It's A Mess

Whoever is responsible for the mess I just fought my way through should be made to find another line of work. RFN.

The county deciding to re-pave Brookdale Park today was simply a stroke of genius.

I'm sure this will reap the bike riders untold amounts of goodwill for a very long time.

I'd really like to know how the town was able to close the roads to residents without any notification! Yesterday signs for No Parking between 2pm and 10pm where posted on Lorraine Ave, but there was no notification that the road would be closed to residents!

I live on Lorraine and had to park on Inwood and walk home from the gym. Btw, it took 40 minutes for me to get through traffic and find accessible roads to get from Watchung Plaza to Inwood!

The planning for this event was severely lacking. I sincerely hope other residents complain to the town about this because it's outrageous. People are just coming out of rush hour to gridlock in their own towns.

Furthermore I'm disgusted to read that parents were left wondering where their child's buses were because of this lack of notification about major roads—roads which include school bus routes—being closed!

I sincerely hope other residents complain to the town about this and I think someone needs to find out what company/organization paid how much money for this bike event to get priority of the roads over the tax payers of this town!

4pm on the Thursday before Memorial Day?

Whose idea was that?

I don't mind bike riders (as long as they follow the rules of the road). But c'mon, can't they do their "race" on a weekend?? At 6am maybe.

But, as I sit here looking at the traffic on Grove St. I realize my job is to just pay taxes and shut up…….

Cars get to "disrupt traffic" all year long; bikes get only a special day or two.

So, this explains why Bellevue was blocked off at Grove.

The Brookdale Park entrance off Grove was shut down this afternoon, as I discovered on trying to make a right turn, only to be confronted with a huge traffic barrier & the sign, "Brookdale Park closed." Of course the b---- in back of me immediately had to lay on her horn. My fault for not psychically anticipating the closure, I'm sure.

The sign wasn't accurate either, in that you could still enter Brookdale Park from Bellevue. The southwest quarter of the drive was shut for repaving, though, till shortly before 5:00.

>

The problem is not the bikes, the problem is not telling homeowners that they can't drive home for eight hours on a weekday. There was no notification of anything except "no parking." It wouldn't have taken much to leave a flyer at the door. Making it out to be a cars vs. bikes thing is completely off the mark.

At 6:35 pm Grove St. solid, crawling traffic from Mt. Hebron down to at least Bellevue; Park Street backed up for blocks as well; DeCamp buses and many cars going up & down sidestreets; the kid's school bus 20 minutes late in chaos (driver & bus-aide caught by surprise). No detour signs, no nothing. Who's brainstorm was this?

I live on Grove and it's been painful watching the crawling traffic and bus refugees wnadering home for the past few hours. Cruddy planning and notification - agreed.

Outrageous is just the word. Bike people seem to hate car people, but the cars are going to win, nevertheless. I'm sure great planning went into the races and other events. Nobody figured out what to do with the big bad cars. Who in the town approved this. That's the culprit!

What brain trust planned this event for rush hour on a Thursday afternoon?

Dare I say the typical planning of a democratic administration? Try to please everyone and in the process create a cluster-bang.

So that explains the delay! I left Fair Lawn at 4:30 and got onto the GSP North which was complete bumper-to-bumper and when I saw the cops coming with their lights, knew there was an accident somewhere. I took the 46/Grove St exit and figured I could cruse down Grove to Ridgwood and then into Bloomfield. NOT! Traffic as far as the eye could see - I finally took a left down some side street (Afterglow maybe?), went down a dead end - backtracked and went into the park thinking I could go round to Watchung, hang a right to get to Ridgwood and be (relatively) home free. Not to be!! Park was closed as I went halfway around it (ARGH!), crept back out onto Grove and waited (and waited and waited) till I krept towards Watchung when I could finally break free. And of course, I was racing to school to pick up the 10yr old who had a orthodontic appt on the other end of Bloomfield. Sheesh!

That being said, I hope that the bike race was fun for those who participated, but I agree, piss poor planning on Montclairs part.

