Month: May 2015

Bike Tour

Swains Lock on the C&O canal
Swains Lock on the C&O canal

After tossing around all kinds of places and timelines for our annual bike tour, we finally settled on the C&O/GAP.  On June 1st we are driving from Providence R.I. to Pittsburgh for an over night stay.  From there we are taking a shuttle to Washington, D.C. to begin our 335 mile bike ride back to Pittsburgh.

After many long distance tours over the years, we have learned not to do much advanced planning.  Winging it is the best way to go, eliminating the stress that can happen when we make reservations weeks in advance.  Planning our mileages in the mornings during breakfasts gives us at least a basic idea of how much riding we will do that day.  We may or may not stick to that plan but at least it gives us something to talk about over our tofu and rice cakes.

There will be lots of riding between now and then.  Not for training or anything. Just because is nice to ride a bike every day.

***** Here we sit, six hours after I wrote the stuff up above and everything has changed.   The shuttle from Pittsburgh to DC was $500.  The bike rental was $200. We would have lost two days of our tour if we stuck to that plan.  Now we finally have a final plan.  For the third time.

We are going to begin in DC, taking a train with our bikes to Pittsburgh and spend the night.  Now we can begin the ride back to DC early morning on June 2nd from Pittsburgh.  The train is $65 with our bike and that’s a whole lot better than paying $500 for a shuttle.  “More beer money” is our new mantra.

Ride With History

IMG_2306A small group rode a historical tour of the area.  New Bedford and Fairhaven have a Revolutionary, Civil and WWII history that is unique to coastal areas . Today’s 17 mile ride brought the group to Fort Rodman, East and West Beaches, Palmers Island, the Harbor Walk and Fort Phoenix, that included a historical narrative of each location.  Everyone’s favorite was the ride around the southern peninsular of New Bedford. The stories of quahogs, hamburgers, military, amusement parks, houses of ill repute and lighthouses are all part of the history of the point.

Fort To Fort Bike Ride from John Sullivan on Vimeo.

Fort to Fort Ride

The ride will take us around the point of New Bedford into Fort Rodman/Fort Taber.
The ride will take us around the point of New Bedford into Fort Rodman/Fort Taber.

Meet at 99 Restaurant for a 9 AM start.

Directions to ride start

The city of New Bedford was  free city during the time of the slavery.  They were welcome and protected from the slave hunters by local residents and it’s mayor Rodney French.

French was a Free-Soiler – a pre-Civil War political party that opposed slavery and the admission of slave states into the Union. His actual political affiliation is dubious. I have come across documents that state he was a Democrat and others that state he was a Republican. We do know that he was a delegate to Republican National

Convention from Massachusetts in 1856 and that he was considered a “Black” Republican because of his anti-slavery or abolitionist platform.

His anti-slavery stance did not make him very popular among his peers and the aristocrats of society. In fact, this put his career and life in harm’s way often. He lost many a business relationship and opportunity, surely including revenue, and especially in pro-slavery North Carolina.

We will be riding around the point of New Bedford on Rodney French Boulevard. Clarks Cove will be on our right at the beginning of the Blvd.  At the end of the point we will enter Fort Rodman, whereon September 5th and 6th, 1778, the British

East Rodney French Blvd. Butler Flats Light house can be seen in the Acushnet River.
East Rodney French Blvd. Butler Flats Light house can be seen in the Acushnet River.

landed 4000 troops  marching through and destroying much of New Bedford.  The troops marched inland along the west shore of the Acushnet River to Acushnet, then came south through Fairhaven to Sconticut Neck.

 At this time the British drove a group of 34 local militiamen under the command of Timothy Ingraham from Fort Phoenix, burned the barracks, broke up the gun platforms and smashed all but one of the cannons.

When the fort was rebuilt following the 1778 attack, it was named Fort Phoenix after the mythical bird which rose from its own ashes.

The original fort was built by Capt. Benjamin Dillingham and Eleazer Hathaway between 1775 and 1777. It was outfitted with eleven cannon, several of which had been captured in the Bahamas by John Paul Jones.

FORT PHOENIX

FORT RODMAN/FORT TABER

Rides This Weekend 5/9 and 5/10

Saturday 05/09/15

Fort to Fort Ride 

Meet at Pub  99 in Fairhaven.  Ride begins at 9 AM

CLICK HERE for the route info.

From 195  take exit 18, route 240 to Fairhaven.  Continue through two sets of lights and Pub 99 will be on your right, across the road from Stop & Shop.    Park away from the pub near the row of white vans and Cardoza liquors.

NBW Cafe Ride (weather permitting)

East Bay Bike Path – from Fort Hill to Bristol Bagel and back (27 miles)
Leaves Fort Hill Parking Lot at 9:00 AM
Contact John Nery for more details.

Sunday 05/10/15

NBW #019 Tom & Pat’s Half Century

  • 19, 28 & 48 Mile Rides
  • Tioque Ave (AKA Route 3) in Coventry

  • Coventry – Foster – South Killingly – Sterling – Moosup
    A very scenic 50 miles straddling the Rhode Island / Connecticut border. The ride was designed by Tom Chabot and Pat Young, who have toured throughout the USA

    Start:

Bike Newport

CycloFemme! Global Women’s Cycling Day

There are 2 rides to choose from – a 13 mile ride and a 30 mile ride
The ride will start from Bike Newport’s Headquarters at 437 Broadway, in Newport – Meet up is at 8:30am and the ride starts at 9:00am sharp.

A Weekend In New York City

The Five Boroughs Bike Tour happens the first Sunday in May annually.  This year saw temperatures in the low 70’s, no wind and 32,000 bikers, riding car free streets of Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Click the Vimeo at the bottom right of the video for better quality

A Weekend In NYC from John Sullivan on Vimeo.

NYC Five Boroughs Bike Ride

IMG_0546

Sue and I are on our way to NYC for the Five Boroughs Bike Tour.  The ride is Sunday but Saturday is just as big a day.  After settling in at our airbnb.com host we will spend the day in Manhattan.  Check in for the ride, lunch, beer. Sighsee, dinner, beer. Back to Staten Island, beer.  Sleep.   Planning a NYC visit is easy.

Big weekend coming up, folks. BIG. We were already champing at the bit for Sunday, when the world’s biggest charitable bike ride rolls through 40 miles of car-free NYC streets, and then we saw the forecast. Needless to say, the weekend can’t come soon enough.

Basically, if you like bikes (and/or beer), this is where you want to be this weekend. Go here to see everything we have planned.