Living and Bartering on the Ocean

I have received lots of scallops as gifts recently. My neighbor just got a few lbs of haddock given to him. Last night we traded some with each other and wifey and I cooked up the fish this evening. Holy Mackerel! With a side of rice and some fresh carrots. yum. Living on the ocean really adds a lot to our culinary delights.

Ninety Nine miles of bike commuting this week, made plenty of room for some really fresh seafood.

Not Much Has Changes

I though April would be much better for bike commuting, but the weather is no better than it was yesterday. Wearing the wrong gloves (too light), made for a painfull last couple of miles.

Got a call from wifey while on the commute when she realized that she was reading a newspaper from 2006. I usually put a year old page here and there in the todays paper, but the front page was generic enough to try to pull off a major "fooling". While I was getting ready, she commented on a couple of the articles and I had to keep my back to her so as not to show my reactions. A few years ago, she was cutting cupons out of a year old paper commenting on the great prices.

This is year #12 that she has been reading old newspapers on April 1st.

The New Bike

The "kid" got himself a new (used) bike on Friday. Naturally he was itching to go riding. The weather prevented that both Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday's forecast was chancy. It was also the day of the New Bedford Half Marathon. That race is used as a tune up by many world class runners, for the Boston Marathon. Because of the event, the impending nasty weather was dominating the local news.




We figured we had till noontime to get in a ride before the gale forced winds, rain and snow that was predicted hit the area. We put a set of egg beater pedals on the "Felt" and the kid was about to get his first lesson using clipless pedals. "I can't clip in" he said. That was odd because most new riders clip in ok but cannont clip out. It soon dawned on us the he had "SPD" cleats that would never work. He ended up riding on flats till he gets the proper set of clips.

We set out to ride the 20 something mile country route. Nice and flat at the outset that soon turned into moderate long climbs. We found a pretty nice spot to stop for lunch before riding "Lance's hill". That is a steep 1/2 mile long climb that makes lots of novice riders dismount and walk. I suggested a slow climb and before I finished the sentance he was off. Up and over with no problem.

Lunch at the estuary



Ole Blue and Ole Yeller resting




Water and smoke break





Mount up.

The Fiasco Fiasco

The word was out. The Wolf full moon fiasco would leave the rear parking lot of Pub 99 at 8PM. It had rained most of the day but was down to an occasional drizzle by ride time. 8:15 no one had shown. Maybe they were out front. A ride around the perimiter of the pub found no one.

By 8:30 it was obvious that no one was going to show. Again. The long slow ride home, head hanging down, pouted lower lip, seemed colder and wetter that the happier anticipation filled ride to the lot.




Fortunately Avia has a wonderful selection of wines and I happen to have a nice Cabernet in stock. Soon, my sorrows were gone.












TFBC Fairhaven will ride again.

Can a "Bike Club" have only one member?

"remove toung from cheek here".

The Coeds Again.

Things didn't work out with the coeds post last week. The camera settings were wrong, and very few of the photos came out. Consider this the make up.


Noontime rides are becoming common, besides being a lot more cardio, being something different adds a bit of flare to the rides. The destination was Wheaton College specifically to get some replacement photos for those that didn't work out last week, and I wasn't the only one on lunch break.

There are some very interesting features about the campus that makes for a very nice relaxing atmosphere.


The original college building. Circa 1780


Quiet, serene walk to class

The ride to and from the college to the office is around a 10 mile loop. (including the reconnaissance riding with camera). Country roads pretty much only used by runners and bikers while the residents are at work.

The Things People Say

I was called a bike fanatic this morning. I'm starting to think I talk about it too much at work. When I tell people I ride 20 miles a day I notice that they begin to scan me to see what kind of shape I'm in. "Wow, that's a lot", is the usual comment.
I'm guessing they are thinking, {{{should'nt he be in better shape, and younger?}}}

Yesterday one of the women at work was shaking her head when I told her my route. (through abandoned state hospital grounds) She though it was too dangerous to be on a bike, because there may be some homeless people there.

She then asked the person I was with if he saw the roll over on the highway. Now I have a decision to make. Do I want to ride my bike on abandoned roads, or roll my car over on a highway? I need to sleep on this one. By the way, I have been approached twice by security on the hospital grounds while riding through. The second time the young guard said, "oh your the guy who works in the industrial park right". Then he gave a good long look at my backpack.


Both times I have been stopped is when I had the backpack. I'm looking forward to the cold weather when I ride through with the backpack "and" a mask, holding a bottle of hair jell aloft.

Day off Work Ride with Sue

SLIDESHOW


A hot an humid day off. After working at the pound Sue agreed to ride the Westport point route. We drove to Village Cycle, and embarked on a 30 mile ride around the county and seaside sections of Westport Point.


The ride began in the farmlands of the town, Charlotte White (pronounced, cha lott' ay) by the locals. It's kind of a code to let them know who is native and who is tourist from NY or Conneticut. Funny thing is though, the out of state people have had family in Wesport for many more generations than the natives. The "point" has always been a summer getaway for the big money families of those states.

