire 37.5 mile length and the estimated cost was pegged at $200 to $250 million - and about 20% of that ($50 million on the high end) would come from Connecticut. A six-foot fence would separate the trail from the properties that share the right-of-way section with the parkway.

I'm not against this project, but I'm not feeling the love for it, either. I'll follow the Buzzfeed-inspired trend of listing my reasons:

1) I'm more in favor of projects that spend as little money as possible that help as many people as possible before moving to the big stuff. For instance, on-street bike lanes and 'lane dieting' initiatives are cheaper per mile than the Merritt Parkway Trail would be. As it stands, the trail's estimated cost is about $6.6 million a mile (roughly $1.3 million coming from Connecticut).  According to the presentation I attended: this money would be for a trail that won't have lights, that won't be plowed in the winter, that will have a fence on both sides, and (in Westport, anyway) have a lot of road crossings (also, as good as the CT DOT presentation was, I didn't care for nor believe the estimate that it would take a cyclist, moving at 15 miles an hour, a little over five minutes to cross the town, since it did not appear to take into account the time it would take a cyclist to dismount and cross a road safely before mounting up and starting again).

2) If the Connecticut Department of Transportation were aggressively implementing a Complete Streets policy - as recommended by the annual report from the Connecticut Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Board - and were putting in bike lanes by the mile on as many roads as possible, I'd probably be a huge cheerleader of the Merritt Parkway Trail since people could get to the trailheads safely by bike. This makes the 'a lot of road crossings' point I made a moment ago important, because I don't see a great reason, in the words of some Merritt Parkway Trail supporters, to "link communities together" when the communities themselves aren't very hospitable to cyclists to begin with.

3) A lot of the dialogue about the usage of this trail seems to imply recreational use on weekends, with a point being made that the Park and Ride parking lots peppered along the Merritt Parkway would be useful places for people to leave their cars when they visit and want to use the trail. That's an argument that may have made a lot more sense ten-plus years ago, when the trail was first proposed, but now we're living in a state growing more notorious by the day for its automotive congestion. We don't just want to encourage weekend use, but day-to-day boring stuff like going to the grocery store or to the office.  Solutions like Complete Streets and passing a Vulnerable User law need to be done so people are incentivized not to use their cars to begin with.

All of these issues are real: as I said, the night of the meeting I rode my bike to the Stamford Train station (thereby leaving a parking space for someone who really needed it), folded it to bring on Metro North, and in the two-plus miles I pedaled from the Westport station to the town hall on Myrtle Avenue, I didn't see a solitary bike lane, Share the Road sign or even a sharrow. 

If I had, I might have entered the meeting with an East Coast Greenway hat and made a full-throated endorsement of the trail.

So if momentum is really moving toward building a Merritt Parkway Trail, that momentum has to be extended to less sexy things that, at the end of the day, should take priority.  When the state starts aggressively implementing Complete Streets, when legislators pass a Vulnerable User Law, when I don't have to lock my bike to an ashtray at the bank, when we commit to a future that makes it easier for people to choose the bike to get around on the very same streets cars drive on now, then you can hand me an ornamental shovel and a oversize pair of scissors for the Merritt Parkway Trail ribbon cutting. Until that progress is made, I'll be rooted in my indifference. When you're a passionate cyclist, it's not a fun place to be.

Thanks for reading and thanks for riding.

Ride from Wassaic to Millerton (& Ease Your Way Into Autumn)

If you spent any part of this day waiting in line to buy the latest Apple product - like the iPad 4 pictured above* -  this post may not be for you. This post is for those of you who crammed their scratched up communications devices into their packs to head out and enjoy the world before the icy hand of autumn death finally arrives. 

It's not that I've soured on autumn, it's just that this was a beautiful and memorable summer: a trip to Cleveland to give a bike away, my first trip to Barcelona, my first ride with a Stamford mayoral candidate, a California adventure and, of course, Bluff Point State Park. I don't know how I'm going to make this next season top that. 

But anyway, we have 48 hours until we turn to pumpkins.48 hours until your lemonade changes to cider, your beach umbrella changes to a plastic rake and your thin, comfortable jersey turns into an ill-fitting, I-can't-tell-whether-I'm-hot-or-cold cycling jacket. 

Now you can't do the equivalent of pouring boiling water into a cold glass. Ease into the fall and follow the rules of summer along the way, like Rule #22: local ice cream shops.

Since we are days away from a lot of places putting the dreaded 'closed for the season' signs on their outside of shuttered doors, be certain to take advantage of the places that have the outside lines (so you don't have to leave your bike when ordering the treat). 

