A group of friends does a full moon ride every month. It’s in Rhode Island and is a little over a thirty minute drive. I wasn’t in the mood to do a thirty mile ride tonight and instead did two 15ish mile evening rides in town.

My mini tripod is broken which prevented me from taking any videos or photos after dusk. I need the tripod for block photography. For the novice, to do block photography, set the camera to manual, and take for or five photos. For the first, hold the shutter open for 3 seconds, the next for 6 seconds, the next for 12 and the fourth for 24 seconds. One of those photos will be near perfect. There can be no movement of the subject when using this technique. Generally it’s for inanimate objects.

I did get a few photos before the light faded.

Thor Thor he’s our man. If he can’t do it Loki can.

One of the enjoyment of bike riding is bringing along a good book. Often my rides take me to one of the local waterfront spots. Many of my boat photos are taken during my reading rides.

I just finished "The Sword Of Summer" by Rick Riordan. I found this in one of those little 
sidewalk libraries. 

I never though about this subject, and am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy this genre. 

Magnus Chase has seen his share of trouble. 
Ever since that terrible night two years ago when his 
mother told him to run, he has lived 
alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, 
staying one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.

One day, Magnus learns that someone else is trying to 
track him down—his uncle Randolph, a man his mother had always warned him about.

 When Magnus tries to outmaneuver his uncle, he falls right into his clutches. 
Randolph starts rambling about Norse history and Magnus's birthright: a weapon that has been 
lost for thousands of year.

Reading fables about different gods is so much fun. This one is the Norse gods. Odin, Thor, Loki etc. The people who made this stuff up had a much better, fun loving imagination than the authors of the Christian, Muslim and the Mormon types of fables.

My likes also include historical books like “The Rivers of America.” Science Fiction “The Silo Series”, and mystery and thriller genres. I don’t remember where I got the idea to order books by Mo Hayder, but by the end of the first chapter of “Skin”, I was hooked. I have another to read on my book shelf and also two more by Rick Riorden. Both are fables about the Greek gods.

I get tips on books from friends online, or reviews I see in newspapers. Also, there are authors who include books they like in their novels, either by quoting a passage or having the characters talk about a book or author. When I do like a book, I go to places online like Barnes and Noble. There I peruse reader comments who enjoyed it. I then look to see the other books they read. I’ll check out the comments there and often order that book. I always buy used naturally.

Our ride leader from Fall River, who has not been on his bike for the past year, asked me to lead a group in my home town on an easy ride fit for an out of shape rider. I took them on the Fort to Fort route into the city for a 15 mile easy spin.

Fort to Fort Ride

Meet at Fairhaven Activity Center adjacent to Stop and Shop.

8:30 AM wheels up

This will be a very casual pace around the peninsula of New Bedford and Fort Rodman. Mostly bike paths.   Also a visit to Fort Phoenix in Fairhaven. We will ride on both elevated bikeways. 

This is a great opportunity to bring your camera. The views are spectacular. An ice cream stop at Sugar Plum Sweets near the end of the ride is part of the tour. 

My house painter Joe, called yesterday to see if I could help with his bike seat. He was a triathlete way back when, but his thriving business kept him off his bikes. He had a problem removing his seat post. It was frozen in place. To keep this short, we had to overload it with lubricant, blowtorch the frame holding the seat post to soften the material. We decided to let it sit overnight and get back to it after today’s ride.

Hiram joined us about halfway through the ride and offered to come by Joe’s place to help out. Hiram was a diesel mechanic at Northrup Grumman in Barstow CA. He says a good mechanic can figure out how to fix anything. He got the seat post free in about 30 minutes of hammering, oiling, and blowtorching the thing to oblivion.

We took Joe on his first ride in a few years. Now that he is retired and had taken one ride, he is hooked. AND…….. I got to use my new video camera.

The Ice Cream

Fantastic

The air was sultry as we met at Buttonwood Park in New Bedford, MA. The wind conspired with light rain to keep some of the “going” riders home.

Our commander, Civatron, was having problems with his crankset and chain. He couldn’t get them to match up and keep the chain connected. With help from engineering, the crew was able to get his ship worthy enough for impulse power. The fleet flanked Civatron for the duration of the ride, matching his speed.

The ships made their way to our first stop, Sugar Plum Sweets, for ice cream cups, cones and Mochi Creams.

A short ride to Pier 3 brought us to our second ice cream stop. Acushnet Creamery. We then attempted warp speed to get to our third stop, Dairy Made at the beginning of the peninsula of the city.

Our fourth planned stop had to be canceled because of the late hour. We did take a tour of a WWII gun battery that protected the coast from German U-boats.

And of course: The Video