Nutmeg Nor'Easter VI:: 2022
plan for October 22 here at the bottom of the CT river valley! we have a lot on our plates right now, but will start organizing in the coming months. looks for registration some time in august. i left up the info from last year if you are curious --
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Thank you to everyone who made this year's NNeV truly spectacular! Looking forward to building more ALT cycling events in the future! If you're nostalgic for the event, please feel free to scope the reflective works of these Nutmegs:
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THEE NON-COMPETITIVE ALT CYCLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ALT CYCLING: noun : Alternatives to mainstream bicycle culture and industry that focuses on eroticism instead of consumerism and camaraderie over competition.
This fifth installation of the Nutmeg Nor’easter is a social enjoyment gathering and self supported ride highlighting the autumnal glory of the Nutmeg State. Every year since 2017, this event has grown based on interest and this year will be our biggest yet with 500 participants. The entire event is 100% outside and we are requesting all in attendance (with the exception of children under 12) to be fully vaccinated to keep us all covid-conscious.
NNeV will be a well-balanced diet of great riding, community building, connective joy, and sweet deals. There are three major elements to NNeV: the rides, the community, and tag sale. “Tag Sale” is a uniquely Connecticutican term; people from outside the Nutmeg State may call these ‘garage sales’ or ‘yard sales’. More information on how to participate in the Tag Sale, The Bicycle Fashion Show, and The Scorcher race below.
The nutmeg tree is native to the spice islands of Indonesia and not Connecticut, so what’s with the name? Welp, according to the Ct State Library: “The sobriquet, the Nutmeg State, is applied to Connecticut because its early inhabitants had the reputation of being so ingenious and shrewd that they were able to make and sell wooden nutmegs. Sam Slick (Judge Halliburton) seems to be the originator of this story. Some claim that wooden nutmegs were actually sold, but they do not give either the time or the place.”
Fascinating! We may be calling our Tag Sale merchants “ye olde yankee pedal-ers” knowing this fact.
Fully vaxed only and 100% outside. We won’t be scanning your vaccine cards, but please be cool! This could be your 1 stop shoppe for seeing all your internet friends IRL!
Email Arya at bikefortibet@gmail.com with the subject line "Party Business" for any questions or concerns
Okay, onto the details…
Lay of the Land
We offer gratitude and wish good fortune for the Indigenous peoples of Wangunk, Western Nehantic, Mohegan, Wappinger, Hammonassets territories whose care of the land cheered on the Chestnut and lived alongside grey wolves. We recognize and honor the communities and cultures that these places nurtured before the Colonizers settled and irreversibly transformed the once heavily forested land.
Cold Spring Farm in Colchester, just up the hill from Lake Hayward will be hosting this year, on the traditional land of the Wangunk people. The same place from NNe3 in 2019 and located at 46 Town Road Colchester, CT 06415. All camping, presentations, meals, and other merry making will take place on this hard-working farm. All rides will be starting and ending here as well. There are cows, pigs, dogs, and other farm animals who live here, so please be aware. Please leave your animal friends at home. There are 5 dogs on the farm to pet & snuggle if you miss your furry friend(s) over the weekend.
Code of Conduct
We’d like to foster an atmosphere of inclusivity at this event that puts the focus of healing work on the individual as Practice, not punishment or policing each other’s behaviors. All of us are coming together for different reasons, come from different backgrounds, cultures, and spiritual traditions and thus may get our jollies from different aspects of the Bicycle. We celebrate the abundance of difference and build relationships of care with ourselves, our relations, and our planet.
Dr. Anup Gampa and Lu Bloom developed these 8 practices to assist grassroots organizers in their work but it wholly applies here as well. If you move toward practice, not perfection, you open pathways for growth and learning. I love this kind of abundance thinking mixed with solid theoretical frameworks for a more peaceful communion.
Here are the 8 Practices:
- Practice Love, not Power
- Practice Eroticism, not Consumerism
- Practice Care, not Possessiveness
- Practice to Recognize, not Project
- Practice Respect, not Condescension
- Practice Honesty, not Willful Ignorance
- Practice Responsibility, not Obligation
- Practice Commitment, not Control
Weekend Schedule
Speaking of social programming. Here’s the general breakdown of the working schedule (not final):
Friday Oct 22
- 3pm - Nutmeg Nor’Easter V (NNeV) officially kicks off
- Sign-in / goodie bag pick up
- Space orientation
- Camp set up
- Tag Sale tent
- Dinner Barn
- 6pm-10pm - Evening Activities
- 10pm - lights out
Saturday Oct 23
- Sign-in / goodie bag pick up
- Breakfast Barn
- Opening circle
- Rides- all the rides!