Also: take a relaxing ride like the one my wife and I took this past Sunday: If you're in reasonable driving distance, I suggest the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.

The way I do the trail is driving the car up to the Wassaic, New York Metro North station, parking in the lot, and riding the trail the 10+ miles to Millerton. 

It's paved all the way and mostly smooth, so if you bring a skinny-tired bike you shouldn't have any problems. I always bring the recumbent since it fits in with the relaxed setting. 

Now according to the bike GPS, one climbs about 200 feet over the course of the ten miles. Very gradual. After all, this used to be a rail bed, and unlike some other rail trails, there are things to see along the way, not that many road crossings and very little traffic noise. 

The trees are changing and the tires will crunch on the dead organic matter (I'm sorry: pretty autumn leaves) covering parts of the trail. 

As you come into Millerton, you can lock your bikes up to the rack found on your right - the one that is across from the Rail Trail Supply Company, where you can rent a bike, get one serviced or pick up supplies.

Just across the street you'll find Harney & Sons. If you like tea and you haven't been there…you're going to want to go. They have tea and serve lunch, so it's a good idea to ride in the morning to Millerton to eat.

I'm not a tea person, but my wife is, so while she was sampling tea I was buying a pound of coffee beans from Irving Farm Coffee Roasters.

Now a nice part of this rail trail is that the town of Millerton has a great bookshop - the outstanding Oblong Books & Music - and other interesting places to wander. So if you go with someone who doesn't ride as much as you - and browses more - you can ride back to get the car and drive back to Millerton before finishing the day. 

So that's what we did. Going back alone, I still enjoyed the trail and went much faster even though I still slowed down to say 'on your left' before riding by the other people who were out enjoying the trail. Other than a stop to try to photograph a hawk, this was the only picture I took on the way back: it's my watch and my GPS: only 38 minutes to go the 10.7 miles from Millerton to my car. I think the socks I was wearing made me feel like I could go fast.

And that was a good ride to help ease myself into autumn - which is already dumping a huge number of dead organ…pretty yellow leaves everywhere. Look what I saw on my way up Rt. 106 to New Canaan this morning.

I'll be sure to get more rides in between now and Sunday, and will try to make this a great autumn. I may even hire a guy to rake my leaves this year and go for a bike ride instead, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm going to put this post up and go outside and play. Hope you do too. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

*made you look - it's really an iPad 2 I found on - where else - a bike ride earlier this year on High Ridge Road in Stamford. Too smashed up to try to find the owner, I peeled off some letters from the keyboard and went nuts with the crazy glue. 

All Local Stops: Old Greenwich

Old Greenwich is one Metro North stop away from Stamford, which means if I'm taking a local train from Grand Central, I'd start gathering my coat and other belongings once the train passed Old Greenwich.

Since it's another stop that's so close to home, I decided to ride there by heading south on Rt. 1 and taking a right on Laddins Rock Road, which meant I could stop at the Perrot Memorial Library and take a terrible picture of it.

The photo doesn't do it any justice; the real treat is on the inside. It's one of those libraries that is more like a palace for books and for reading, and just walking into the place gives you a bump in I.Q. points. But it was closed this morning and I was heading off to Greenwich Point Park, a couple of miles from the library. First, I stopped at Binney Park, which is right across from the library.

On a Sunday morning, it is very peaceful with a fair share of folks walking dogs, pushing strollers or jogging. I have no idea how large the park is, but it is big enough to land a helicopter. I know this because George W. Bush once landed at Binney Park to attend a fundraiser.

The park is a very easy to walk from the Old Greenwich train station, as is the library, so if you come here I recommend checking a book out of the library and walking around the paths all over the park.

I left the park and got back onto Laddins Park Road, which turns (as if by magic) into Sound Beach Avenue. I headed past the shops along the main thoroughfare and took a right onto Shore Road, which ultimately led to Tods Driftway and to Greenwich Point Park.

From my vantage point on the recumbent, it was clear that the only way to get to the beach was to dig three tunnels named Tom, Dick and Harry and hope one of them would remain undiscovered long enough for me to get past the gate, the gaurd tower, and the wire.

Okay, the last part I made up: there was no wire, and at the gate, nobody asked me to show a resident's beach card (a question which led to an infamous lawsuit years ago). In fact, there was nobody at the gate at all. I imagine it may have been because I rode here on the off-season, but who has time for wondering when the scenery is this nice?

