Tag: bike

Dreaming Of This Years Bike Rides.

Cover Photo.  The Verrazano Narrows Bridge connecting Brooklyn to Staten Island.

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As always, click and photo for big. Click again for bigger

midnightmarathonstart
Hopkinton, MA. The start of the Midnight Marathon Bike Ride

There is still no place to ride a bike which put a severe crimp in training for biking in Panama next week.  I have been putting on some time at the gym, but anyone who rides knows that a stationary bike is no substitute for the real thing.  The only thing worse is riding on a trainer.  I tried that one season and ended up selling the stupid thing.

Biker riders all over the northeast are pining to get back on the road and all we can do for now is dream (and write) about our upcoming trips.  With that let the show begin with highlights of last years rides that we are doing again this year.
First up is the Midnight Marathon Bike ride that we do on the eve of the Boston Marathon in mid April. We load our bikes for transport to Hopkinton (some ride from Boston). We board the Amtrak to the start and the thousand or so riders bike the marathon route back to the city. No leaders, no rules, no helmet is required, no nothing. Everyone is on their own. It’s a hoot. Oh did I mention that the ride begins at midnight?

Statue of Liberty bike

Two weeks later on the first Sunday of May, it’s the New York City Five Boroughs Ride.  30.000 riders have the roads of Manhattan, Queens, da Bronx, Brooklyn  and the Verrazano Bridge to ourselves.  This is a big MF bridge especially at the end of a forty mile bike ride.  We also cross four other bridges to make this a five boroughs five bridges rides.  Seeing all the boroughs of New York on a bicycle at 12 mph with no vehicles is the bee’s knees.

IMG_0821

A month of training leads up to the years big tour.  Riding the Great Allegheny Passage Pittsburgh, PA. to Cumberland, MD.  Lat year I did it with the Rails to Trails dot org group and found it such a great ride that a couple of us are doing it again this year on our own.  Or as we in the bike culture say, “self supported”.

There is also the GRAND TOUR from Florida to Austin, Texas.  I have been wanting to do a cross country tour for years and time is running out for me to cross that off of my list.  Twice I have been ready to go and had to cancel.  I wanted to do this solo but I am not adverse to riding with company.  The video is a young man who did this last summer and I am only linking his video so he can get lots of hits on his YouTube.    CLICK HERE for Mr Smith’s (Barett), video.  Leave him a note if you feel like it. He did a great job and deserves recognition.

This has the possibility of being a really good spring and summer.

Car Wash

Cover Photo from Pinterest author unknown
Photo courtesy of Charles Buckley

The snow will be gone soon and it will be time for a car wash. Not just yet though.
The snow will be gone soon and it will be time for a car wash. Not just yet though.

Symmetry

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Symmetry.”

Cover Photo.   Many of the area homes have ice sculptures of varying size and shapes.

As always, click any photo for big. Click again for bigger

IMG_0207She looks both intrigued and proud.  Below is why.

The past week was a meet the parents holiday.  Brandon and his lady Janae, traveled from Austin, Texas to Fairhaven, MA (which we now call Alaskachusetts), just in time for the second major blizzard to hit the area.  Because there was so much snow from the previous storm, we were running out of places to put new stuff.  Janae was in awe of her man looking like he was working in a coal mine.  Little did she know that this storm dumped a foot of new powder that was no heavier than fairy dust.

Taking a break
Taking a break

A note about my recent postings.

Most of my musings are bike riding and bike touring posts.  Being snow bound allows me to take online courses to help make my writing, photos and videos better and more interesting.  The Daily Post does a weekly photo challenge that suggests a theme for participants.

A Funny Thing Happened While Digging Out From The Latest Snowstorm

Cover photo above author unknown
New Bedford snow blower waist deep

As always, click any photo for big. Click again for bigger.

Snowstorms, hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes, floods and stuff like that happen all the time. These are just part of nature and are no big deal. Until of course when humans are added to the equation. Then these natural phenomenon become disasters.