- 2 Kitchens and 1 Barn
- Tag Sale tent
- Speakers
- Bicycle Fashion Show
- Camp fires
Sunday Oct 24
- Breakfast available for purchase- farm to table egg n cheese sandwiches, etc
- Community Conversations + Skill Shares
- Scorcher Race
- Tag Sale tent
- Closing circle
- NNeV officially ends at 3pm
Camping
All tent camping will be on site at Cold Spring farm on a huge grassy field edged by state forest. There aren’t designated camping sites like you find at a campground, so sites can be selected on a first come first serve basis. As such, please practice practical social distancing and be respectful of your tent neighbors by giving each other plenty of space between tents.
A sober/less noisy area will be designated for tent campers who may find sober spaces more comfortable. There’s plenty of room on the farm for all of us.
Car campers will be able to park their vehicles in a car-camp designated area of the parking lot- which is another enormous hay field across the road from the farm house. (Please see parking map)
PARKING
In true Abundance living fashion, Cold Spring Farm has enough space to fit all of us and our vehicles. Please carpool with others who are also coming to the event to reduce the impact of cars on this beautiful farmland.
All parking will be on land used as hay fields so expect grass+dirt beneath your tires as opposed to pavement. Here’s the general layout of parking on the farm:
ROUTES
In order to welcome riders of all skills and experience, we will be offering 6 different route options. Ranging from 15-65 miles, these routes will bring you and your friends to some beautiful leaf-peeping. Stay tuned for more details on these in the coming weeks.
There will NOT be a mass start. Everyone can independently choose which ride they will do and what time they leave. The beauty of self supported riding is you get to be your own boss. We ask all riders to please fill in the sign-out / sign-in sheet registration so we can keep track of everyone out there.
All rides will begin and end at Cold Spring Farm. To avoid having massive numbers of cyclists on the roads at once (which would require the presence of local police which we want to avoid at all cost), we are giving riders the window from 9am-3pm to enjoy the rides. Of course the times of riders returning to the farm will vary based on the route and skill of the rider. The time window is there to ensure that anyone who wants to be part of the social programming on the schedule is able to be back on time.
Hi, Route Roulette Ronnie here.
We’ve got a number of great route options to offer with a little and big something for everyone. All rides are self supported and self guided with a (to be released) GPX track for your head unit, and RideWithGPS detailed map with waypoints that you can follow on your phone. Arya suggests familiarizing the routes and the apps for full riding enjoyment.
Rides will leave at a suggested time in order to be back for the late afternoon festivities, but there will be no mass start or ride leader as in years past. We will have a sign out and sign back in sheet so no one goes missing in the vast Connecticut wilds (it has happened!), but that will be as official as the rides get. If you wish to compete, we will make a Strava group and folks can post their ride times. Feel free to choose which route to do on the day of, just know what you are getting yourself into. All rides are quintessential quaint New England autumn approved.
- The big one is 65 miles and 6,700 ft of elevation. 700 x 38 is the minimum recommended tire for this route. That being said, be sure you are a good bike handler if you are going that skinny as this route contains a good amount of class 4 chunk, chunder, and thunder, including a few servings of singletrack… some of it rather steep and remote. Your feet might get wet. You might have to do a little bike hiking. It’s a hard route, but a coherent one— no fluff really. There will be a bike shop and town with services at the half way point. There will be a few water stop options along the way, but come prepped to carry 2 liters and enough food for a good day out.
- The 40 miler 3 brewery tour (one is a cider place) is a mixed meandering loop of some of our fine country paved roads as well as a sprinkling of high end dirt, and class 4. Even a little single track (skippable if that isn’t your thing). There are obvious beverage stops on this route, with a few food trucks as well. 2 water bottles and a light snack would suffice. Again I would recommend 38mm tire minimum unless you fancy yourself a fancy rider with a few beers in the tank.
- 30ish miler will be another mixed surface country loop with 1 optional beverage stop with food trucks at one of our fine local farm breweries. 38mm tire recommended, but could get away with a 32.
- 25 miler country road with a little bit of smooth dirt.
- Another 25ish miler that leans more toward the low elevation, high enjoyment ride. Will also include some sections of the Airline Trail which is smooth dirt hiking/ biking trail.
- 15 mile country roady. Road bike approved with some smooth riding on the Airline Trail.
(more details, tire and bike recommendations on these routes along with GPX, by OCT 17th)
Sunday morning scorcher fixed gear country roader will be an actual race. We finally have folks interested this year, so very excited to highlight this high intensity/low technology form of friendly competition. This course will feature some very chunky rollers, some smooth country pavement, and some fast dirt. 2 laps on a 7.5 mile course. Uphill finish. I run 650bx47 with 44x18 and a front brake. There will be prizes and showers of Champaign.
See you soon. Ronnie R. Take it away, Arya.