When you keep pedaling along Tods Driftway, you have a very nice view of Long Island Sound. There are also some nice buildings in the park, including the one in the picture below. I don't think the portable toilet is permanent.

The real treat comes when you pedal a little bit further past this building along the edge of the park. Eventually, you arrive at an area which doesn't allow bikes but it does have a lot of picnic tables and a rather nice view of New York City.

I had no food with me for a picnic and instead continued riding on Tods Driftway with the other cyclists.

After making the loop around Tods Driftway, I left the park and headed back to the main thoroughfare.

Close to 11:00am on a Sunday morning, the area was rather quiet, but just up the road was the Upper Crust Bagel Company where I stopped for a muffin.

Just up the street and a few steps from the Old Greenwich station is a deli which, if I were hungrier, I would have stopped for a big breakfast.

I pedaled up the slight hill to the station, but instead of taking a train back to Stamford, I rode back to Rt. 1 and turned north. Old Greenwich is a nice place to ride. Ride there.

(Follow me on Twitter at @michaelknorris)

All Local Stops: Rowayton

Far from the chain store droppings along Rt. 1 in Norwalk lies the neighborhood of Rowayton. If you want to bring your bike there on Metro North just get off at the Rowayton station (between Darien and South Norwalk).

If you live in Stamford, just pedal seven miles and forgo the train. I had decided to use the recumbent for this trip rather than the Dahon Matrix, so I biked to the station and snapped the above picture.

Because I rode along Old Kings Highway (after it had split off from Rt. 1 in Darien) I got to see tax dollars at work along I-95 in the form of the sound barrier, which is quite effective.

You can also see some nice houses, but as you ride you get the sense that some of the places just aren't loved quite like they used to be.

If you start at the Rowayton railway station, make your way to town by Rowayton Avenue, which, if you turn left at the traffic light, you'll find yourself on Rt. 136 near this church (about a half mile).

I know absolutely nothing about this church, other than if you know where it is and are giving directions on how to get there to someone, you'll conclude your instructions with the phrase "you can't miss it."

Keep pedaling and keep the church on your left, and in barely another 1/10 of a mile you come to Pinkney Park, which is very important to my wife and I because every year we make a point to support Shakespeare on the Sound, which is a free outdoor performance of one of Shakespeare's plays. Much Ado About Nothing starts in June, in case you're interested. Due to the cloud cover, I couldn't get a decent picture of the space where the play is performed.

Just beyond Pinkney Park is the Rowayton Market.  If you go to see Shakespeare on the Sound, you pretty much have to go here for some fine sandwiches, baked goods and related picnic provisions.

Though I could have locked the bike to one of the benches, I continued another half-mile down the road to Brendan's. I wanted (and got) an ice cream, but Brendan's sells much more than just ice cream and is another great "you can't miss it" location in Rowayton.

If the picnic benches (which are just behind the white picket fence and the bike) are full, as they tend to be in the on-season, you can take your cup of ice cream and walk over to the beach.

It was a great place to be that day. Since it was March, the whole area seemed filled with boats that were Saran-Wrapped for the season but the plastic was beginning to tear and rip away - as if the boats themselves are trying to shed their winter coats.Some dinghys were out on the water already, though:

Unable to finish my ice cream (which wasn't melting as fast as it would had I come in the summer) I decided to finish it later and continue riding. Had I planned ahead, I would have used a miniature bungee cord to hold the ice cream in place so I could continue eating it while continuing down Rowayton Avenue.

Off the end of Rowayton Avenue, the roads get narrow and there are speedbumps, but if you ride respectfully as you meander around the neighborhood, residents will smile and wave as you pass (at least if you're riding a museum piece).

I pedalled up to the Wee Burn Country Club, past the Bayley Beach Park, and came to a deserted beach that had a nice view of Long Island Sound.

I ate the rest of my ice cream while at the beach, where I could see a lighthouse whose name I did not know.

I stowed the now empty ice cream container in my panniers and kept riding. Soon, I came to a pair of Adirondack chairs at the corner of Ensign and Crescent.

Wanting to ride home with as few cell phone-weilding motorists as possible, I headed home around four in the afternoon. I suppose that is one big advantage of taking a Dahon Matrix on trips like this: I could have rode less than a mile to the Rowayton station and caught the next train to Stamford (where it's just 1.76 miles from there to my house), but instead I rode along Rt. 1 and took a left on Weed Avenue, which runs along Holly Pond.

It was a fun trip, and whether you ride the whole way there or use the train, enjoy Rowayton.

(Follow me on Twitter at @michaelknorris)