We always have our dogs cremated when we have to euthanize them. Pretty Polly Pointer in March of 2014 and Baxter Waxter a couple of weeks ago. Baxter was the dog of a friend who died suddenly and when we took him in he weighed over 100 pounds. Daily long walks in time, got him down to the mid 60s. He had a wonderful last four years and we knew he was very happy with not only his human, but is dog brothers and sisters. And the cat.
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I know
Pretty Polly Pointer lived to 17 1/2. An English pointer that definitely had mental problems. She was such a needy gentle dog that we took in at just over a year old, and it was determined she had already had, two or three litters. Polly also hit the jackpot when she moved in with us.
Sue is much to easy on the dog’s and treats them like children. I on the other hand sometime treat them that way, but they are also very much part of my pack. Lots of string cheese and constantly working on commands takes time and effort on the owners part, but it really makes things much safer for the dogs when we are away from the house.
Sue saved some ash so she and another friend of Baxter’s original owner could spread them on her grave. I was sent to the super marked for ingredients for suppah and naturally I went by bike. Double naturally I went for coffee.
Coffee break during shopping ride.Pretty Polly Pointter,Lucky Lucy Lu and BaxterSue spreading the ashes of Polly and Baxter along the bike path, their favorite walk.
Sue works as a volunteer at two no kill dog shelters so we are old hats at taking in dogs. Our newest Owen has been with us for a year and good ole Lucky Lucy Lu is still going strong.
Yesterday was such a great riding day but I had things to do that prevented me from doing a long ride. There was a gathering at the Buzzards Bay Coalition headquarters for the volunteers beginning a 5 PM. I was not in a rush to get there on time thinking it was one of those casual party type events. Little did I know that it was also a meeting with guest speakers and scientists.
I didn’t get to the function till around 5:30 and lo and behold, there was only a pittance of food left on the buffet table. I had to scrape the tidbits from two salad bowls to have something. There was plenty of cake though, thanks to Marie Antoinette. On the bright side, Sam Adams came through with plenty of larger which allowed me to ride the 6 miles home imitating a pinball machines silver orb. Good thing I didn’t drive to the function.
Today is a 30 mile fitness ride on one of my regular routes. I think I have photos in stock of just about every building, tree, animal and whatever, so I will only have my little point an shoot emergency camera in case something unusual gets my attention. I’m also putting this on Strava so I don’t want to have one of those meager 18 MPH averages speed rides broadcast to the world.
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Black Dog Divers working the night shiftBuzzards Bay Coalition Headquarters in New Bedford, MaPick out the scientists
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Sunny, warm fall days cry out for a bike ride. Us retired bike riders have the time to pick a spot not so close to home to do a long ride. I decided to ride my old commuting route.
Not long after the turn of the century I decided to bike commute to the office. It’s something that never dawned on me till someone on some bike blog mentioned, bi modal commuting. The light bulb shone and I slapped my forehead thinking. “Cripes, I put the bike in the car to travel for Sunday club rides, there is no reason not to do the same for work”.
I did some research, this was before MapQuest and all that. The internet big bang had not yet happened. This was also the days of dial up. You know now how much that sucked. Good thing for me because I was in the business of providing internet and phone service with one of the giants. It still is one of the giants as a matter of fact, and they are doing just fine without me. Just like they did before me. Three spots to leave my car made it nice and east to commute by bike every day. If I was on time, a 10 mile commute. Running a little late. A 7 mile commute. On really cold winter days? Just under 5 miles.
The Office
Over the course of those years of bike commuting, I watched kids waiting for the school bus in front of their homes, mature from, grade to middle to high school and eventually, move on. The City of Tauton Built a new high school and my daily rides turned intimidating hills into meager inclines. I would see the same people walking daily. Over time we went from saying good morning to occasionally me stopping to chat.
Writing notes about today’s ride
Because of my outfit and bike, I was often asked, “you a cop?”
I would answer, “do I look like a cop?”
“Yup”.
I would leave it at that.
My route took me through the Taunton State Hospital. The entrance was at the top of a small hill on a quiet side street. As I approached the gate one day, I spotted a 20 something guy with long shaggy blond hair leaning over his bike’s left side with his chest on the saddle looking at his chain. I approached and said
“You need any help? I have tools”.
