My daily ride brings me all around the town of Fairhaven, MA as well as other towns. I noticed a lot of players on the courts at the middle school and as I rode up, it was obvious that these were very high class players. Even from a distance the loud thwack of their shots. Funny thing is that as I got closer, the players were shrinking. I had come upon the regional qualifying tennis tournament and these were 13 and 14 year old players shooting off cannons. I hung around for the last few matches on the four courts and have to say that these kids could really play.
Fairhaven’s local player Trevor Schwarzmann had lost only one match all year. Today he was beat 8-1 and had a very quick elimination from the playoffs.
Bike Fall River will be riding the Blackstone River Bike Path
Sunday, August 9, 2015 – Meet-up is at 8:45am the Start Time for the ride is 9:00am
Blackstone River Bike Trail
The Blackstone River Bike is one of the most beautiful bike paths in the area. It follows along a rail line, the Blackstone River and an old canal system. There are several dams along the route. The path is relatively flat and is perfect for the beginner cyclist as well as the experienced cyclist. The total distance is 10 miles one way, 20 mile round trip for those who choose to ride the entire path.
Directions to the meet-up spot: Take 195 West toward Providence, take I 95 North to Route 146. Once on route 146 take the exit for Route 123, bear right onto 123 (Breakneck Hill Rd) continue for 2.8 miles – the road becomes Great Road, Front Street and finally John Street (all on Route 123). Once you see the old sign for the Lonsdale Drive-in Theater take a left into the parking lot. Helmets are highly recommended – bring water and a snack. As with all rides, this is weather permitting.
As always, click any photo for big. Click again for bigger
CLICK HERE for the Flickr photo album
Nine of us gathered at Stop & Shop in Fairhaven, MA for our 30 mile ride to the coastal villages of Mattapoisett and Marion. Both are small towns with populations of under ten thousand. Both are tourist destinations for those who love Cape Cod but find “the Cape” much too hectic. Falmouth is a fifteen minute boat ride from either town across Buzzards Bay. Mattapoinsett is where the well to do might summer and Marion is where the “very well to do” summer. For example, when we pulled in to a Cumberland farms convenience store there was also a group of five teens on bikes. One sported a Portland Timbers shirt and I asked if he was a fan and had ever been to a game. “Actually I live in Portland” was his response. One of his friends lived in Minnesota and another was from the Chicago area. All of them said they spend the summers in Marion sailing and playing soccer and lacrosse every day.
Back to the ride. It was a short ride to the center of Mattapoisett and one section had us portaging our bikes of some nasty rocky sections of the soon to be bike path extension. The extra work was well worth it when we came to the Mattapoisett River Bridge that was recently installed as part of the extension. The view was spectacular.
It was around 10 miles on the back roads to get to Marion Center. The traffic was very light and those who were sharing the roads gave us plenty of clearance.
The wharf in Marion was abuzz with Portland and Midwesterners preparing for their three hour cruises on Buzzards Bay.
After visiting the Marion Art Center we set off on our 15 mile ride back to Fairhaven. We threw in a quick lunch stop in Rochester, Ma to top off this near perfect day of bike riding.
8:15 AM gathering for an 8:30 start. I’ll be in McDonalds a block away at 7:30 for coffee if you want to join me.
This is a flat intermediate paced ride visiting the coastal towns of Mattapoisett and Marion MA. There are some spectacular sights on this ride. Bring your camera. Bring along a lunch if you wish but there are plenty of places to grab a quick bite along the route. We will be stopping at Plumb Corner for a break and regrouping at the 23 mile mark
Bike Fall River holding a bike to a Yoga class Saturday – August 1, 2015
Meetup is at 7:15am at the parking lot across from Meditech on Martine Street (Route 6) Fall River
Ride starts at 7:30am sharp!
The Yoga class begins at 8:30am at Partners Village in Westport and the class is given by Jeff Costa – Jeff is one of the top Yoga instructors in the area. Make sure to bring your yoga mat. Cost of the instruction is by donation.
The ride is approximately 10 miles from Fall River to Partners Village. (For those who want to continue to ride there will be a ride to Westport Point and back)
As always helmets highly recommended – make sure to bring water and a snack.
After the instruction riders can take a break at the bakery shop for some coffee and delicious treats.
As with all rides, this is weather permitting.
