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 Daily Prompt and Riding A Bicycle In The Winter

The Daily Prompt is a writing training aid.  It suggests a subject to help what we call writers block.  I try to incorporate the “Prompt” with my bicycle writing into one post. Sometimes it works. Today’s prompt is titled Alma Mater

Alma Mater —You’ve been asked to speak at your high school alma mater — about the path of life. (Whoa.) Draft the speech.

My University soccer team was being inducted into the schools hall of fame.  A good number of the players traveled to the event.  The team was from 20 some odd years past, so there was a lot of catching up to do.  It was an annual event and there were a six or eight different inductees.  Individuals, our team, a coach for example.  It was the standard college ceremony.  We were the first to be inducted that night and lined up on the side of the stage at the bottom of the stairs.  As the short bio of our team was being read as an introduction, a team mate standing behind me said. “we took a vote and nominated you to give the speech”.  At that moment the MC announced, “Please give a warm welcome to the 1977 UMass soccer team”.

Winter Biking

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Those who ride in the winter can relate.  Those who don’t are missing out. Continue reading “The Daily Prompt and Riding A Bicycle In The Winter” →

Just Me And The Dogs On The MUP.

Sudden Shifts Sudden shifts in weather can occur at the beach for sure.  But they can also happen riding a bike three days after a blizzard. Soft snow, icy footprints, crusty snow and pavement can make for some challenging bicycle riding.  But if you bike, you know it’s also fun.

Riding on snow
The footprints and bike tracks are all mine and my dogs.  The tire tracks are my neighbors quad.

MUP is an acronym for Multi Use Path.  The one I use is a Rail to Trail converted alternate route into town.  If the path is not clear, the only way to town is on US Rt. 6. A four lane highway with a posted speed of 40 MPH.  Most drivers exceed 50 and approach 60 MPH since the road was newly paved in the fall.

I decided to get studded tires for my bike this winter because the town doesn’t clear this path of snow, and no one on rt 6 clears their sidewalks. Those two things force bikes and pedestrians onto a state highway to get to the town center.

Today I rode the MUP to the gym and the coffee shop.  The terrain was a mix of ice, crusty snow, blacktop and 5″ deep soft snow.  I had to stop three times and walk when I hit the soft snow.  The one mile ride was a pretty good leg workout and warm up for my time in the gym.  After the workout I stopped in the Flower Girl Baking Company for a good cup of coffee and a really light and delicious slice of quiche.

Flower Girls Baking Co.
Flower Girls Baking Company in Fairhaven.  You gotta try the quiche.

On the return trip I avoided riding on the path and took my chances on RT 6.  It’s two lanes in each direction and I took 1/3 of the lane forcing cars to go around and not squeeze me into the embankment.  It worked out fine with every vehicle moving to the passing lane as they drove by me.  Today I got to ride a little ebony and a little ivory.

Below is the example of sudden shifts in the terrain while riding my bike. (Having fun).

Trombone Shorty Again

trombone shorty at the Z

The Stat Connection Maybe this will be my best stats post. It’s certainly good enough.
Last week I got three hard to get tickets to the local performing arts center for the Trombone Shorty Show.   I can say without any reservation that this was the wildest most entertaining performance I have ever, ever attended.  See if you agree.  Go full screen and go loud.

The Blizzard of 2016

Say Your Name My name is Lucy and I like snow.

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This one is a humdinger in the making.  The call is for 12-15 inches with high winds and heavy wet snow. I’m hoping the temperature drops into the 20’s to make the snow much lighter.  This storm is predicted to last 24 hours with more snow coming later in the week.   I am fond of saying that things like this are just a weather event until people are added into the equation.  Then it becomes a catastrophe. Continue reading “The Blizzard of 2016” →

Winter Has Settled In

Live to Eat
Lots of physical activity, especially bike riding, keep me from turning into a blown up tic from eating too much.

When I ride the MUP (Multi Use Path) there is one spot that always gives me a ever changing view of itself.  There is so much activity on the salt marsh if we pay attention. As I rode by on my newly studded tires the ducks called to me.  They were really warning each other that I was around, but I take it as a compliment. Ducks in Saltmarsh 002

The path was quite a mixed terrain ride today.  Icy tire tracks, deep-ish snow, blacktop and mush.  Today was my first day on studded tires, and frankly it kind of knocked the stuffing out of me a few times. I had to buy the tires separately which gives me 200+ studs on the front and 75 studs on the rear tire.  When I hit some of the deeper snow, (about three or four inches) the back tire would slip and slide making me tense up and struggle to keep upright. I was able to force myself to keep pedaling through the more natural thing of taking my foot off the pedal anticipating a fall. The sliding made it very difficult to hold any kind of a line in the tire tracks which seemed more like the side to side down hill skiing than bike riding.   Continue reading “Winter Has Settled In” →

Dam You DPW

We got a pretty good snow storm yesterday. Naturally I had to drive to the airport so the kid could fly back to his 70 degree weather in Austin.  Also both studded tires arrived this week and the storm couldn’t have been more opportune.

Putting on the tires was a frustrating task.  Both fought back with every stud, but I finally got them installed. All this work took place in between football games.  The English Premier League takes up most of my Saturday mornings.  It’s not very good football, but it’s fun to watch.  I did a fair share of profanities not only from the studded tires, but also the games.   My wrist hurts from struggling with that last few inches of the tire install, and my ankle hurts from stomping on the floor when one of the teams I decided to support today, played stupid.

