Sort of casual.  Cut loose from the group if you wish.  It’s a straight shot on a MUP with little traffic early in the morning. No problem coasting at 19 or 20 MPH.

Monday – July 29th – Bike Ride

Where:  East Bay Bike Path

When: Meetup is at 7:45am –  Ride starts 8:00am

Meetup Place:  Take 103 to Warren – Take first left after Del’s Lemonade – Parking on left

Casual ride – there will be a small detour due to R.I. DOT cutting a tree down

Rain cancels ride

Bite into Biking P.B.J. could be a double entendre. Providence Bike Jam or….Peanut Butter and Jelly.  We made use of both meanings tonight.

The number of riders was somewhere in the mid to high forties for this ride on a beautiful Friday night.    The ride began at 7 PM, road through many of the neighborhoods of Providence, with a stop for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches provided by RI Bike Coalition. We arrived at  Long Live Beerworks, our final destination, at 10 PM. The brewery was prepared for an onslaught of 40 thirsty bicycle riders who arrived in one big group.

This is one of my favorites. It’s a very casual ride through the neighborhoods of Providence, RI.  As usual, I’ll be starting and finishing at Ft. Hill in East Providence at 6:30PM. (Set GPS to 1 Mercer St. East Providence, RI).  It’s a bit under three miles from Burnside Park where the ride begins.

Hey there! Come join us for a social, casual-paced, group ride around beautiful Providence, RI! Rides are typically @ 10 miles with a snack/beverage break, or two!, in between.

-Meet at 6:30, leave at 7
-Route info coming soon!

P.s. you may have noticed our name is now Providence Bike Jam! We’ve been wanting to change it up for a while now, to something a little more positive and a lot more inclusive of the fun we’re really after here. All we want is to make new friends who like to ride bikes, in this fair city, while playing music. We have some new blood join the volunteer team recently, and we thought the time was now to make this transition.

Let us know if you want to volunteer: make routes for our rides, have theme ideas, make bike and PBJ related art, or something else completely that you think will help our efforts. We welcome all voices and ideas to the table, and we really can’t wait to ride with you soon. Youth, women, POC, and Spanish speakers to the front!

 

That’s what I yelled when a fully loaded, or better still overloaded bike passed by as I exited the gym.  He was already past me and simply raised his hand as a greeting.  Just then another passed within three feet of me.
“Are you on tour?” I yelled.  The second biker gave me that look, raised her hand and it was obvious she was saying,  “What does it look like.

Every summer, I come across fully loaded bike touring people either going to Cape Cod and the Islands, or to Boston.  Southeastern Massachusetts is considered the most bike friendly thoroughfare getting to those places with quiet country roads and plenty of places to camp, hotel or B&B.

I caught up to Marga and Sebastian on the very unfriendly to bikes, rt 6 in Fairhaven, Ma.  I pulled along the Marga and said, “there is a bike path very close to here that parallels this busy road.  Follow me.”   They did, and I took them into the parking lot of the local Stop and Shop.

The first thing I said to the woman was that was a rhetorical question.  She smiled and said , “ya ya.”  I recognized the Dutch accent and replied in Dutch, “gazelic”.  (very cool). We talked for a good twenty minutes about their tour and of course, soccer.  They were surprised that a Yank was so knowledgeable about world football.  It’s the only sport I care to follow,, also the only organized sport I played for 40+ years.   They asked about American football and my response was that it was so slow, it’s what ambian watches to fall asleep.

“How long have you been on the road.” I asked.  Sebastian replied “around four months. We have around four or five months more.”

They began in California, rode the Southern Tier to Florida and picked up the Atlantic Coast route.  All using the Adventure Cycling Maps.  They will cross into Canada somewhere in Maine, and ride back to the Pacific.  From there they will travel to Australia and ride there for a couple of months.

I mentioned that Brandon and I were planning a bike tour somewhere in Europe next fall.  The Netherlands is on our short list.  With that we exchanged phone number, e-mails, and touring sites we use.

There will be a Sunset/Moonlight ride on the East Bay Bike Path on Friday 7/19/19.

It’s time for another Sunset/Moonlight ride. The full moon is actually on Tuesday the 16th.

The Details: — Date: Friday 7/19/19. — Location: EBBP off Rt 103 near Del’s Lemonade.
Time: Arrive: 7:00PM — Departure: 7:15PM promptly
Sunset: 8:15PM — Moonrise: 10:19PM — Name: Full Buck Moon — Distance is flexible. Rain cancels the ride.

We will ride toward Providence till we decide to turn around. Turn around point will probably be India Point Park unless we decide to turn around sooner (or later). That’s around 22 or 23 miles round trip.

Bikes should have adequate lighting. If you have a second headlight as a backup that might come in handy if the first one goes out. Bring water, snacks, cameras and anything else you might want or need.

Take note that it is cooler after sunset and dress accordingly.

The final day of the Erie Canal bike tour.  A short 20 miles on paved path and some roads.

It was another hot day which forced us to make a couple of water stops. On outside of Schenectady ended up being the most interesting.    At the convenience store on NY route 5S we met an interesting clerk from India.  His name was a difficult one to remember, but his story is much better.

When we entered the store he told of how jealous he was seeing us on bikes. He want’s to move to Austin, Texas where Brandon lives and they exchanged telephone numbers.  He had done some some really amazing things before he came down with liver cancer, and is now working at his uncle’s store as a clerk. He is fully cured btw.