I agree with all of the above - it took me forty five minutes to pick my son up from a friend's house on Norman. It is normally a ten minute round trip. Honestly! Who thought this would be a good idea?! Not only was the traffic bad but I think the entire police force is out directing traffic.

We had wanted to try TS Ma tonight but decided to wait until another night.

Uh oh. This is going to set back the cause of bikery in Montclair years. Good bye, bike lanes. Good bye, bike racks at the trains stations. Good bye, Montclair the bike friendly community. Thus dies another worthy cause for lack of execution.

My kids and I had nowhere to go this afternoon, so perhaps I am in the minority in saying that we LOVED watching all the bicycles whirling by our house on Lorraine! And knowing that my kids were not going to get smeared by cars approaching 40mph (as is the standard speed on this school-riddled street) was an added bonus.

We did get a flyer on our stoop Tuesday afternoon explaining that the street would be closed from 4 until 10. Maybe not all residents got it?

I hope this isn't the last Giro, but maybe as another poster suggested, a weekend morning would be better.

Montclair Bikery sponsored this event Ronsbikery@aol.com. Town manger 509-4926

My little one loved walking thru Anderson flashlight in hand-had a few dances to a decent band-pretty nice fireworks-I thought it was a nifty way for Memorial day to start...Her school had a half day because of this so some people definitely were notified earlier this week.

A ridiculous day. Professionals in our neighborhood had clients and patients who could not reach the office, we could not make a music lesson (which we had to pay for anyway), and to say anyone living in the general vicinity had their lives thoroughly disrupted is the understatement of the year thus far. Incredibly incompetent planning and execution, with lots of people suffering the consequences. And who paid for this? Sure looks like there was a heckuva lot of police overtime today, though nowhere near enough to deal with the situation adequately.

The problem is that the immediate residents MAY have received notice, but other residents of Montclair did not. Regardless of the notice issue, this was poorly planned and poorly executed because they failed to take in consideration the adverse impact it would create on the traffic issues during rush hour and activities centered at Brookdale. Sunday Morning is a better time to hold the event similar to the YMCA run.

The bike race this evening was a great event ruined by poor planning. Not only did it disrupt the evenings of those people who live in or had to pass through the immediate area, but attendance was sparse at the event itself.
If there was actual awareness that the event was going to occur, I don't think anyone would have been upset. Personally, being blind-sided after a long commute was not how I wanted to end my day.

Amazingly, the police officers working the corners said that they were unaware that the event was going to happen until today and encouraged us to call the town to complain. Those police officers deserve a lot of credit for bearing the burnt of the wrath created by the event organizer and the town.

Montclair...Montclair...Montclair... From terrible food at an over-rated Mexicali Rose, to ten ugly homes replacing the Marlboro Inn, and now surprise bike races. What next?!

to reply to the above comment that immediate residents MAY have been notified, we were not (save the one person on lorraine who got a flyer). i live on bellevue, right across from mt. hebron, and was not notified that i would not be able to drive on the road. further, none of my neighbors were notified, and nor was anyone who we spoke to who lived on the side streets where everyone had to park. had i, or any of us been notified, we could have planned accordingly. unquestionably terrible planning.

This event nearly paralyzed Montclair and its immediate surroundings this evening. What this south end resident, and obviously many others, had to do just to reach home after a long day of work was insane and should NEVER be permitted again. Whomever thought this event would not severely impact rush "hour" in the area, and allowed it to occur, should be reprimanded for his or her incompetence and disregard for the greater good of the community. The inconvenience and surely multitude of related problems this caused residents tonight could not possibly have been worth whatever positive effects this cycling event brought. I say don't have it here again, or at the very least, schedule it so that there is absolutely no chance that it would interfere with morning or late afternoon/evening commuting. The mayor will be receiving a call from this resident in the morning. I encourage others to do the same.

I was lucky today that they didn't close my street for this stupidity. Some bikers would have been bouncing off my car. How dare they close off access to peoples homes at the end of a long workday as well as causing professionals whose livlihood depends on seeing people in their offices. No bicyclist will keep me from my home!

