Day 7 Riding the Erie Canal

We will fininsh the tour today in Albany NY early this afternoon. It's been a hoot. A hot hilly dusty hoot, but a hoot. more

Day 5 on the Erie Canal

104F and we climbed hills all day. more

Day 4 On The Erie Canal

It's hot and dusty but we are having a blast. more

On Tour

A week long bike ride from Buffalo to Albany N.Y.  on the Erie Canal from July 13-21.   Follow us
HERE

Little Compton R.I.

Click any photo for big.  Click again for bigger

Distance 21 Miles
Max Speed 32 MPH
Ave Speed 12.6 MPH
Pedal Time 1:38

Only two of us today. There is lots going on in town for the Bicentennial celebrations.  We decided to head over to Rhode Island for a short ride in Little Compton.    We visited a exclusive private area that wifey said not to sneak into.  We did, but on the way out we used the security gate.  The guard wished us a nice ride and said "see you in a while".    We road to another area but were stopped by the security guard on the road. He asked us for the code word.   We tried  "see you later" as we road off.

There was a family fun day at the Little Compton Historical Society where I bought a beer.
"How much", I asked
"Make a donation was the response fromt he nice woman at the table.
I did

We took a detour into the Commons area of the village and saw some very old gravestones at the cemetery. On woman died in 1717 CE and was the first white woman born in New England.  (The other white people came on a boat).

There were lots of "Old Money" areas.  You may know it as New England Yankee.   Really nice homes on or near the Sakonnet River.

On the ride back Brandon kicked into high gear.  I was close enough to catch his draft.  I noticed him look under us armpit for my front wheel a couple of times. He shifted into a higher gear and he began to pull away,  I kicked it up a notch and reestablished the draft.  He was pushing hard taking all the resistance while I was working a lot less which made it easy to stay on his back wheel.   He finally ran out of steam and we both settled down for the last couple of miles back to the car.   Don't ya just love a little competition now and then.

Five days till our tour of the Erie Canal in Upstate NY and we are ready to roll.

Cows cooling off on this very humid Saturday

Summer homes at Sakonnet Point

We got into this exclusive beach by riding across the property of an Inn. On the way out the security guard wished us a good ride.   Click the photo for big and check out the homes in the background.  That's where the other security guard would not let us in even with the special code phrase of "see you later". 

The two of us with the sun in the background.  

 One of us

Early 18th century one room school house.

The kids used sand for ink. 

Gotta go.   Gotta go. 

Click any of the following three photos to read the inscriptions.  All are dated in the 1700's. 

Family Plot including three small children. 

 He forgot where the car was so he had to wait for me. 

The name says it all. 

It's Not The Heat....

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Distance 24 miles

Max speed 35 MPH

Ave Speed 11.2 MPH

Pedal time. 2:20

The noon time weather report said the storm had diminished and the day would turn out beautiful.  That it did, after a while.  We drove to Somerset, Ma and while unloading the bikes I commented about the heat.  Brandon guessed 85 while my guess was 89.   The temperature was 72 but the humidity was high.   We packed plenty of water, stopped three times at convenience stores for cold drinks and with that it became a nice Wednesday afternoon ride.   

Wifey and I are going to a friend who lives on the harbor to watch the fireworks.  She will drive there and I will bike.   I'm going to get a lot of the usual comments about how dangerous it is to ride a bike at night, without a helmet, with all the drunks on the road.  I have plenty of lights like Down Low Glow which casts a neon glow on the ground under my bike.   Also monkeylectric on my front wheel a mini monkey light.  Besides making me visible it also draws lots of comments form strangers.   One said it looks like a space ship.   Whatever.  The lights are so bright and unusual that they grab your attention and that's the point of bike lights.  Be noticed.  I will be on a road for all of thee blocks.  The rest of the ride is on the local MUP. 

Wide berth

Crossing the Berkley Bridge.  Only one way traffic for motor vehicles at a time.  A few cross the bridge, the light changes to allow traffic from the other side to cross.  Bikes and pedestrians have our own crossing.

  

Cold drink stop at Dighton Rock in Berkley MA. 

Crossing the new bridge from Fall River MA to Somerset. 

Braga Bridge in Fall River Ma under repair. 

Sunday Football

Distance     28.5 Miles
max speed  27.3MPH
Ave Speed 14.4 MPH
Pedal time   1:58

Today is definitely a beach day.  The temps will get into the low 90's.   The high school kids were playing Sunday morning pickup soccer in Wareham at 9 AM fifteen miles away.   All that combined for a nice 30 mile early summer morning bike ride.

Champions League at 2:30 today.   Viva La Espania.