He has done some really crazy bike rides in India, running events and has also climbed Mt Everest.  His latest adventure was riding his bike on the ocean floor in full scuba gear.  His videos and photos were incredible.

Fellow touring friends we met on the Erie Canal

2019 Erie Canal Bike Amsterdam to Schenectaty NY from John Sullivan on Vimeo.

 

Brandon and I tend to lollygag in the morning and get a late start. We stopped at a store that shall remain nameless, for him to try to find a tube for his tube less tire. He got four punctures in it and used up all the sealant.

We don’t ride hard at all on tour and we do tend to stop a lot. Mostly to refill our water bottles. The heat and humidity has me going through twelve or so a day.

While having coffee this morning we saw two young guys on BMX bikes balancing small luggage bags on handlebars. We both agreed that they were probably on the run for something. A few miles into the ride, we came upon them on the canal route. They were riding from Newark, NY to Framingham, MA. were they were going to be picked up. Later, as I was take a video of the pigs, (you’ll have to watch it below), they rode up to us obviously in distress. One asked if we could fix his flat tire that he had been riding on for a few miles. The best we could do was to give him a repair kit and send them a half mile back to the nearest town to use the gas station pump. We only had presta valves and they, Schroeder.

When we rode this in 2012 I took some photos and was able to recreate them in 2019

 

One of the coolest things we saw was a dedicated bike bridge. When the town or state built a new one on RT31 which is also Bike Route 5. they left the old bridge for bike use. It’s also on the video.

To get to the hotel we had to go up a hill. A humdinger. I say go up and not ride up for a reason.  It’s a hill that if someone were video taping a bike ride up it the Benny Hill Theme song would be playing.

Erie Canal Day 6 Herkimer to Amsterdam, NY from John Sullivan on Vimeo.

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It was a beautiful mild day for this 49 mile ride to Herkimer, NY.  We had planned on making good time and didn’t begin riding till around noon.  An hour or so into the ride Brandon’s self sealing tire got another puncture.  There was nothing left to seal this time and he had to install a tube.  That was after wiping the inside of the tire to remove the remnants of the sealant.

It got humid later on and we had to stop a few times at service station convenience stores to refill our water.  I was doing 8-10 a day, and Brandon was drinking just a little less.

We struck up a conversation with a guy measuring the gas tank supply with his 10 foot yard stick looking thing.  I asked him the name of this town.
“Frankfurt” he said. We asked if there was a cheap motel around and he gave us a couple of suggestions.  As we were getting directions from Franky Frank, Mike and older guy started to give us opposing suggestions but pretty much saying the same thing.  It’s a knack small town people have I suppose.  Everyone who came into the convenience store knew Mike.  I asked if this was his regular hangout.  “63 years.” The place was once a gas station owned by his father.  Mike lever left.

I also had a 7 year old Erie Canal Guide Book that listed places to stay. Some were still there, some gong and others had changed names and telephone numbers.  Everything close by was booked.  We changed our destination to Herkimer, NY and began calling.  All were booked.  I mentioned to Brandon that it was the weekend and that’s probably normal.

“What could possibly draw people to these towns on a weekend or any other time was his response.”  I could think of nothing.   We were getting antsy until one of the clerks said call Inn Town Motel.  They had one room left and saved it for us.

As we were about to leave, I thanks the slide rule guy.   “I’m Frank. Wanna hear something funny.”

“Of course.” I said

“My name is Franky Frank.  I live in Frankfurt and live on Frankfurt St.”

I told him that if I was a Hollywood producer I would make a movie about him.

“Franky Frank from Frankfurt St in Frankfurt. ” Catchy.

We got to the hotel in Herkimer and low and behold, it was the place we stayed in 2012. The owner came around the corner and I said, “Sarah?”  She was miffed.  I told her that we stayed here in 2012 and she was just a little impressed.  Then I pulled up my crazyguyonabike page and showed the photo I took of her. She had me send it to her phone and gave us a discount on the room.

 

Brandon continued to have problems with punctures on his rear wheel. It’s a tubeless self sealing type and we worry that the sealant will run it’s course.  His gearing was also acting up with the chain shifting on it’s own.

We stopped in the local bike shop in Fairport NY and the owner stopped everything to help us out.  We find on every tour we have done that bike shops put touring cyclist first priority.  We bought some sealant refill and the owner also checked out the derailleur and found it bent. He didn’t want to try and bend it back into shape because if it broke, he had no replacement.  He did recommend a bike shop a few miles down the road.

When we got to Rochester, NY, the gravel path ended and we had a few miles on a paved MUP through the city.  When Brandon needs to stop for whatever reason, I usually continue riding.  I rounded a bend and lo and behold, came upon a brand new REI store that looked a lot like OZ.  It felt like the land of OZ also when the two wrenches stopped working on other bikes and fixed Brandon’s for a mere $9.00

Brandon Says

After a much needed Dunkin Donuts coffee, we hit the canal at about 10am. Got into my favorite town on this whole trip, Brockport! its about 20 miles east of Albion. We had lunch and got directions to a bike shop that could help me with my tubeless wheel and my derailleur hanger. Come to find out, right after Rochester, there’s a brand new REI with on the canal. Was able to get everything taken care of there. Hopped off the Canal way and onto Bike Route 5 for the last 10 miles in order to cut the ride to the hotel short a few miles. Its been a long day!

Erie Canal Day 4. Egypt to Seneca Falls from John Sullivan on Vimeo.