FOOD : a Kitchen and a Barn
Hi. I'm back. The price of the ticket does NOT include food. If you’re an experienced bike tourer or love cooking in the outdoors for yourself, this is your time to shine, baby! If you’re not of that variety of human and would like to purchase meals at the event, here are the food offerings available on site.
- FIRE IN THE KITCHEN PIZZA- if you’ve attended a Nutmeg Nor’Easter before, you know that FITK pizza is not to be missed. The folks behind have been growing alongside the Nor’easter since the first year and we are beyond thrilled to have them back again. All these pizzas have very much gluten and very much cheese.
- You can purchase a ticket for all-you-can-eat-pizza HERE
- Just as they did in 2019, FITK will set up tables in front of the big barn with their massive oven close by. People with the smiley face pizza wristbands can feel free to grab as many pizzas as their mind/body allows.
- These folks are professionals and have been serving up slices throughout the pandemic outdoors. Rest assured that they are well versed in how to handle food under Covid-19 protocols.
- When life gives you lemons, make do with Lemon Boy ;)
- OPEN HOURS: Saturday Oct 23rd 3pm-8pm
- COLD SPRING FARM’s BFAST+DINNER BARN- the farmer of our host farm is a multi-tasking genius. From heading local municipal offices to delivering piglets and running a full-scale farm, Jess Stone can do anything. Including offering up tasty, tried and true farm-to-table staples of the Breakfast & Dinner Barn
- Jess is used to running the food barn at the local farmers market (which she directs, of course) So, transactions will be done the same way.
- The food bell assembly line will go kind of like this: get in line -> order your food -> pay via VENMO (preferred) or cash -> ::nom:: ::nom:::
- MEALS SERVED: Friday Oct 22 - Dinner || Saturday Oct 23rd- Breakfast || Sunday Oct 24th- Breakfast
I tried and tried to secure local food trucks to no avail. All of them, except for things named “Uncle-Smokey’s BBQ” or “Salty Jim’s Clam Shack” are booked solid! What’s a person gotta do to get a good taco truck to come to your event? Anyywhooo, if you and your friends ever thought of starting a vegan/veggie food truck, now is the time. Please let me know if anyone does start one, so I can book you for next year.
BUDGET BREAKDOWN
There have been some questions around where the registration money is going. Since we are approaching this event with Grassroots organizing principles, I found this call for transparency essential to building trust within the community we’re building together as ALT cyclists. So, thank you for that.
The registration is covering the cost to run the event since we have no corporate sponsors and a huge chunk of that is going to our host Cold Spring Farm. Of course we could have the event at a convention center to save on infrastructural costs but then we wouldn’t be at the Non-Competitive ALT Cycling World Championships. Plus, supporting farmers and farms whose skills and spaces we’ll be needing for the near future is a pretty strategic way to survive the end of late stage capitalism.
As such, above is the general breakdown of where it’s all going. I’m happy to provide individuals with receipts after the event if more specifics are desired.
Join in!
This year will be made extra magick thanks to you! We are looking for participants for the following events. If you are interested in participating, please check the proper box in the VIF (Very Important Form that was sent to your registration email).
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BICYCLE FASHION SHOW
This is a fun runway/catwalk for you and your favorite bicycle or bicycle riding outfit. The best bicycle or outfit for the runway is one where you feel subversively cool. A change from the original plan of having a panel of judges. Hosted by Cheech and Arya
Anyone who identifies as FTW and/or BIPOC attending Nutmeg Nor'Easter strongly encouraged to apply.
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TAG SALE
For the love of the planet and your pocketbook, we think second-hand is best. Why buy new when the old stuff still wants some action? I'm so tired of seeing booths at bicycle trade shows or races handing out brand new landfill junk to advertise their brands. The TAG SALE at NNeV hopes to herd all the grassroots merchants under one tent to bring an alternative to the conventional booth model.
*Participants will be responsible for setting up, taking down, and displaying (tables, racks, etc). This is your show.
Do you have a whole lot of bike parts or great gear for camping, camp cooking or clean adventure ready clothing you no longer use? I bet you do. This is a great way to clean out your garage and/or bicycle hoards and make some cash money for yourself too. Now is the time to practice gift & barter economies as we collectively experience the wretches of climate change.
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SCORCHER RACE
This will be a multi lap circuit race totaling about 15 miles of mixed terrain. Younger people may know this kind of race as #tracklocross. You can choose to be as competitive or as you want for this fixed gear race against other type two friends. This will be spectator friendly and on site at Cold Spring farm on Sunday. Organized and designed by Ronnie Romance.
SOBER SPACE
In the spirit of community building, there will be a sober space designated for our friends who’d be more comfortable around folks who are like them. Please respect the intention and impact of this space and only use the space if you are not going to be consuming mind-altering substances for this event. This will also be a great place for those who may require a more calm, quiet camping area- just as long as you remain sober while in this space. Thanks in advance for respecting these boundaries.
