Wind Turbine

The town of Fairhaven, MA is building two really big wind turbines. A small group is opposed because the "flicker" is going to kill us all. I suppose there have to be the naysayers to bring things to a head, but this group seems kind of nutty. It's the same people who opposed the bike path, the bridge repairs, the radio tower, road work and bike lanes on the roads. None opposed WalMart, AT&T or Titlest Golf getting tax abatements. It's a sign of the times I suppose.

Fortunately, the town proceeded in spite of the trivial law suits and the first tower went up in a day. Today is the "blade signing". We are riding over there to put our names on the blade, show our support and to be a part of the town going green.

Temps In The 50's And So Was the Wind

The wind was not quite that bad but the whole ride was akin to climbing a mountain. There were a few spots where we were cruising in the high teens and almost immediately dropped to under 10mph when the gust hit.   I was spent when we got home, but then again I'm very much out of shape.  Unless one considers round a shape.  I'm working on it though thanks to fellow bike blogger Tex in Louisville who recommended Gary Taubes book on weight management.   It works I'm down 7 in one week.
After todays root canal (don't ask), We set out on one of the popular routes through the back roads of SouthCoast MA. 20 miles today at a decent clip considering the resistance imposed by mother nature.

A Midnight Rider.  Not to be confused with A Fat Cyclist.  Then again....

Crossing the bridge over MA. Rt. 195 to Cape Cod

No helmet, ear phones, no hands.   The Advocacy and Safety group over at Bike Forums would have a field day with this one.

Two rottweilers and a chihuahua

Bikes are back in the stable after the ride. 

Full Moon Ride

Thursday is the full moon and that means night riding.  A group in St. Louis and Spokane and Chicago have a monthly pub ride on the night of the full moon.  They call them Full Moon Fiasco's.  The St. Louis group really does this up with themes like,  prom night, mustache ride,  etc.   We tried it here but no one showed for any of the rides.

Tomorrow we may ride to the local regional vocational high school for a bike advocacy meeting.  But Thursday night is predicted to be warm and clear and maybe, just maybe we can pull off a local Fiasco with a few riders.

Cold March 5th Ride

Happy to be back in the Northeast

We only did 14 miles and that was enough.  Brandon had re-assembled his bike after the shipment from Austin.  He moved back to the Northeast last week and is very happy to be back.

I was thinking of going to a matinee at the local theater when he called and suggested a bike ride.  I reluctantly agreed with the temp at 38F.   Except for a couple of cold spots on the ride, it wasn't bad.  Not bad at all.

Bikes are ready to roll. 

 The back roads of Mattapoisett Ma. 

#2 Son rented the 1st floor before moving to Atlanta a few years ago. 

Home on the waterfront of Mattapoisett, Ma.  

Shipyard Ln.  Mattapoisett Ma. 

Probably the only abandoned house in town. 

Dunkin Donuts coffee.   A New England staple

We had to ride a little over a mile on this road. Everyone moved left for us. 

The Wind Turbines

It was a beautiful day yesterday with the temps approaching 60. Today it's snowing.    It was my turn to cook again, being a day that we are eating at home.   Next week Brandon will be back and we will have two chefs in the house.  I'll gladly relinquish the kitchen if he wants to take over for a while.   I'm thinking I'll be the head chef again within a week seeing Brandon will have a day job.

On the way to the market I took a spin to Little Bay so I could check out the wind turbine progress.  A few of the base units have been delivered and things are moving along.

On the way out of the bay area I stumbled upon a trail through the woods.  Never seen this before but then again I have only lived in this area 28 years.

Today's Menu
Mandarin orange and clove pork chops.

Planning the Summer Tour

I am trying to convince a couple of friends to try touring. There are a couple of supported ones within range but can cost a bit. Rails to Trails Sojourn  are doing the C&O canal towpath and Great Allegheny ride from Washington DC to Pittsburgh.  The other is a supported Erie Canal ride.   The first is almost a grand and the Erie Canal is $675.  Seems like a lot to those who have not done a supported ride before.  They do take care of everything.  Comfort is their business. Personally I prefer to tour self supported but am willing to do one more supported to get others into touring.

Another idea is to do a short three or four day tour of Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard riding from hostel to hostel.  It would be a good bike ride but going away for a tour is much more fun I think.

Self supported on the Erie Canal in 2008

Supported tours can be nice also.  This is Austria in 2007

A tour is going to happen this summer.  Which one is the question.

Here is some music while your browsing.  Enjoy

Bentlys, Minis and Jazz.

Wifey had her car towed 47 miles to the Mini dealer when her engine light came on again.  Last week it was because of a faulty thermostat.  We didn't want to take the chance of driving that far thinking it was a recurrence of the same problem.  Turns out the gas cap was not on tight and the car failed the engine check enough times to activate the warning light.

While there I checked out some Bentlys and Porches.

Minis and Bentlys in the same lot.  Perfect

The town of Fairhaven, MA is celebrating it's bicentennial this year. Two hundred years ago today the town became incorporated and the festivities will continue throughout the year.

The main reason for today's ride was to get tickets to the Hugh Masekela concert on Friday night in New Bedford..  Check out the Youtube at the end of this post.  You may not recognize the name, but you know the music.
After purchasing the tickets it was time to return over the bridge and back to Fairhaven to get some food shopping done.  That explains the red pannier on the bike.

Two trucks, no firemen.  hmmmm.

The bridge traffic really gets backed up during the road construction.  Naturally there is one person in every vehicle so none of us have any real sympathy for these guys stuck in traffic.