Riding With The Boneshaker in Mystic, Connecticut

I go to Mystic, Connecticut all the time because my parents live there. Even if your parents do not, it's a place worth going. You've got the New England charm, the New England houses, the New England shoreline on a place that is walkable, has an Amtrak stop, is close to Bluff Point State Park and, of course, the home of the Mystic Cycle Center.

One of the things you have to do in Mystic – whether you bring your own bike or get one from the shop – is ride around the Mystic River. Here's a view of the famous Mystic River Drawbridge if you're at the nearby Mystic River Park.

And here's a much more common view of the Mystic drawbridge; one you usually see if you're trying to move from one side of the river to the other as quickly as possible.

 

During this season, the bridge goes up every hour during the day in a traffic-snarling spectacle that often makes tourists gawk and residents groan. If you're in a car and the bridge goes up, turn off your engine – and if you're on the right side of the bridge you can briefly abandon your car and get a Kona Coffee ice cream cone at the Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream Shop.

If you're on the non-ice cream shop side of the bridge (as I was when this photo was taken) you can relax a moment and watch the boats pass through. When you finally have the chance to go to the other side, you can head around the Mystic River by first turning right down Gravel Street. Be sure to look to the right through most of this ride since that's where the river is.

Follow Gravel and take a right on Pearl Street (which gives you a nice view of the Mystic Seaport) then take another right on River Road. It's flat, it's peaceful and I have to do this ride at least once every time I'm visiting my folks.

As you pass under the I-95 highway bridge, you come to this sign. One day I want to build a bike that is in the shape of the one represented in the carving.

The information in the sign is accurate, as here you will find a few joggers and cyclists as you circumnavigate the river.

After a short uphill that takes you past a cemetery, you'll soon come to Rt. 27, where you will take another right. It's an occasionally busy road, but motorists to tend to give you a generous amount of space.

If you want another ice cream treat, look for the octopus bearing them as you get closer to town. This is also one of the several ice cream places in town that are accessible by kayak. 

 

Not far beyond the Sea View Snack Bar is the famous Mystic Seaport. I recommend you visit and become a member, as it's just a great showcase of shoreline history.

The Seaport also hosts events from time to time, and thanks to my alert wife (and later, my alert mother) I knew to be in town the day I took this river ride.

 

When I returned to my parents house, we all set off for the Seaport to attend Bicycles by the Sea. At the gate, I asked permission to bring the recumbent into the Seaport. I was allowed but was told, not surprisingly, that I couldn't ride it while inside. Still, I was glad to walk it about since I thought the bike, which is normally the oddest thing on two wheels in a ten mile radius, would fit right in.

It did.

 

This was one of those days when I wished I had visited an ATM machine and prepared a shopping list before my arrival. There were parts everywhere. I ended up buying two old-style headlamps and two generators and reasoned I'd come up with a need for them at a later date.

 

I had fun walking the recumbent around and meeting some of the vendors (the recumbent - and the cycling Darth Vader T-shirt I got from Pacific Swim Bike Run - are great ice breakers). I also noticed that Mystic Seaport employees appeared exempt from the 'don't ride the bike' rule.

There were lots of bike to see: bikes that looked old, bikes that looked fast, bikes that looked uncomfortable, and bikes that looked both fast and uncomfortable.

Also, it's the Mystic Seaport. You've seen the 'Bicycles' part so let me give you a little bit of the 'by the sea' part:

Not surprisingly, my parents and my wife were not quite as enthused about the event as I was, so I went to join them at a bench which was facing the Mystic River. The Seaport employee on the Boneshaker (I've seen that bike and another riding around on non-Bicycle by the Sea days) kept riding about fairly gracefully, which made me wonder if I'd ever buy or borrow a replica from Worksman.

