New Haven Independent

The ride took place mostly on bike paths, some paved, some not, once we got out of downtown. We stopped at the Long Wharf dock of the Amistad, which was in Mystic getting prepped for its trans-Atlantic voyage starting later this month to England to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the end of the slave trade, then on to Sierra Leone, the land from which the Africans were originally kidnapped who were later to win their freedom on our shores and head back to their homeland. So we couldn’t board the ship, but people read the \panels lining the wharf explaining the history of the incident.

We rode along the shore, in both New Haven and West Haven, with Brian Hornby and Kelly Jensen (pictured above) riding sweep (at the back) on their very cool tandem.

We rode, along with other pedestrians and cyclists, along West Haven’s wide paved path hugging the beach (it was, unfortunately, low tide, and rather odiferous) to the museum tucked under the Savin Rock Conference Center. Here, volunteer Harvey Piazza welcomed us. He said we were among the younger visitors to the museum, which is beloved especially among seniors, who remember fondly the major amusement park that used to be there.

After we left the museum we rode to the end of the pavement, past Savin Rock (bedecked with signs that ordered, “Do not climb on the rock”) to a series of veterans memorials, complete with flags, names carved in bricks, and beautiful plantings. One member of our group commented that his family had owned a cottage right there, which had been claimed by eminent domain to build what exists there now. We snapped a group photo before heading back.

Elm City Cycling is leading a dozen rides in all on the three festival weekends, culminating in a century (100-mile) ride around New Haven County on June 23. It was rained out last year, after much planning by a dedicated group of volunteers, so it can’t possibly rain again this year. Check out all the rides by date at this web site.