Feb. 9 – Sunday – Road Cycling – Sunset & Full Snow Moon Canal area –

Mainland side – Flats and hills.

Registration required.  Also please consider becoming a member of AMC

CLICK HERE for AMC info

Start time: about 2 hours prior to sunset.  Contact leader for registration, start time, etc. paulbcurrier@comcast.net

Please arrive with tires and riders pumped and ready to roll. Helmets, water, spare tube required; pump and tools would be nice. Cancellation/rescheduling sent to registered riders only.

We’ll ride streets from Sagamore Recreation Area (mainland side) into the Highlands with a stop at Peaked Cliff.  Return to the recreation area and along the canal to Buzzards Bay for sunset at MMA or on Three Mile Outlook. Then back along the canal for moonrise over the Sagamore Bridge or at the end of the canal service road.

– Full Snow Moon – February Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, native tribes of the north and east most often called February’s full Moon the Full Snow Moon. Some tribes also referred to this Moon as the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions in their areas made hunting very difficult.

Paul

508-833-2690

It wasn’t intended, but I have gotten myself into another bike challenge. As fellow blogger Rootchopper so eloquently wrote.

Do a 12 errands over a 12-day period and you will be a hero, or something like that. And you get a prize!

The weather has been good enough to ride in New England and today I find myself half way through the challenge. I’m not officially entered but will certainly try my best to complete this easy task.

Before I leave the house, I have to feed my neighbors. When the garage door opens, the blue jays start squawking.  It’s like the dinner bell for the other birds, squirrels and any other critters in need of some winter sustenance.

Today  was a ride to the fitness center for a session with my personal trainer. After the gym, a quick trip to Marshall’s for some discount clothing.  Because I do the cooking, a daily trip to the market for fresh vegetables and produce is necessary.  The market is a mile from my home and the fitness center is an additional half mile. An easy bike ride on the local MUP.

Providence Bike Jam in Rhode Island has a ride on the last Friday of every month. Last night the weather was decent hovering around 37 F with no wind and an overcast sky.

Around thirty showed for this months casual spin and some cut out in Downtown Providence to attend the Bohemian Ball. Some moved on to a local brewery for food and beverage. Some of us went home at the end.

Most of us were challenged climbing the usually not so difficult hills. The winter months often depletes our fitness and many of us sound like a locomotive huffing and puffing to get to the top.

2020 January Providence Bike Jam from John Sullivan on Vimeo.

DOUBLE DANCE PARTY ALERT! 👯
When we realized our friends at Conscious Club & Goodwill Steam Fire Engine Co. No. 1were throwing a big weird dance party the same night as our next #PBJ ride (1/31/20), we decided we ought to end the ride there! Our (weather-dependent) mobile dance odyssey will finish up at the #BohemianBall. Prizes will be awarded for the most outlandishly dressed… we got this, PBJ crew. Get your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/west-end-disco-bohemian-ball-tickets-88163420163
💃
NOTE: As always, PBJ is free and open to all. For those who feel more like drinkin’ and chillin’ than more dancin’, we’ll have an alternate end point at our fave Long Live Beerworks 🍻

Wheels up at 6:30.  Burnside Park.  Providence, RI.  (GPS search Kennedy Plaza.)

This is it.  The final cut.   The video is ready for presentation to the South Coast Bikeway Alliance Summit of Massachusetts if they choose to show the production.

Click the Vimeo link at the bottom right of the video for better quality

Chelsea, Watford and Everton wins this weekend. Life is good in the sporting world.

Also Brandon was home for a week.

We spent a little time together, and I managed to get a photo as we were about to leave for Logan Airport in Boston. Most of his time was catching up with his friends.   As I write he is on his way back to Austin.  Which is not Texas.  He lives in Austin.

Wifey and I traveled to Atalanta for Christmas.  The three grandchildren 6, 4 and 2 year olds, managed to fill every room in the McMansion with toys.  Two days later we filled two SUVs with food and toys and drove the five hours to Florida’s Palm Coast in six and a half hours. We rented a house on Cinnamon Beach. CLICK HERE for a tour of the place

The weather cooperated nicely for this New England couple, with overcast skies and temperature in the low 70’s for the entire week. Southern Florida would have been hideous for this winter lover. I saw mid 80s down there when I checked the Weather Underground app.

I’m not a fan of the lifestyles in Florida. Public transportation is negligible.  Sidewalks are few and far.  Driving is the only way to get around and it’s not a fun thing to do. Traffic laws, it seems, are illegal to obey.   We did rent in a gated community and had no reason to leave because we had enough food and toys for the week.

The kids decided to stay an extra day because sun was predicted.  Granny and Grumpy had a flight back to Boston booked the next day, which prevented us from staying.  That was fine with both of us, being exhausted after 8 days with the grandchildren. We filled one of the SUV’s with food and toys and drove the five hours back to Atlanta in eight and a half hours.  The Atlanta rush hour combined with an accident on the freeway got us the last 10 miles in a mere 60 minutes. Vroom vroom.

We stopped at the spa to fetch our two dogs, unloaded everything, unpacked some and got Sue settled into our home.  Me?  At 8 PM, I checked the bike tires, attached two panniers, turned on the handlebar light, the front and rear wheel MonkeyLectric light,  the down low glow light, and the seat blinky light, and set out for the market to stock up. It was a warm 45F on a crystal clear evening.  A great mile ride on the Phoenix MUP in Fairhaven, Ma, was a fine ending to a great vacation with the family.  Now to relax back into retirement.

We are both looking forward to visiting the kids and grand kids next Christmas.

In Santa Fe.

Sitting by the pool with coffee, breakfast and today’s paper. Doesn’t get better than this. One more day of perfect weather tomorrow. Thursday we drive back to Atlanta and fly home to Boston on Friday.

A wonderful vacation with the kids and grandchildren.

Visiting the grandchildren in Atlanta. “Grumpy, can you take us biking?”.

So much fun. Even the diggahs. He was crying because he wanted to see this video.

It was a mild 36F at 5PM when I left home for the six mile ride to Buttonwood Park in New Bedford, MA.  On the way I stopped at the secret base of the New Bedford Starchasers and met up with a few of the riders.  We left the park on schedule at 6:30 PM, and rode to a couple of the collection boxes where we picked up winter coats and clothing for kids in need.

We were met at Common Park in the city by those collecting the clothing, bearing gifts. Coffee and doughnuts. Inside the holiday themed park were were also offered “cocoa on the commons” by a group giving away the drinks and snacks.

It was a great night for a bike ride with a wonderful group of riders. There is nothing I would rather have done than to spend the evening with these people. (Even if my video skills were way below par).

2019 Winter Solstice ride with the Starchasers from John Sullivan on Vimeo.