It was my dad's idea to get me to ride with the Boneshaker guy so he could take a picture with his cannon-sized camera. I wasn't crazy about disobeying the woman behind the ticket counter who told me not to ride or going without my helmet, but it still seemed like a nice idea. I recommend you visit the Mystic Seaport, either just because or during one of the special events. In case you're wondering there is a bike rack right in front of the ticket counter – and I wasn't allowed to ride on the Boneshaker.

(Follow me on Twitter at @michaelknorris)

In Manhattan for the Metro North Bike Rack Test

Since I had a day off work today, I decided to head to Manhattan and test prototype Metro North M8 railcar bike racks.

Stay with me: this is a lot more interesting than it sounds.

You see, cyclists along the Metro North lines have been asking for bike racks on trains before there were any tracks. Now that racks are set to be installed in some of the new M8 railcars, the east coast will have finally caught up to the west.

The state DOT and Metro North Railroad narrowed the choices down to two styles. They had a two-hour window to test them yesterday in New Haven but it wasn't on my day off. Appropriately, some of the folks who have advocated for bike racks on trains the longest had their chance to try them then. But if I wanted to try out the racks, I'd have to head into Grand Central Terminal.

I briefly thought about throwing the designers of the things off-center by bringing the recumbent, but I realize it wouldn't be the most common bike that would get to go on these racks and I should treat it like a serious test. So I brought my homemade mountain bike, which I had outfitted this morning with its “street package” - two 1.5 inch tires on their own rims. When I brought it onto the 10:14 express train, I did what many cyclists do and wedged it in the vestibule.

This isn't ideal, and the new bike racks were hopefully going to change this nonsense.

My plan was to get to the city, check out the racks, and head straight back so I could join my wife for lunch. Partway down I realized how silly it seemed to head all the way from Stamford to New York City just to hang my bike on a couple of hooks, so I decided to get a short ride out of it by getting off the train at Harlem 125^th street. This meant I could ride 82 blocks south to get to Grand Central Terminal on a very beautiful day.

I had one snag: my mountain bike does not appreciate the street wheels. I just sense it would prefer the trails of Mianus River Park or Bluff Point State Park than city streets. For reasons I haven't figured out yet, I kept overshifting and twice on the way down the chain would jam. My homemade mountain bike was behaving like a child who didn't like the shoes he was being forced to wear.

It was still a quick fix, and since I had just cleaned the chain the day before it wasn't too messy. After taking care not to shift into too high a gear, I made it to GCT and had no trouble at all finding the track where the M8 railcar was parked. A friendly Metro North employee greeted me before pointing out where I needed to board in order to test racks 'A' and 'B.' He also asked if I'd take a survey when I was done and I agreed.

I headed into the first car and was shown Rack 'B' which came with detailed instructions.

With MTA employees and other onlookers watching, I hooked up the front wheel and pulled the spring loaded arm into place over the bottom bracket. Just like that, the bike was locked firmly into place. I found the experience easy and I liked it.

Stifle that yawn. That becomes important in a moment.

After talking with some of the Metro North team and other testers for a few minutes, I took the bike down (it was just as easy an experience as putting it up) and headed to the next car where I was shown Rack 'A' which also came with detailed instructions.

Instead of starting by hanging your bike from the hook, the first step, as you can see, is to pull a steel hoop away from the wall and put it near the floor. Then you hang the bike and pull the hoop up over the rear wheel. That's it.

Some of the people there really wanted my opinion on which one I liked better. After so many years of putting the bike in the vestibule I would have been grateful for one of those $0.99 hooks that I use in my basement. I asked whether they've had a chance to test bikes with rear racks on 'A' and they assured me the hoop goes right over it. One of the people there suggested the 'serious riders' preferred rack 'B' since they often had panniers bags to think about.

After chatting with the others for a few more minutes (and briefly talking bikes with the project manager who was there) I decided to give Rack 'B' another shot. By the time I walked my bike there, an attractive cyclist had just finished hanging her bike to Rack 'B' and was looking at it the way a museum goer might gaze at a piece of abstract art. I patiently waited, but a Metro North employee spotted me and beckoned me forward. Just as before, I easily accomplished step one and hung my bike to the rack.

