Bike Racers, Partiers Gear Up

Modern biking history began in New Haven, when Pierre Lallement, a French immigrant who settled in Connecticut, filed the first patent for a pedal-bicycle in the city in 1866. A new page was written in the city’s biking history Monday as Mayor Toni Harp announced the timetable for the third annual New Haven Grand Prix and the official opening of the New Haven Party Bike.

David Hoyle of the Connecticut Cycling Advancement Program, the organization that runs the Grand Prix, joined the mayor at City Hall to announce the news about the Grand Prix. Hoyle said interest in the Grand Prix is growing quickly. Last year’s Grand Prix was the most attended event on a Friday night on Chapel Street ever, according to Hoyle. (Click here to read about that event.)

The Grand Prix will take place on Friday, Sept. 15 and will feature three bike races from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. The course for the race will wind around the Green and Yale’s Old Campus. Onlookers also will be able to visit food trucks and recreational activity areas that will be located around the perimeter of the course.

“We’re excited for another great Friday night in New Haven,” Hoyle said.

In addition to hosting events like the Grand Prix, the CCAP organizes and teaches youth cycling teams. Hoyle proudly announced on Monday that the number of CCAP teams will double over the next year from seven to 14.

After the presentation on the Grand Prix, Mayor Harp and the rest of those present relocated to the front of City Hall for the grand opening of the New Haven Party Bike, a one-ton vehicle that is part-cycle, part-bar, and part-bus. Colin Caplan, who owns the pedal-powered pub along with Christian Bruckhart, cut the ribbon with the mayor and then took her, City Transportation Director Doug Hausladen, and about 15 others for a joyride on his contraption. (The party bike has already become a popular sight on city streets; click here for a story about the company’s maiden New Haven voyage and its genesis.)

While city leaders powered the party bike down Church Street and right on to Elm Street, Caplan delivered a short spiel about his mobile business. Caplan said the bike is primarily powered by riders’ pedaling. It also has an electric motor, which comes in handy when ascending hills. The bike comes equipped with charging ports, a loveseat toward the back, and, crucially, cup holders. Caplan said he runs two-hour tours of downtown New Haven complete with bar and restaurant stops upon request.

He currently employs 16 people and has tentative plans for purchasing new bikes and making more hires. He said several cities have approached him about setting up shop, including Bridgeport and Stamford. The bike has operated in New Haven since its maiden voyage on St. Patrick’s Day of this year.

Caplan did not serve drinks to the mayor and her associates on Monday, but he did pass out free beverage koozies emblazoned with an Elm City Party Bike logo to all the pedalers.

Caplan advised New Haveners to keep an eye out for the party bus on the day of the Grand Prix.

“The Elm City Party Bike is going to be in full gear for the third annual New Haven Grand Prix,” Caplan wrote in a press brief for Monday’s meeting. ​“We are planning on opening the bike to the public for the afternoon and evening and making our own slow pace course around Downtown New Haven.”