As others have said, what was so frustrating was that even alternate "back" routes were blocked. Every single time I turned a corner I ran into another barrier.

This has nothing to do with the bike race, but rather the comment about Mexicali Rose.

Out of respect for its previous owner—who is a culinary gift to Montclair—I'd just like to note that Mexicali Rose used to be as good as it's reviews. However, after the restaurant was sold, its new owners completely destroyed the fabulous food by ignoring the old saying, if it ain't broke don't fix it. I used to be a regular at Mexicali Rose, but after dining there about a year or two ago after the new owner(s) took over, I swore to never go back there.

That being said, I highly recommend Cuban Pete's (which is owned by the original owner of Mexicali Rose).

Sorry for the side note! And yes, the buildings replacing the Marlboro Inn are awful.

Back to the topic at hand: I agree, it wasn't at all the fault of the bicyclists. It's the town and the event planners. I still don't understand why they thought doing the race on main roads was a good idea.

Furthermore, in response to the lack of cars going 40mph on Lorraine and Bellevue, am I the only one on Lorraine who noticed the black car which appeared to being going at least 40mph flying around the block and the speed bike trailing slightly behind?

Yes, Lasermike, I mean Iceman, it was all the Democrats fault. I see Hilary's hand all over this!
Get a job.

After a few returned emails, I found on the Montclair Bikery Website that it's raysbikery@aol.com. Let them know. It's time to boycott buying bikes in Montclair.

While I am not filled with warm and fuzzy feelings toward the bike shop this morning, I don't think they bear responsibility. Presumably, the owner of the store went to the Township, said, this is what I want to do, and someone at the Township replied, okay. The Township is the one that has the responsibility for deciding that such an event is okay to do. Direct comments there!

How much did this event cost the taxpayers of Montclair in real dollars? The cost of police overtime could have been used to fix the crumbling curbs on Lorraine Ave. Ill conceived and badly handled. I only hope the town official who approved this poorly planned mess was inconvenienced as much as the residents of Upper Montclair. If anyone knows who is responsible kindly let the unhappy people know so we can flame their in-box.

I had to circumnavigate the event. I wish I had had the time to attend.

First time events often have bumps in the road to overcome. I did not learn of the even until yesterday, but I do hope it become an annual tradition.

Boiling Point,
Welcome back to the free and open market place of ideas.
Oh, yeah, you can kiss my, as 'pissant the mediocre' would say, cloven hoof.

Ice, baby

seems you've got me mixed up with someone else.

yeah, iceman, that would work if you had an idea.

The concept of the race is fine -- for a Sunday morning in the summer. As a resident of Norwood and Lorraine, we were effectively locked down for 7 hours, which would have been fine had we not had the usual Thursday afternoon events (requiring pick-ups and drop-offs) on our family calendar. Also, someone might have warned the store owners on Valley Road so they wouldn't have bothered staying open on a Thursday evening waiting for customers that never appeared.

180 million dollar deficit and this is what the town spends tax money on. Enough said.

Rest assured, folks, before you try to drag the poor suffering shop-owners of Upper Montclair into your camp of over-reactors, the Upper Montclair BID was involved in the organization of the event. Just so you know.

The event was great fun, but I have to agree it was poorly planned. Part of this was not the fault of the promoter, but rather the township for not approving the permits for the event until the last minute. So before you start going after the Bikery, do your homework.

The race certainly could have gone off better. Better publicity, maybe a later start time, etc. But the paving on Grove St. in Clifton and Brookdale were also to blame. And was it really the end of the world? Thank god only the most vocal shrills seem to post here.

And if the purpose of that post about bikes bouncing off your car was to make you sound crazy, femwheretheybreathe, then mission accomplished.

Thank you to the poster, Angela, who provided the number of the town manager. If you were less than pleased with the blockade, contact the office today to let them know this should not be repeated. Hopefully they will listen. Again here is the number of the town manager 509-4926.