However, because the Attractive Cyclist's Bike was there, hooking up the spring-loaded clamp was more difficult. I had to wedge my torso between the handlebars of both bikes to reach in to grab the clamp. It was then that I realized I liked Rack 'A' better. You can push the hoop to the floor and then pull it back up by using your foot and not have to reach your arm in. That's important because I imagine most of the people using these racks are going to be on their way to work and wouldn't particularly enjoy scuffing up their nice shirts and blouses by having to reach between two bikes to grab a clamp.

I'll take whatever racks we get, but I'm Team Rack 'A.'

After I filled out the survey I took a sheet of paper that showed what trains would have the new racks. At the moment it is, not surprisingly, fewer trains than a lot of people would like. But it is a start.

I returned to the main hall and found the 12:07 express train to Stamford on track 26. Just as before, I boarded the train and wedged the bike in the vestibule before settling down for the 47 minute trip back to Stamford.

On the way back, we stopped at Harlem 125^th street, and the doors opened on the left side of the train – which meant my bike was blocking the passengers from boarding. I quickly jumped out of my seat, grabbed the bike, and rapidly (but sheepishly) pulled it out of the way so they could board.

Thanks for letting us test the new racks, Metro North. No matter whether they are 'A' or 'B' they are so desperately needed.

(Follow me on Twitter at @michaelknorris)

Biking In Boston (or, Biking? In Boston?)

So I got to go to Boston for a weekend on short notice, which meant I could go to one of the most legendary bike-unfriendly cities in the Northeast.

Or was it?

I had never biked in Boston before. About ten years ago, when I lived up in New Hampshire I drove my car to a meeting in Boston and was profoundly horrified at the experience. As a result, on each subsequent trip I'd just drive to the Alewife T station and head into the city that way. When I moved to Stamford in 2004 I more or less forgot about Boston (Sorry, Bostonians. Stamford does have that effect).

But now I was about to head up for the weekend and actually be a tourist. As a bonus, my wife and I were taking Amtrak so I didn't even have to bring the car. So I packed a recently purchased bike and boarded the Northeast Regional on Friday afternoon.

Yes, the bike I brought with me is in the above photo. But here's a picture I took early the next morning when I took it out of the suitcase in the hotel. I put it together so quietly I didn't even wake my wife.

This is what I bought two weeks before my trip to Boston: a 1998 Bike Friday New World Tourist with 405 tires and an aftermarket seat with titanium rails. I should put the Autobot symbol on the case because this is truly a Transformer: it takes me ten minutes to pack it into the Samsonite suitcase it came with and another ten to unpack, unfold and set it up (but I'll save more of the details for the next Folding Bike Week).

I had every reason to be excited about biking in Boston: Mayor Thomas Menino started Boston Bikes (a series of programs and goals to make the city more bike friendly) four years ago this very month. Annual reports showing the cycling related progress they made that year and listing the goals they want to achieve the following year as they move toward a goal “a vibrant and healthy city that benefits all of its citizens.” It almost makes me weep. I want to print it all out, forward it to Stamford Mayor, Michael Pavia, and attach a note that says: 'well?'

The bike-friendly-city-envy starts when you get to Boston South Station.

I had never seen bike parking like this: completely covered, reasonably secure, and it has two levels. And this is probably one of the older ones. According to Boston, Menino's program has installed over 1,500 bike parking spaces in the past three years. When I went out for my ride, I saw bikes chained up and down staircase railings and lashed to small trees, so the 1,500 spaces is clearly just a start. 