Sunday – August 2, 2015 – John Sullivan’s Mattapoisett / Marion 30 mile loop
Meetup is at 8:15am at the Stop & Shop parking lot on Route 6 in Fairhaven. Take 195 East – Take Exit 18 in Fairhaven to Route 240.
Follow Route 240 and cross Route 6. Stop and Shop driveway is on the left. Make sure to park away from the store toward Route 6.
The ride starts at 8:30am – This ride is for the experienced road cyclist since most of the ride will be on the road. We will utilize the Fairhaven Bike Path just a bit.
Here is a link to the route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/9572164 For the most part the route is relatively flat. The mileage is like riding the East Bay Bike Path with a side trip into Colt State Park. Our average speed will be 10-14 MPH. We will set catch up stops for the slower riders. No one will be dropped.
This ride will take us to the Camp Massasoit grounds where we will dodge golf drives as we make our way to rt 6. A couple of hundred yards on rt 6 will bring us to Mattapoisett center and a short ride to Ned’s Point light house. Our next stop after a few miles will be Tabor Academy and a short ride around the center of Marion. We will return on the back roads of Rochester and stop at Plumb Corner for snacks before the final push back to Fairhaven.
As always helmets are highly recommended – Make sure to bring water and a snack.
If your bike is stolen and you don’t know the serial number, it could be difficult to claim your bike if found. It’s not uncommon for you to have to bid on it at the police auction if you don’t have proof of ownership. There are two really good resources to help recover a stolen bike. The catch is that we have to get people to join the community because is no one knows there is a stolen bike in town, no one can report it. So pass on the two following resources to your bike community. There is only one feeling worse than having your bike stolen and that is when none of those who can help recover it, know it’s stolen.
Project 529
Website and app that lets you build a (hidden) profile for your bike(s) and record serial numbers, photos and identifying characteristics. If it is ever stolen you can alert other users immediately, and you can browse local stolen bikes in case you hapen to spot one. Project 529.com
Bike Index
A national registry with more than 45.000 serial numbers recorded that helps users, bike shops and law enforcemtne find owners of recovered bikes. It’s open API can be integrated with the inventory software used by ike shops to automatically register bikes as they’re sold. bikeindex.org
As always, click any photo for big. Click again for bigger
CLICK HERE to see the Flickr album of this ride.
The Fall River gang called for a bike ride on the East Bay Bike Path. The route took us through Colt State Park and our guide Brian gave us a tour of the newly upgraded and connecting MUP through the expansive park grounds. The MUP is a 17 mile path from East Providence to Bristol, RI but on this day we cut the ride in half and made it a sightseeing easy spin while trying to avoid the overweight spandex wearing senior men living their fantasy of riding the Tour de France at 17 MPH.
Bristol Bagel Works was our turn around point. A light breakfast and coffee gave us the energy to complete this 15 mile, 6.7 MPH average speed hammerfest.
Bike Fall River Announces 2 rides for the weekend.
Saturday – Ride Around the Taunton River
Saturday, July 11, 2015 – Meet at 7:45am at the Park N Ride in Somerset off of County Street near the Rockland Trust Bank.
Ride will start at 8:00am This ride is for experienced road cyclists. The distance is approximately 23 to 25 miles and riders will encounter several hilly roads. Know your limitations.
The group will ride north along the scenic Somerset shoreline onto Dighton and then cross over the Taunton River into Berkley. From Berkley the group will head south into Freetown, Fall River and then over the Veterans Memorial Bridge back into Somerset.
Helmets are highly recommended, make sure to bring water and a snack.
Sunday – East Bay Bike Path and Colt State Park (Great Ride For Beginners!!!)
Sunday, July 12, 2015 – Meet at 7:45am at the parking lot along the East Bay Bike Path in Warren. Take 103 from Somerset to Warren, take first left after Dels Lemonade stand and park along the left. Ride starts at 8:00am. The East Bay Bike path and the paths in Colt State Park are level with very small inclines. This ride will be at a leisurely pace and will take in the beautiful scenery at Colt State Park. The ride is approximately 10 to 12 miles. When the ride is over riders can opt for a longer ride by heading north on the East Bay Bike path. Helmets are highly recommended and make sure to bring water and a snack.
As always, click any photo for big. Click Again for bigger. See all the Photos on flickrHERE
The call was issued by the Fall River Bike gang to meet in Newport for an early Sunday morning bike ride. Expecting a medium hard ride, I loaded the road bike and set out on the 45 minute drive to the start at Newport Bike Coalition office on the island. (Newport is on Acquidneck Island). There I met up with five other riders and ended up being unofficially elected to lead this ride.
