Real Fun Ride

Last night's Real Ride through Hartford was a ridiculously good time. Cyclists descended upon Real Art Ways, some with bikes already costumed. Luckily for those of us who spent Saturday afternoon napping instead of raiding The Lot for bicycle accessories, RAW graciously provided glow bracelets and blinkies, so everyone was illuminated. Attendance was impressive:

The ride consisted of a ten-mile tour of Hartford with stops highlighting the history of RAW in Hartford (former locations, sites of art installations). But mostly it was about creating a spectacle in Hartford with our garish two-wheeler parade. We're pretty convinced we made everybody's night who saw us (as evidenced by their waving and cheering). Bolstered by our safety in numbers we brazenly impeded traffic and toured areas of Hartford most of us wouldn't normally bike, least of all at night, including downtown, the Riverfront, the north end, and the Meadows area. Everyone got a special charge out of the pedestrian overpass over Route 91, which included spiraling up and down multi-level ramps on either side.


This being a RAW event, of course area celebrities were present, like guitarist Daniel Salazar and artist Anne Cubberly, whose bike "costumes" were the feature of the previous Real Ride. Anne had to work extra hard to navigate her piranha bike through the overpass but came through it in one piece.

I was impressed by this remarkably ugly sculpture by the Riverfront. I only had time to snap a quick picture of "Jack" the turkey, and didn't get all of his details, but I'm sure they must be fascinating. I thought he might be a candidate to revive the "phallic artistry" feature here on the blog, but maybe we've outgrown that... And actually, this look is a little more vulvar.


I think I can safely say that a good time was had by all, and that everyone who participated is hungry for more Real Rides. Regrettably, the word on the street is no more Real Rides til spring. Perhaps Jackie Scenic and I can arrange to tide interested parties over with a Scenic Bicycle Tour of all our significant West Hartford landmarks, like the street we both used to live on, the coffee shop formerly known as Peter B's and the Elmwood Green.