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Studded Tires Installed on the Marin.

I decided to take the dogs for a walk before the inaugural studded tire ride and when I looked down the street the first thing that came to mind was, “Dam you, DPW.  They did a great job prepping the streets before and clearing the streets after the snow.  First time ever by the way.  Last year it took weeks to get the streets down to pavement.  Dam DPW. I’m going to bitch. I have a six mile ride into the city tomorrow for Yoga and am hoping that New Bedford keeps their low standard of clearing the roads in tact.

Clear Evergreen St.

Overcast Tree on Evergreen St.
At least the trees have snow cover. 

Driving To The Airport After The Snowstorm

Owen and Lucy in the Snow from John Sullivan on Vimeo.

Second Time Around Last February the kid came home to 3 feet of snow. His visit this year was a bit better. It’s always better on the second time around.

It’s still snowing but we are anticipating good roads to the Providence R.I. airport in Warwick R.I.  The people of Warwick are a bit perturbed that the airport in their city is called the Providence Airport.  The conundrum is that we will be driving during the evening commute.

The kid spent a few days in Massachusetts and was lamenting the lack of snow.  He visited last year and was hoping for snow and he got snow.

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He lives in Austin, where it’s probably around 80 degrees, so this is a treat for him.

Last June he booked and evening flight out of Providence, there were not enough seats sold and the flight was cancelled.  It was the last flight of the day so he had to fly out the next evening.  He is due at work at 11 AM tomorrow, so a canceled flight could be a problem. We’ll see how the flight goes today

A friend posted a photo online about looking at her bike and not being able to ride. I countered with a photo of my bike getting prepped to be ridden.

See your bike and can't rideIMG_0003-001

Painting the Town Red

Happy Happy Joy Joy

The Mann CenterPhiladelphia, Pa September 14, 2013 DerekBrad.com
Trombone Shorty

Located in Downtown New Bedford, Massachusetts, the Zeiterion Theatre is the last “old-time” theatre in a city that once boasted 17. Ground was broken on March 14, 1922 and on April 2, 1923, New Bedford opened its last new theatre in the city’s downtown area- The Zeiterion. Built for the “live performance of vaudeville”, it opened with Troubles of 1922 starring and written by George Jessel. The theatre did not meet with immediate success and by September 1923 it had closed briefly and reopened that month as the State, a silent movie house.Zeiterion Wurlitzer circa 2010

Five world premieres were held at the State. One notable premiere was the 1956 opening of “Moby Dick” complete with Gregory Peck in attendance.

Last night the Zeiterion Performing Arts center had a twin bill of The Record Company a Los Angeles based rock and blues band, and Trombone Shorty, a New Orleans, funk, jazz band.

“We know none of you know who we are, but thanks so much for the reception”.

That was the comment by the lead singer after the band realized they were a hit with the crowd. The Record Company had a limited amount of time as the opening act and they made the best of it.

The main even opened like an atomic bomb.  It stayed that way for the next 90 minutes. Trombone Shorty is a high energy, New Orleans based, funk, jazz, crazy like no other, band.  During the first couple of songs, someone would stand and dance or clap, and soon sit back down.  Shorty noticed this happening and yelled into the crowd.  “If you feel it, stand up and FEEL it”.   After that, there were a handful of people in their seats and the energy running at 200%, picked up considerably.  It was an intense night of rock and roll, funk and jazz which ended with an encore of Trombone Shorty and his band walking the aisles of the theater jamming like a New Orleans funeral procession.

TROMBONE SHORTY AT THE Z from John Sullivan on Vimeo.

Boston. February 1, 2016

A Bird, a Plane, You!  Making the clouds disappear.  Could it be a super power? If your confused, click the link for the explanation.

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The Southeast Expressway in Boston on February 1, 2016 at 3:30 PM.

The kid was coming home for a visit from Austin.   He was booked on an early morning flight to Boston via Chicago.FB_IMG_1430832275891  More often than not, things happen to him. He wears the proverbial black cloud like a halo.   Last time he came home there was 8 feet of snow on the ground. The time before that, his flight was canceled and he had to wait a full day for the next flight. Waiting to board his early morning flight to Boston via Chicago today, he was paged.

Continue reading “Boston. February 1, 2016” →

Yoga

Library. Fairhaven Ma
Millicent Library in Fairhaven, Ma with the Unitarian Building in the background.

A 6 mile ride to yoga class that is part of the New Bedford Wellness Initiative today.  On the way to the Boys and Girls club, while climbing a hill, one of my pedals fell off.

69 CamaroI was walking the final half mile and came across a couple of old timers looking at a 1969 Camaro in a garage.  I borrowed an adjustable wrench from one of these friendly strangers and made the repair. The pedals were installed a few short days ago and I was very conscious of putting is on correctly and tight.

YO! GUYS.  PAY ATTENTION TO THE TEXT.

The problem was that it’s in two parts.  The pedals came with adapters for different sized cranks. The adapter screws into the crank then the pedal screws into the adapter.  I have no idea why this fell of because reverse threading on the left pedal insures that this doesn’t happen.  (To most people).  I’ll figure it out tomorrow.

Continue reading “Yoga” →