Sunny, eighty something degrees with no wind riding our bikes in Newport RI. There are things just as good I’m sure, but I doubt if there is anything better. Early in the ride we all decided this would not be a ride so much as a sightseeing adventure on our bikes. Because of all the stops, it took us three hours to ride twenty two miles. The up side, we all got some great photos.
Fort Adams. Newport, RI
Fort Adams, Ocean Drive, First and Second Beaches and Purgatory Chasm were the highlights of this ride. I didn’t get a photo but we stopped near Flo’s Clam Shack were their special is two hot dogs and a bottle of Moet for $110. It’s so unique that it’s one of the most popular items on the menu. Remember, we are in Newport. Home of Mansion Row on Bellvue Ave, the tennis hall of fame and the America’s Cup Yacht races. As daddy always says, “money don’t spend itself”.
Summer home in Newport RISecond Beach, Newport, RIGhost Bike, Newport RIMy favorite toy
The city of New Bedford was free city during the time of the slavery. They were welcome and protected from the slave hunters by local residents and it’s mayor Rodney French.
French was a Free-Soiler – a pre-Civil War political party that opposed slavery and the admission of slave states into the Union. His actual political affiliation is dubious. I have come across documents that state he was a Democrat and others that state he was a Republican. We do know that he was a delegate to Republican National
Convention from Massachusetts in 1856 and that he was considered a “Black” Republican because of his anti-slavery or abolitionist platform.
His anti-slavery stance did not make him very popular among his peers and the aristocrats of society. In fact, this put his career and life in harm’s way often. He lost many a business relationship and opportunity, surely including revenue, and especially in pro-slavery North Carolina.
We will be riding around the point of New Bedford on Rodney French Boulevard. Clarks Cove will be on our right at the beginning of the Blvd. At the end of the point we will enter Fort Rodman, whereon September 5th and 6th, 1778, the British
East Rodney French Blvd. Butler Flats Light house can be seen in the Acushnet River.
landed 4000 troops marching through and destroying much of New Bedford. The troops marched inland along the west shore of the Acushnet River to Acushnet, then came south through Fairhaven to Sconticut Neck.
At this time the British drove a group of 34 local militiamen under the command of Timothy Ingraham from Fort Phoenix, burned the barracks, broke up the gun platforms and smashed all but one of the cannons.
When the fort was rebuilt following the 1778 attack, it was named Fort Phoenix after the mythical bird which rose from its own ashes.
The original fort was built by Capt. Benjamin Dillingham and Eleazer Hathaway between 1775 and 1777. It was outfitted with eleven cannon, several of which had been captured in the Bahamas by John Paul Jones.
As always, click any photo for big. Click again for bigger
– NBW Cafe Ride (weather permitting)
East Bay Bike Path
– from Fort Hill to Bristol Bagel and back (27 miles)
Leaves Fort Hill Parking Lot at 9:00 AM
Contact John Nery for more details.
The Fall River Bike Gang.
–Fall River Bike Committee East Bay Bike Path Ride
– at 8:30am – Bike Ride on the East Bay Bike Path
This ride is perfect for beginners and for those who want to stretch those winter legs. This is an off road path.
We will meet in Warren, take Route 103 and turn left right after the Dels Lemonade on 103
Park along the left. Make sure to bring water and a snack. Helmets highly recommended. By the way, the Washington Street Bridge will be open on weekends, which means for those who want to ride a bit farther, you will be able to bike into Providence.
Sunday 05/02/15
– NBW #160 Bikeworks Ride
16, 25 & 50 Mile Rides
Leaves from Swansea Mall – by the former Apex Store
new start location – different than last year
On the first Sunday in May, 32,000 cyclists of all skill levels come from around the world to roll through every borough of New York City on streets totally free of cars. For one day, the roads are yours, the bridges are yours, the City is yours—there’s no better way to experience the Big Apple. Produced in conjunction with the City of New York, the TD Five Boro Bike Tour is the world’s biggest charitable bike ride, with proceeds funding our free bike education programs. In 2014 alone, we taught bike skills to more than 16,000 kids and adults. When you ride with Bike New York, you’re helping us in our mission to empower more New Yorkers to grab life by the handlebars.
A Midnight Rider 