He looked at me with wild eyes, jumped to a standing position and ate his cigarette.
“I’m good”, he said and as I rode on said to him, “Just having your morning tea I see. Enjoy”.
Another thing that became clear was that heavy traffic was my friend. It slowed everyone down. A lot. Which brings me to another commuting story. There is a rotary, (roundabout) in the center of town. As I was approaching a left turn to get me heading toward the rotary, a car easily a hundred feet back began laying on the horn. After the turn the car came along side and I asked if he was beeping at me.
“Get out of the fucking way” was the response I got from the young passenger. I looked up at the bottle neck a block away at the rotary and said to him.
“I’m slowing you down? Really? Why don’t you try to keep up”.
I stood on my pedals and cut loose, weaving my way in and out of the traffic merging from three directions. I glanced back and saw the car trying their best to get to me. Once through the rotary it would be easy to catch me on the boulevards. Because I had been commuting this town for years, it was my territory. I turned into a very old narrow alley that is so obvious, that not many drivers ever notice it, to my car which was parked in my winter commute location, at the police station. Never saw them again. There were other adventures during my years of multi modal commuting, but those are for another day.
The back side of the tunnel taken from the police station parking lot.
I still ride almost every day, just like my commuting days. In the past the search for coffee was for a Dunkin Donuts. Thanks to Chasing Mailboxes in DC, Dunkin has been moved from the designated shop to the one I have to sometimes settle. I now look for independent cafes where I can get a good cappuccino built by a Barrista. Those places have much better food to boot.
14 mile round trip ride encompasing East Providence, Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls. RI
Trees and poles to lock up you bike. But with outside seating in an upscale college area, it’s really not necessary.
I took the Randonee bike for this last coffeeneuring adventure. I have a Novara Randonnee bike but have never done a randonee. But I have been to Spain. Today’s ride was the route connecting the East Bay Bike Path in East Providence to the Blackstone River Bikeway in Cumberland, R.I. This is the ride I saved for the last coffeeneurs challenge and after a couple of false starts, everything fell into place today.
This route begins in East Providence at the Fort Hill parking area of the East Bay Bike Path. The normal ride is South toward Bristol R.I. which is close to Newport. Today though, the ride takes us North to Providence. One of the highlights is crossing the Washington Bridge over the Seakonk River.
Washing Bridge bike path in Providence, RI
It continues through some really nice areas along the Seakonk River and into some very upscale neighborhoods including Blackstone Boulevard where years ago I rode the Tuesday night boulevard double paceline ride. It was a 30 mile open to everyone hammerfest with the Providence College and Brown University bike teams. There were times when the paceline was 15-18 bikes long with 30+ riders. In essence, one would pull the pack for a couple of minutes twice a night. Being the oldest in the pack, whenever I got to the front, the ride would slow considerably. On many rides kids would tuck me into the middle of the paceline and let me be pulled along at 25-28 mph with very little effort on my part. Riding the tide, we called it. Or as they say, keep him away from the front.
The ride today also went through a couple of urban areas that get pretty busy with traffic. Because I was fully depending on my Garmin Touring GPS for directions, (I uploaded the route), I got caught a few times on the right when I needed to go left. Every time I looked over my shoulder to see the traffic behind me, I got a go ahead and take the lane from the driver. Providence is a very progressive city of college students and professors on bikes, making it very bike friendly. I’m still learning this new Garmin of mine, and a couple of fopahs cut the distance of this ride from 26 to 14 miles. I want to do this ride again, but as they say, there are lots of other territories to conquer.
Riding along the Seakonk River in Providence, RIEntering Pawtucket, RI
I saved the coffeeneuring challenge for the return leg. I didn’t know of any coffee shops in Providence, and this being the Brown University area, it was obvious to even the most casual observer, that there would be some really good ones. L’Artisen Cafe is the reason my title says the best coffee ride. This place was, as the kids say, “off the hook”. The coffee was wonderful and the turkey cranberry panini was sooo good. The sun was shining, the temperature was nearing 65 F and there was outside seating.
L’Artisen Cafe in Providence, RICappuccino and Turkey cranberry panini
A Midnight Rider 