Post a Comment On: the beat bike blog

Well, I was excited to be the first to post about Bike To Work Day (I mean, the official one; y'all know that e'ery day is Bike To Work day for the BBB crew), but stupid flickr wouldn't let me upload my pictures, and a blog post without pictures is like, um, a thing without the other thing that makes it better. Anyway, chillwill beat me to the punch, but now I have a few more pictures. So, click on "read more" to see the post I boldly penned this morning, and the pictures I boldly took.

Yes, it's true. Drunk off the heady, alternative transportation optimism spawned by a week of bike-related events, tens of bike commuters gathered in the shadow of the Old State House (where our Connecticut forefathers signed the Fundamental Orders after riding their bikes to work back in 1639) to eat bagels, drink coffee, and revel in the Boston accent of D.E.P. Commissioner Gina McCarthy and the bold proclamation that May 16 would once again be known as Bike to Work day in Hartford. (City Council Prez. Calixto Torres read the proclamation, which Mayor Eddie Perez had lovingly composed at an earlier date.) Chillwill and I were there, repping the BBB to the fullest. Naturally, I took some pictures:


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I don't know if it's a lack of good publicity on the part of the organizers or a testament to just how autocentric Central Connecticut is, but you sure couldn't tell that it was a special day for riding bikes to work. This photo is representative of the number of bikes I saw on my way from West Hartford.


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Of the thirty-odd people present, those in street clothes may actually have constituted the minority. Understand me: I have nothing against matching spandex outfits, but if you're biking to work and you have to carry a whole set of clean clothes and keep them from getting wrinkled, isn't that, like, a pain? And what if you're on your way home and you get a call saying, "Come meet us at this bar!" ('cause that's what it's all about, right? Bike Everywhere, you know?) Are you going to chill at the bar dressed like a safety-conscious superhero? Not hatin', just statin'.


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The unassuming leaders of the bike rebellion, Gina McCarthy and Calixto Torres, read their proclamation dissolving city government and declaring the two-wheeled dictatorship. Their loyal footsoldiers look on with approval.


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As with all good bike advocacy events, there were freebies. These included stainless steel waterbottles, tape measures (I guess they couldn't afford cyclocomputers, so they went for a cheaper distance measurement tool), and lots of stickers. There were some day-glo ones that said "BE SAFE, BE SEEN," and back at the office I was able to rearrange them into "YA SABES," which is much better.