Twas the day after Christmas, and the Nor’Easter had passed. Everyone was stirring, even the birds in the grass…. Except one.

As I approached my back entryway after the dog walk, a Blue Jay excitedly took flight from the porch. That’s odd, I though. Then I saw the tiny little sparrow, breathing heavy and unable to move. I took him inside the breezeway and gave him a once over triage. Seeing no evidence of injury, my hope was that the bird had flown into the window and knocked itself out.

It took over an hour, but the little guy was gradually able to keep itself upright. I put him outside on a dish towel and waited to see how things went. Eventually he took flight, not far. Actually a competition with the Wright Brothers and my little sparrow may have ended in a stalemate, as far as distance goes. He landed a few yards away on my front lawn, completely exposed to any hungry bird eater. Hawks, cats, or whatever. I went to pick it up again which finally entices it to fly up into a tree. No more than five minutes later, a black cat cut across my lawn a mere two feet from where I had initially put the bird on the dish towel. Seems all ended well.

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Since bike stuff is pretty much dried up for now. It’s a good time to introduce the critters. We found Reba at a Humane Society Gala. Sue and I ventured into the kennel during the event, and Reba picked me. We took her home the next day. She was transferred to MA from Houston after her family lost their home during Hurricane Harvey.

Owen was found wandering the streets of New Bedford, Ma. He ended up in the Fall River MA animal shelter. We took our two dogs to see if they would get along. Our two, sniffed a couple of times and walked away from Owen. “Yeah, he’s OK,” is the signal we got from the other two.

The cat was at the shelter where Sue works. It’s a dog shelter, and cat’s are shipped out of town ASAP. Sometimes ASAP is a few weeks. The cat was not put into the cat room with the others, but sentenced to a cage in the hallway. Sue offered to foster the cat till ASAP happened. When she brought her home, I told Sue we should name her because, knowing Sue, we would be adopting the cat. “No way” Sue said. After a few days Sue decided to call the cat Soleil. I knew that was that, and a couple of days later Sue said she wanted to adopt Soleil if I was OK with it. I looked at the placard on the wall and said, “whatever you want dear”.

Sue and I are home alone this December 25th. Without little kids around, Christmas is just another day. We don’t buy each other gifts because we decided a few years ago that instead, we would adopt families through the Salvation Army. We both worked there for the last 10 holiday seasons, but Covid kept us away this year. We did adopt a mother and her three children, and were able to gift them everything on their list. We never know who they are nor do they know who we are. It can get awkward, history tells us. Also, last Saturday night, one of the bike groups joined the local LGBTQ+ group to collect and buy toys for local children. We were able to make a wonderful holiday for 25 kids.

Sue worked at the dog shelter this morning and I’ll be cooking a simple dinner of bake stuffed shrimp with squash and mango infused jasmine rice. On my dog walk this morning before the storm hit, I heard the distinct sound of lots and lots of geese heading my way. With a 30+ MPH wind blowing against them, the V shape of flying didn’t work. Each goose and gander were on their own which gave their flight pattern a Keystone Cop look. I grabbed my I phone, set it to video, and was cracking up watching them zig zag across the sky fighting the wind. Because I can be a slow learner, I didn’t check to see if the camera was recording. If so, you would now be watching the video.

The weather looks to be decent once this storm passes. A few days of riding before another round of rain mid week. Maybe a group ride to bring in the new year and another celebrating MLK later in the month. We’ll see.

Stormy weather is upon us in New England. Bike riding is at a premium because of the ice and/or snow conditions. All that gives me time to transfer some of my videos from Vimeo to Youtube. The first one to get my attention is the 2017 Boston Midnight Marathon Bike Ride.

340 of us put our bikes on Trucks at South Station in Boston that transferred them to Southboro, Ma. We filled five double deck commuter rail trains with riders for the one hour ride to meet up with our bikes. There was also an additional 2530 others who made their own way to the start of the ride. Once in Southboro, we located truck E and retrieved our bikes to begin the two mile ride to the official start of the Marathon in Hopkinton. It began with the steepest hill that saw many many get off their bikes to walk. This is one of my top rated rides and like runners do for the Marathon, this is definitely a bucket list event.

BTW. The ride starts at midnight, hours before the start of the Boston Marathon.

The night was sultry.

The event was in conjunction with the local LGBTQ+ group, who were doing a toy collection for underprivileged children. The bike ride was organized by the New Bedford Starchasers. Riders began gathering for the 6 PM Navi Away, (wheels up), with the thermometer hovering in the mid to high 20’s F. The general consensus was that without any wind, 28 degrees wasn’t bad at all. Actually it was comfortable. Then the ride commenced at 7 PM.

The twenty five riders soon realized that we became the wind, and the 28 F suddenly had a wind chill effect. By 7:30 there were 12 or 13 still riding. There were 9 at the rides end at 7:45. Because of the icy conditions in some spots, we rerouted to stay within the park grounds. A few short minutes after abandoning the bikes, those who stopped riding were comfortable with the temperatures again. That’s when the festivities began.

Four Starchasers, including yours truly, were knighted as Pilots. Awards were presented, followed by pins, spoke cards and other gifts before we loaded all the toys into the waiting cars of the organizers.

Put on your head phones, turn up the volume, click the “Watch on YouTube at the bottom left, and go full screen for the full effect.

It’s a snow day here at the edge of Cape Cod. After spending some time perusing some of my bike friends blogs, and responding to my friend at biking to work, I began to feel a bit nostalgic. My original intent was to put up a link to my two previous blogs at blogspot. amidnightrider, and fairhavenroadie. I know, it’s true. I was a spandex wearing, speed freak, hammerhead at one time.

I began blogging in 2005 and always pined to do long distance bike touring. A corporate job prevented me from loading my bike and going for a ride for two or three months. I eventually settled for shorted one week tours. Supported and unsupported.

After fourteen years of bike touring, I’m pretty sure that July of 2019, was my last. This past summer I sold my touring bike and all the accessories. A few days later, I sold my road bike. I don’t miss either one.

Like many of us in the “older” generation, we read these journals and dream about riding our bikes for months. Camping, sleeping in fire houses and churches, meeting people who invite us into their homes for showers and dinner. For two years I read them and put myself in the place of these young riders, daydreaming and looking, not unlike the starving waif, gazing into the window of a fancy restaurant at the filet, and foie gras. However, things happen to convince us that riding our bikes for three months, alone, may not be in the cards.

In 2007 I threw caution to the wind and rode my bike for a week in Austria. CLICK HERE for the story.

NEW BEDFORD, MA – On Saturday, 12/19 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, join the New Bedford Starchasers for an electric light parade around Buttonwood Park! This year, OPERATION TOUR DE TACKY is part holiday light show and part toy drive for families-in-need. We’re teaming-up with the South Coast LGBTQ+ Network to collect toys and spread holiday cheer during a time when it’s needed most. Win a prize for best “ugly” holiday sweater or tackiest bike decorations! MORE

Seventeen showed for this mild December Sunday morning bike ride. We gathered at the Buzzards Bay Coalition headquarters and set out to visit some of the local murals, two bakeries, a zoo and a bodega. Our first stop was also the first surprise. We pulled up to the jazz mural, a block from the Coalition building, and low an behold, a four piece jazz band greeted us.

The group stopped briefly at many more murals before our first bakery stop. Then on to the zoo, a bodega for the best empanadas evah, and on to our final bakery stop in downtown New Bedford, Ma.

45 F and overcast with a stiff breeze. In other words….A good day for a bike ride.