Author: capejohn

A bike riding footie fan living and riding in SouthCoast towns of Massachusetts. My bicycle rides include commuting, day trips as well as long and short tours. Find me online https://amidnightrider.com/ https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/my/?o=1mr https://www.facebook.com/john.sullivan.79677471

The Guy Must Have Been Waiting At The Top Of The Street

I’ve had a heck of a time purchasing studded tires so I do get more riding.  I only need to get a little over a mile on the bike path, after that, I’m on town and city streets that are bike friendly and maintained.  The town doesn’t plow the MUP.

Two bike shops have had to cancel my order because they were out of stock.  After scrambling, one will be here on Friday and another tire sometime next week.  No problem now, because everything is clear.  But more snow and ice is sure to come.

I decided to buy a new bike rack system for my new car.  It’s a Thule platform, like the ones you see on the front of the city buses.  I also have to have a tow hitch installed. I can’t see myself using it before sometime in March.  Here is the irony.  I ordered it on Tuesday, online around 3 PM.  It arrived at 2:30 PM today, Wednesday.   Really, I’m paying a premium to have a bike tire shipped that takes 7-10 days.  Yet a 40 lb bike rack with free shipping can get here overnight.   I’m figuring the UPS guy must have been parked at the top of my street when the order was put in.

Thule Bike Rack

I did get out on the bike today, riding to some local stores.  One of the items was inexpensive bike pedals for winter riding. I have two sided spd pedals on the beater bike, but a wider plastic mountain bike pedal makes much more sense in the winter.

I also do all the cooking in the house and go to the market every day for fresh foods.  It’s a mile ride on the MUP and biking is the most logical mode, once it’s passable naturally. I usually ride to the gym for weights, yoga, cardio or tai chi. I only need to walk across a parking lot to the market. Convenient? You bet.

Shopping by bike
Fully loaded after shopping
Clear path after the storm
Clear bike path, four days after a blizzard.

The Day After The Storm

I stopped to talk to a neighbor on the way to the market. He complimented my new car and said, “all wheel drive?”.   I responded, “why”.  He said because of this.  Continue reading “The Day After The Storm” →

Snow Day

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Walking the dogs during the storm.

The snow let up around 6:30 PM and after spending most of the day in the house, getting outside to shovel was a treat.  Earlier I tried to get the dogs out back to do their thing and they wanted nothing to do with it.  I began putting on my boots and they started to get excited.  When I grabbed the leashes they were in a frenzy to go out.  It was pretty nice walking with my two buddies in a snow storm at night. Continue reading “Snow Day” →

Waiting Out The Storm

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Sitting at home riding out the first snow storm of the season. Not much going on to write about so again it’s looking back on one of my bike tours.

Day 1 Burlington VT to Plattsburgh, NY: 40 miles on the road and two ferry crossings

Sunday July 21, 2013, 40 miles (64 km) – Total so far: 40 miles (64 km)

As with every tour I take, the first day is long and we really don’t get the miles we expect for the amount of time we are on the saddle. For instance, we looked at doing 80 miles today by riding from Burlington to the Canadian border at Rousse Point then riding south to Plattsburgh. We decided to ease up and ride the bike way on the rails to trails route that took us on a causeway to South Hero. The causeway had a break where a bridge used to span the lake. Now there is a ferry that only accommodates 6 people and their bike for a $5 fee. The money is used to help the Burlington bike group Local Motion.
CLICK HERE for the full journal

Reminiscing. The Erie Canal Ride Day 3

Day 3: Medina to Fairport

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Sunday July 15, 2012, 62 miles (100 km) – Total so far: 124 miles (200 km)

We arrived in Medina very late last night and had just enough time to set up camp before it got dark. The fire department directed us to a park at the far end of town that gave us a nice secluded campsite. The traffic on the road near our site was just enough to keep up awake most of the night. We all got some sleep, but not much.

Continue reading “Reminiscing. The Erie Canal Ride Day 3” →

Waiting For My Studded Tires So I Can Ride My Bike

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waiting for mail in winter

Exactly The Same . Just Different

Can’t Stand Me

Play the music while your reading if you wish.

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My view riding to the gym.

I have a few bike blogging friends who have been riding in the snow for a couple of weeks. I  read their stories and shake my head thinking, I’m too old for that and really don’t feel like riding in snow.  I tell people that I might if it snowed, but didn’t really mean it. Well, it snowed last night. Continue reading “Exactly The Same . Just Different” →

Say Hello To a Bike Blogging Friend, Bri

I have met a few new bloggers who ride bicycles on WordPress. A couple like to ride in extreme weather, but there is one young lady, who is new to bike riding that has taken that to the extreme. She loves to ride in snow storms and cold winter mornings before daybreak. Bri, also testifies about the benefits of riding her bike to her cooking job, every day.
Today, snow is predicted for late morning here on Cape Cod, as soon as I finish this post, I’m going to hop on my bike and ride in the snow squall to go shopping for tonight dinner ingredients. It’ Healthy Skillet Chicken Parmesan, with home made sauce.
You should visit Bri on her site, Bike Like Crazy. I have a feeling you will enjoy her refreshing style of writing, even if she is a bit extreme on her bike riding. Tell her a midnight rider sent you

We Have A Team For The 5 Boroughs

Southcoast bikeway friends
Voices for a Health South Coast Bike Friends.

I have a pretty big network of bike riding friends, both locally, in Southern New England, and not so local, like Seattle, WA, Portland OR , Toronto and Panama City, Panama.  Locally, I’m trying my darndest to get the locals to expand their sense of adventure and do something different besides the same old rides, weekend after weekend, year after year.  One of those adventures is the NYC Five Boroughs Bike Tour. Continue reading “We Have A Team For The 5 Boroughs” →

Did You Ride Today?

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View from Stop & Shop in Fairhaven Ma

“Your on your bike!!!!  Do you know it’s raining?”

“Of course I know it’s raining. Why do you think I’m wearing rain gear?” Continue reading “Did You Ride Today?” →