We expect 200 plus monsters, ghouls, princesses, jedi warriors and hobos to be at our doorstep tonight. Wifey wanted some scary pictures of her acting as a witch but none of those seemed acceptable. I also did some close ups of Sue and the brook at the bottom of the street.
Tomorrow, Sunday I’ll be finishing my coffeeneuring challenge by riding my bike from the head of the East Bay Bike Path in East Providence R.I. to the Head of the Blackstone River Bikeway, in Cumberland, R.I. I have a few coffee shops from which to choose in downtown Providence.
The intent was to ride a few miles to a local animal shelter and do come comp work on the phone system. The ride began with the sun shining, only a wisp of wind and warm temperatures. It wouldn’t take long to install the phones so breakfast was postponed till after the job was done. A quick stop into a local super market for an apple to tide me over would be perfect. Things changed very quickly and exiting the market I saw this. As always, click any photo for big. Click again for bigger. Hit the back button to return to the story
Storm Brewing
I needed 10 minutes to get into the city and that seemed like it would be cutting it close. I stopped at the local McDonald’s to use their internet to check the weather. It was going to be close but I decided to go for it. Like the game show where you have money in your hand or you can risk it all for a grand prize. The money in my hand was coffee at McDonalds or take a chance on crossing the river to Green Bean Cafe for a wonderful cappuccino and a blueberry scone.
The choice was easy.Waiting out the storm
While having coffee, I got a call that the phone system was up and working at the animal shelter and I had the day to myself.
I hadn’t been on the road bike since May. There is a story to that but it’s not interesting. I got old Gurtrude aka Yellow Bike ready for her first road ride since then. We will tack on an additional 30 miles this afternoon just to kick start the mojo for some serious road riding over the next few weeks beginning tomorrow.
SATURDAY
Falmouth to Wood’s Hole on the Shining Sea bike trail. Met at the parking lot on RT 151 #16 on this map. Be there for an 8:30 AM start.
Bike for clean water at Buzzards Bay Watershed Ride on Oct. 4
10 towns from Westport to Woods Hole are on the Watershed Ride route.
I got to do the whole 75 miles with a caveat. I was the SAG mechanic, and did it in my car. It was the easiest 75 mile bike ride I have done since last year. Fun too.
All the photos are on Flickr HERE. Feel free to use any or all of them for your website.
Sometimes we don’t feel like writing. Today is one of those days. There was no one to play with so I took off on my bike alone. It was going to be just a short ride, but the morning was too nice and I kept going. Again over the bridge into New Bedford to ride along the waterfront. Crossing the bridge I saw a couple of cigarette boats mooring at the marina.
On the return ride, I rode into the marina and was told that I had just a few short minutes to get to the barrier gate in the middle of the harbor to see the dozens of cigarette boats begin their poker run. Like the motorcycle runs, these boats were big, loud and gaudy. I thought it would be cool, but as they passed the best I could muster was “ehhh”. Lots of the spectators were thrilled but personally I couldn’t see the point of having one of these. I like the photos that these boats are not the subject better.
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.
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 POSTINGContinue reading “Off Season Training. Photography, Biking and Blogging”→
In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Depth.”
This says New York subway on it’s own. The deco, Times Square, 42nd St. and the subjects lost in the moment. The photo shifts our impression however, when the third person is noticed.
A Midnight Rider 