I had a basil cell cancer removed from my shin last week. Shin? Yea shin. The Doctor had to dig deep, twice, to remove all the cancer. The wound ended up so large, he had to cut a piece of skin out of my leg to close the wound. In addition to sutures, staples were needed to secure everything.

I didn’t get a good look at his work till yesterday when I was forced to remove the original bandage. The staples looked like a ladder going up a water tower or something.

I never had so many shots of numbing stuff for the doctor to do his thing. Also, there was never any pain. Some discomfort, but that’s about it. Everything is good and I’m back to normal.

I had to procedure done on the 19th. Weather permitting, tomorrow the 30th, will be my first ride since then. (p.s it rained buckets all day and turned to snow late afternoon).

Recently I was hired to lead monthly rides by a local conservation, research and advocacy group. My first is a ride I have lead a few times. The Fort to Fort ride. On a good day, it draws riders from a few local groups. Biking had exploded around here the past few years. The Pandemic added a lot of new riders, who do not yet feel comfortable riding in casual groups. Over time, some will join us I’m sure.

For now, I will be good to get back in the saddle.

Phoenix Bike Path – Fairhaven

Tuesday:  October 20  5 PM:

Phoenix Bike Path:  Fairhaven, MA

Public:  Hosted by Buzzards Bay Coalition

A Halloween Costume Party on Wheels

Whenever I’m on my bike, I always peruse the landscape for interesting things to video.  Much of my shots are all about nothing really. It’s just 2-4 second snippets that I keep in a folder for those times I need a short transition video, or a jpg shot.

Yesterday, I ended up at the local, (New Bedford, MA), zoo which has won a few awards for it’s humane care taking of the animals. All of which have been abandoned by individuals or have been shipped here out of necessity. None are purchased from poachers or trappers.

Some of the larger animals are quite old. Ruth and Emily, the two elephants especially so. Years ago, the trainers would walk Ruth and Emily a couple of blocks to the local Dunkin Donuts take out window between 11 PM and Midnight. There the staff would greet them with a couple of donuts that had been on the shelf too long and some hot chocolate. It was always a sight to see. When they are gone the zoo will transform the elephant exhibit to rhinoceros. 

New Bedford Starchasers

Public · Hosted by New Bedford Starchasers and Midnite Romero Society

Zombies have breached the perimeter of the “Safe Zone”, wreaking undead havoc on the Intergalactic Posifunkitude! Welcome to New Deadford, the city that lights the future. It’s up to The New Bedford Starchasers to jump dimensions to a post-apocalyptic Earth and save humanity from the hoards of the living dead in “Operation Hallowheels: Ring the Bells – a New Deadford Story!”Hallowheels is our annual Halloween costume party on wheels!

Join us for an evening of games, music, and spooky hijinks! Then, stay for snacks and a not-so-scary movie (presented by the Midnite Romero Society) on the roof deck at Play Arcade!This is an 8-light year mission, flying at the speed of funk, is free, open to the public, and cosmically inclusive. Costumes and masks are required. All human-powered and assistive vehicles are welcome! See Less

I continue to do my faux commutes daily. Ten miles in the morning and again in the evening. When evening turns to nighttime I’m happiest. You see, most of the group rides that I participate are at night. The full moon rides, the Starchasers and Providence Bike Jam (soon to be started again), are my regulars. Riding around town at night is very relaxing, and some nights all I hear is the sounds of nature. It’s amazing how many critters, large and small are active in the suburbs.

Because of the scarcity of bike events, much of my photography and videos lately are generic B-Roll shots. I had intended to do classic techniques such as, reveals, pans, wide to closeup and static shots, but alas, mother nature is offering up some much needed heavy rains over the next couple of days. After typing this, I just got some ideas of B-roll rain shots. It pays to think out loud.

Also, I filled out my ballot and tomorrow I will deposit it in the town drop box. I understand that all the absentee ballots and mail in ballots will have been counted by the time the polls close in Massachusetts. With all the chicanery going on, don’t we all wish every state did that?