You could have done a case study in road rage in Montclair last night. What a NIGHTMARE. I guess I should have checked Baristanet before I left work. A bike race closing off major commuter streets and residential streets during rush hour? Excellent planning! After being totally stuck on Grove Street/Park Street/etc. for almost 1 hour with my 2 tired & hungry kids freaking out in the back seat, we turned around and took back roads to Verona, stopped at the grocery (and liquor!) store and then went home via Bloomfield Ave. and Grove. I finally got home 2 1/2 hours after I left work. Normally a 45 minute venture in total after picking up kids. I'm all for bike races, etc. but how about some signs to alert people so they can make plans to take an alternate route home or at least have a clue about what's going on. No ill will should be directed toward the Bikery, please, it's definitely the town.

Here's what my eight year old thought of Lorraine Street (which we live on) after the race and the streets were still blocked off: "Awesome mom! We're completely free to ride our bikes. See ya!"

It also brought the boys of all ages on Lorraine together for the first time. Usually they don't get a minute from homework and activites. We were, for the first time, getting to know each other.

Don't get me wrong, we unwittingly left our driveway @ 4pm and headed for a playdate on Chestnut, only to return 45 minutes later having gone in circles for two blocks.

But you know what made it fun? We turned it into an adventure and joked with the police about what a mess it was. Kindess and community, not snarling hostility about how inconvenced we were (no matter what the situation, god forbid) gets us through. It's not the situation, it's how our family reacts to a situation, that guided us yesterday.

" the Upper Montclair BID was involved in the organization of the event."

What organization?

no notification
streets blocked off
people stuck for hours

And now Al has the nerve to call US "your camp of over-reactors"

What planet are you from you turkey?

What a mess! I wish we had some notification about this event. And, I wish the police department would have blocked off the non-thru streets off of Grove which were flooded with angry drivers going 40 mph. Everyone suffers from these un-organized events and we're just lucky nobody was seriously injured.

Suburban Archeologist, ever heard of a block party? That's when they block off ONE street so you and your kids and neighbors can play. Maybe next time you can hand out lemonade and cookies to all the angry commuters.

usually there isn't a permit given to block off all the streets in one neighborhood for a "block party"

"It's time to boycott buying bikes in Montclair."

See what I mean?

Boycott walleroo!

I plan on taking all my phrenology business elsewhere!

walleroo have you been feeling LaserROC's bumps again?

does he have any elevations? or is there no brain.

The observer should learn, by inspecting a skull, to distinguish the mastoid process behind the ear, and several bony prominences which occur in every head, from elevations produced by development of brain; as also to discriminate bony excrescences sometimes formed by the sutures, when such occur.

The terms used to denote the gradations of size in the different organs, in an increasing ration, are:
Very small
Small
Rather small
Moderate
Rather full
Full
Rather large
Large
Very large"
G. Combe Elements of Phrenology.

It is not hard to figure out who is responsible for this disaster and dangerous bike race we should all be very happy this morning, that no elderly people were injured or worst. but the responsability is lying on the shoulders of the business association that has been shutting down streets with out proper thought and planning for several years. This event was planned to promote one business a cycle shop in montclair, and a distributor for hair products, all you have to do is read the list of salons involved one in watchung and some in cedar grove and verona, but the approval was given by the business association, who always incovience the residents and businesses in Upper Montclair and people who pass thru. This seems to be a constant source of irritation. But shouldnt this have to be approved by the mayor???? Barista you should know who is responsable for this mess, you always seem to be on top of things. What happened to the good old days when events were enjoyable for residents, this was a outrageous incovience and there were more hard ship on the business owners and residents that could not get thier dry cleaning or use a atm before the holiday weekend, what about the children who were just as confused as the adults not knowing where to go.

To all,

I think the race was great. I took my wife and children. I was aware of the race from reading the Montclair Times and flyers from my children schools.

I agree there was traffic. On my commute home from New York, I just parked my car and walked home. I was not upset to walk ½ mile; it was a beautiful day.

This event should bring the community together like it does in Europe.

Montclair is a very anti-bike town. Everyone is always driving in rush. How great would it be if our children could ride safely in the community?

I would love to have the Pro racers back next year with more fans cheering.

Cheers, Jason