The area is mostly quiet country roads that criss cross the southern part of the town. Westport is large town that in it's heyday was mostly farms. Dairy and some crops, but mostly dairy. Many of the large farms have been broken up and sold off as housing developments. Clusters of these pop up in what initially seems, the strangest out of the way places.







The country road loops back to Main Rd and Westport point, and the Paquachuck Inn. It's an area of old Yankee money. Most of the homes were summer getaways for the well-to-do city folk. One can easily visualize horse and carriages traveling the narrow streets among the stately 18th and 19th century homes.







The pier at the tip of the point is filled with lobster boats. They are all back from a days work by noon and the captains are making deliveries to wholesalers or directly to some restaurants. Although there are some pleasure craft, it's basically a working pier.




To get to the beaches it is necessary to back track a half mile to Drift Rd. the original access road to the point from the town of Dartmouth. A short stretch of highway riding before crossing the Rt88 bridge that access Horseneck Beach State reservation.




Rt 88 Bridge from Westport Pt.




Drift Rd. Home



Wesport Point from Rt 88 Bridge



Riding Rt 88




The far end of the reservation is East Beach. It's another summer spot where residents move thier trailers onto their lots for the season. The town requires them to remove them during the winters because of the severity of the ocean storms.




oooffahh



The turn from East Beach to Horsneck Rd was made just in time to have lunch at the The Bayside. A light lunch complimented with a sweet Reisling served as a great break. Roy the cook struck up a conversation when he saw the bikes and took the time to fill our supply of water.



The loop was completed one rolling hills thru the wine district and finally crossing the Westport river over Hix Bridge.





Rolling hills of Westport River wine country



Approaching Hix Bridge


Riding the back roads and main street of Westport proved to be a great way to spend a summer's day away from the daily grind of work.

The slideshow of the day is HERE

Triathalon training

Jason showed on time and a parking spot was secured for him. Glenn is a former neighbor who now lives in the country and collects huskies.
While waiting for J to show the story was told about the a pit bull who pulled away from his owner , jumped the wall and attacked what he though was one huskie. The result to the pit was not pretty. But it survived.



J shows up, is ready to go, and I have to retrieve my bike after hearing the dog fight story. Notice how they begin to spread out, always watching the baited trap?
Knowing my only chance is to become Alpha I took charge of the situation. SIT!!! DOWN!! ALL OF YOU, DOWN, NOWWWWW!! Works every time. Sometimes.






After I got Jason to reverse his helmet, we were off to the starting point of the nine mile sprint at the transition area of the triathlon course. A ten year old double chain ring Bianci that has never been serviced in a bike shop is his choice for the race. On the ride down, I noticed that his seat was much too low and I adjusted it. Took a look at his chain and told him it would be a good idea to put a new one on soon. When he started talking about work, I said, "you ready?, Lets ride." "20 seconds", he said looking at his watch, "I want to time this". I started riding.

The initial part of the "sprint" is a pretty steep, but not too long, hill. Maybe 300 yards. After that the "sprint" is relatively flat. A couple of mild rollers, but no granny gear stuff. Another 100 yard, a right turn and we are really off. "Draft me for a bit", I said. "Can you hear me? J? Jason??" When I turned to look he was 40 yards back spinning at a brisk cadence of oh........30 RPMs. I got behind him, watched his spinning and gearing and explained a little about those techniques. He started to catch on.

Then I saw the kayak'ers and the ocean. "I'll catch up", I yelled to J, stopped and took a couple of photos.








As I resume riding, I heard, "go ahead". Someone I had cut in front was giving me the right of way. You can just see her approaching in the kayak photo above. (click it to enlarge). I looked back, apologized and said, "Sorry, taking pictures", I gotta catch up to my buddy". The wheels of my brain got their traction as I began sprinting away. When the smoke cleared, I slowed, let her catch up and asked if she was on a club ride. (There were lots of bikers about). Nope, she was from out of town just on a country ride.





Her name is Erin. She is a competitive swimmer, a decent runner and is practicing biking, to do triathlons, cute as a button, and younger than my son. We were chatting up the area, races, touring and other stuff. Just bopping along. As we are chatting and bopping, we pass Jason. I look at him and shrug, he understands. She is not familiar with the area so I offer to ride with her back to her starting point. We agreed to wait for Jason at the last turn. He says, "I think we missed a turn, because my time is 45 minutes for 9 miles". I just look over the top of my sun glasses and say, "with practice it will improve". But you know, when your training for a race and your partner stops to take pictures and has to wait for you a mile before the finish line.......? Then this group rode by us. Talk about a sign.



I really think Jason thrive on being last. He really loves telling the stories and alway mentions that he never did anything athletic growing up. He just likes to participate, and I guess as long as he is having his fun, staying out of the way of all the competitive people, his standing is meaningless. I enjoyed my time with Jason. Especially when I realized he was a chick magnet.


Epilogue.
I never got the nerve to ask Erin if I could take her photo. I just seemed weird. You know? Jason got back in his car and I rode the 10 miles home. A thirty mile Sunday morning ride was the cat's meow. Two days of rain may squash the commute, but thats OK.