Yesterday I ventured to predict the outcome of the MLS games. Twenty two of the twenty four teams played.

My predictions… The Results… Win Loss

Orlando 3: Atlanta 1… Orlando 0 Atlanta 0… 0-1

Miami 4 : Red Bulls 1… Miami 2 Red Bulls 1… 1-1

New England 2: Toronto 1… New England 0 Toronto 1… 1-2

Philadelphia 3: Cincinnati 0… Philadelphia 3 Cincinnati 0… 2-2

Columbus 0: Montreal 0 … Columbus 1 Montreal 2… 2-3

Houston 1: Dallas 2… Houston 2 Dallas 0… 2-4

NYCFC 2: DC United 0… NYCFC 4 DC United 1… 3-4

Sporting KC 4: Chicago 1… Sporting 1 Chicago 0 … 4-4

Seattle 2: Real Salt Lake 0… Seattle 2 Salt Lake 1… 5-4

LA Galaxy 1: Portland 5… LA Galaxy 2 Portland 6… 6-4

San Jose 3: Vancouver 0… San Jose 3 Vancouver 0… 7-4

Keeey ripes. When it counts for a chance to win money, I get on or two correct. When the pressure is off, I do OK.

Not much bike stuff to write about. I am trying to mimic my work bike commute days by riding ten miles in the AM and again in the PM. I’m sticking around town and not doing much video or still photography.

It was a crazy sports weekend for sure. Liverpool losing 7-2 just a taste of things to come. The Spurs beating ManU was no big surprise, but the 6-1 dismantling was. Marino’s smirk was priceless when his team scored the sixth goal against the organization that fired him.

Leeds had a golden opportunity to grab three points from City, but it wasn’t in the cards. I have been a Leeds fan for many years and the end of the sixteen years away from the premiership was a joy. They should have move up last year. The end of the season collapse was heartbreaking.

Major League Soccer

I have been a player, coach, teacher and anything else you can think of in the beautiful game. I consider myself knowledgeable about the MLS teams.

All that goes out the window when I participate in the predict six contest sponsored by the league. And man, do I suck at that.

My team, New England Revolution is so sporadic, predicting the outcome is impossible. They seem to play to their opponent. They try to out perform the good teams and try to under perform the lousy teams. Go figure.

Tonight, Wednesday, New England plays a very strong Toronto FC. Toronto is a much better team, so in keeping with the above paragraph, I expect a Revs win. The league doesn’t do the predict thing on Wednesday games but I’m going to give it a go on my own. I’ll post my results here tomorrow.

Orlando 3: Atlanta 1

Miami 4 : Red Bulls 1

New England 2: Toronto 1

Philadelphia 3: Cincinnati 0

Columbus 0: Montreal 0

Houston 1: Dallas 2

NYCFC 2: DC United 0

Sporting KC 4: Chicago 1

Seattle 2: Real Salt Lake 0

LA Galaxy 1: Portland 5

San Jose 3: Vancouver 0

Remember: I’m the expert.

The idea was a casual ride to three or four pubs. Massachusetts is in phase two of reopening. Bars are not open, but places that serve food and have a liquor license can allow customers inside. We had a group of 20 riders and at the first stop, ten or twelve decided to have a sit down experience. I went into the restaurant to take photos and videos but quickly exited. The place was full and social distancing was not being observed. That some of our riders may get sick seems like a good bet.

The group was inside for about an hour which put a major crimp on the original route. Our ride leader decided to ride, in a round about way to gain some mileage, to the final location, an 80’s themed game room with an outside upper deck. We had the upper deck, with a bartender, dedicated to our group, and did we ever take advantage. Needless to say it was a wobbly five mile ride home. All on bike path fortunately. Well, mostly on bike path.

Darkness set in early which made it impossible to get quality footage during the ride. I did get some, not much, ergo the short video.