If you go to Old Wethersfield in May there are two things that you should notice right away.

The first is, of course, all of creative ways that bicycles have been decorated or reinterpreted.

The other is how much slower people are driving through this area. It’s obvious cause and effect of motorists responding to intersection redesign in progress, along with the newly added signs in the area. The efforts have not gone unnoticed, and they make sense. If you’re going to put in the effort to attract visitors, you want everyone to feel and be safer while roaming around, looking at the beautiful historic buildings and deciding which of the artsy bikes is their cup of tea.

Most of the displays are on Wethersfield’s Main Street, but some were seen on Hartford Avenue and elsewhere.

Plan to take your time and maybe walk the loop twice in opposite directions, as some bicycles are not in the most obvious places.

Bike Walk Wethersfield understood the assignment. The sign on the bicycle reads: “The Original Sport Utility Vehicle / No emissions since 1863.”

I have a soft spot for displays that answer the taunt of “bet you can’t do that on a bicycle.”

In some cases, maybe a trike is better suited than a bike.

The Webb Deane Stevens Museum thoughtfully considered the context of their display.

People love to combine bicycles with flowers and other nature. It’s logical.

And sometimes, nature combines itself with the bicycles.

Walk-Bike Rocky Hill brings all the birds to the yard.

It’s hard to resist a display that draws attention to the ways we can be more responsible as consumers.

And then some bicycles are just bananas

Such a wonderful, wholesome event! The photos only show a fraction of what is on view, and there were many favorites not captured here.

But, I will keep throwing out these suggestions until it is so longer necessary to do so:

1. Add bicycle parking in the area of Heirloom Market and Main Street Creamery & Cafe. This can be accomplished by installing a rack in one or two of those on-street spaces currently used for car storage.

2. Close off street parking — except handicapped —  on Main Street for set hours every weekend during May and October when the displays are up. (Better yet, close the streets to cars) Make it easier for visitors to walk and bike this area, while allowing for better photographs. Look at how cars in the background degrades the quality!  The ginormous parking lot at the DMV is a short walk away.

Bicycles on Main will be on display through May 31, 2023.

Use the 53W bus for direct access to Old Wethersfield. Direct, as in, the bus has several stops right where the display is.

The 47, 53, and 55 buses stop on Route 99 (the Silas Deane Highway) and are a ten minute walk from where the display begins. The 61 and 144 stop on Jordan Lane and are a 20-minute scenic walk from where most of the bicycle display begins. Check CTtransit for bus schedules.