After only a few minutes of riding, I realized the relationship bicycling has with Boston differs from that of other cities like Portland or New York. Boston is like a great apartment, and bicycling is the tenant who has paid the deposit, moved in, met all the neighbors...but hasn't unpacked everything. So you've got rooms that are completely barren and all of the 'Share the Road' signs are hung up on one or two walls. Bike racks are plentiful on one street but nonexistent the next. And if you're not used to seeing bike share stations unexpectedly, Boston will give you a shock – it's the equivalent of visiting someone's bathroom and seeing a huge box marked 'DINING ROOM' sitting on the toilet.

Yes, this past April, Boston went the way of Washington D.C., Paris and London and launched a bike share program. Boston is only the fifth major U.S. city to do this (come on, Stamford: don't you want to be on this exclusive list?)

The thing that made the sight of these stations jarring is the bikes, as you can see in the photographs, are new. Since the European cities I've visited have had them longer the bikes don't look as nice. The number of bikes in this rack just outside of Union Station kept changing throughout my visit and the sight of them around town tells me they won't always look so perfect (but the stations and the bikes will be put away during the winter, so the bikes will hopefully last a long time).

I almost wished I hadn't brought the New World Tourist because I would have loved trying these bikes out. If you want to, Hubway is now doing a special introductory offer of $60 for one year of membership (normally $85 per year), so if you live in Boston or go there a lot, that's what you want. You can also get a $12 three day or $5 24 hour pass at a station kiosk.

I rode for several miles in the city. As you probably guessed, I had my Garmin bike GPS on the handlebars and a map of Boston in my pack.

And as you probably guessed, I got lost.

I found that with the all of the new parking spaces, the lanes, the reports, the goals and the bike share Boston still has its disadvantages. Well, one: it's Boston. Assuming David McCullough has been thorough, we know that John and Abigail Adams weren't really into cycling, so there wasn't anyone back in that era to insist that streets be set up in the wide, helpful, Manhattan-style grid format. After my one and only car trip into Boston, I assumed the city was designed the way it is designed in hopes that the British wouldn't want to invade for fear of getting lost.

But I was reminded of the Portugal trip earlier in the summer because of three key factors: plenty of things to see, surprisingly courteous drivers and history everywhere you turn, such as the Kings Chapel Burying Ground which was established in 1630.

Also, some great television history is around as well. If you make the right number of twists and turns you can come to a couple of landmarks from the great and now off-air Boston Legal, such as the South Street Diner and 500 Boylston Street – the latter of which is used for the exterior shots of the Crane, Poole & Schmidt law firm.

Also on Boylston Street: Sel de la Terre, which features bicycles hanging from the ceiling...and fueled some ideas on what to do with Saved from the Scrapheap bikes.

At one point, while my wife and I were taking a walk together before my ride, a random couple stopped us and asked me to take a picture of the two of them together. I obliged, and while I was trying to get them focused in the shot I noticed it was right in front of where they shot 'Cheers.'

I also noticed the Back Bay Bicycle shop, which may or may not have been using one of the 1,500 new bike stands to display a piece of store artwork.

As it happens, the afternoon I went on my ride was the same afternoon the Red Bull Cliff Diving event was being held. It featured divers jumping off the Institute of Contemporary Art and into Boston Harbor. I left my wife there to sketch the event as it started, but I did find a promotional poster on my ride.

Later, I headed down to the piers where the event was being held.

Because of the small size and easy portability of the New World Tourist, I was able to push it gently but firmly through the crowds and got to see some of the divers at work.

My wife told me I had missed a kayaker who had parachuted in – James Bond-like – to land in the water. If she posts pictures on her blog I'll update this post.

It was a great day riding in Boston. I was having so much fun, I almost didn't want to leave. But after seeing some more sights, visiting some friends and eating some good food, I had to pack my things.

My ride, and my bike, were both outstanding but I think next time I may not even bring the New World Tourist and will instead try out one of the Hubway bikes. Either way, I'm looking forward to the next trip. I'm sure the city will have more of its bike stuff unpacked by then.

(Follow me on Twitter at @michaelknorris)