The past two weeks of blizzards and daily snow squalls for a while seemed like disasters. Now however, people have realized that although there is a lot of snow around, it’s really not causing much havoc. The roads are clear, the supermarkets have plenty of milk and bread. Gas is plentiful and it’s winter break for the schools.Now when we are walking or driving, it’s like being in a maze.  Check out some of the astonishing Boston photos below by clicking the link.

Icicles are the norm
Icicles are the norm

Stone building in blizzard New Bedford

Even the dogs like to look at the snow
Even the dogs like to look at the snow

Life is pretty much back to normal within a few hours of a blizzard. Because the temperature is so cold, the snow is very light. Kind of like fairy dust. It’s easy to plow and shovel. The only problem is that there is no longer any room to put what gets plowed and shoveled. Cities have resorted to trucking the snow to open spaces and rivers.

HERE are some astonishing photos from Boston.

This Says It All

This video says out loud what many of us feel.

Bike and Brain's avatarBike and Brain

This short video captures what it means to enjoy bikes. The documentary follows four individuals and explores the meaning of bikes in their lives. The viewer can really begin to understand that the bike is a defining feature for each of these people. A part of who they are, if you will.

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Bike Ride on Sunday. Really?

snow bike ride in the mountains

I can’t help but wonder how many will show for this club ride.  The Saturday Cafe Tour on the East Bay Bike Path in Rhode Island is also a go this week.

Studded tires and proper clothing will make either of these a unique and fun ride.  Have a blast if your going.

Off Season Training. Photography, Biking and Blogging

Biking is out of the question for a while because of the heavy snowfalls we are experiencing.  The winter months do offer a chance to improve this blog as well as some bike riding planning.   I bought a used DSLR camera and am studying photography both online and book reading. Right now it’s Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. Along with the photography class, I’m learning use video and video editing to add some zip to the site.  Even with all that there is still time to  research the annual summer bicycle tour.

Brandon and have narrowed our tour to two routes. Buffalo to Albany New York on the Erie Canal, which we have done twice together. Our other option is to ride the  C&O towpath from Washington to Cumberland, MD where we will join the Great Allegheny Passage trail  to Pittsburgh. I did the GAP last year with a large tour group, but would love to ride the rail trail route again this summer with just the two of us.  We will mix camping with Hostels and B&Bs.

In order to make sharing all the above more interesting I’m taking a blogging course.  I did sign up for “blogging 101” but am also going to dive right in to blogging 201.  I feel like I’m in between the two classes and can get some good experiences and training using both simultaneously.  Today’s topic on “101” was to introduce yourself which can be a challenge and awkward. Introductions can lead to self depreciation, overdone self praise or just plain uninteresting rambling.

I wanted to go back to my first bicycle blog posting on MyDearDiary but that is no longer available.  In 2005, I moved to another blogging site and now have to consider that my first blog.  I was new to the bike club scene and began riding with the Brown University Tuesday night  Blackstone Blvd. Paceline group.  On May 11, 2005, I made my first BLOG POSTING Continue reading “Off Season Training. Photography, Biking and Blogging” →

A Vexing Conundrum.

Got the single speed ready for the winter.
Got the single speed ready for the winter.

Winter weather is slowly creeping into the area.  I was in Atlanta for the Xmas holiday and the weather on Cape Cod was pretty much the same as Atlanta.  Now that I’m home the cold weather has also arrived.

The single speed winter bike and the winter clothing are ready to get me through these next two months.  The only thing that keeps me off the bike is when the MUP is covered with ice and snow.  The town still will not clear the path even though it gets lots of use all winter long.  Private citiezens have done the plowing in the past but are always issued a cease and desist by the Department of Public Works.  The reason.   “It’s the DPW’s job”.  But they won’t do it.  I think that’s what is known as a Vexing Conundrum.

Here is a little fun from a Turkish Ice Cream Truck.