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| From 10 Speed Spoke, Newport, R.I |
We parked a few blocks from Ten Speed Spoke bike shop to avoid the crush and crazies around Thames St. in Newport, R.I. Actually it was a couple of blocks from First Beach, Gibbs Ave. is also where #2 son lived when he was working in the area.
The night before I got distracted while loading the car with all the bike stuff and neglected to pack my riding shoes. I was able to buy a new pair at 10 speed for only a hundred bucks. $80 for the shoes, $20 for the clips. I have to say however that these are really, really comfortable shoes. If I had tried them with it being a necessity, I would have purchased them.
By the way, there was one other thing. While we were riding to the shop, I noticed a police motorcycle with the lights and sirene blaring. My first thought was to stop blasting through red lights and stop signs. Then I realized he was leading the paceline. I turned to my riding partner and said, "It's six oclock, we're late". It was after 6:30 by the time I got my new shoes fitted and we rolled out of the lot.
Because of all the rain the last two months, riding has been at a premium. It seems that every time the weather would break, I would get stuck at work. I also began running again and my legs and body are still protesting. That combination made parts of the ride pretty difficult. There was one point when I was huffing and puffing up a good sized hill near St Andrew's School where a woman passed me. As she was doing this I wondered how she was able to stay upright going so slow. She was in a much higher gear than me, and I was lulled into a false sense of speed by my cadence, which was somewhere in the vacinity of 120 RMP as I was screamed up the hill at 6 mph.
Along with the struggles, there were also lots of good to talk about,like riding by the mansions, which was pretty neat.
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| From 10 Speed Spoke, Newport, R.I |
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| From 10 Speed Spoke, Newport, R.I |
But the mansions take second fiddle to the beach. The volleyball section.
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| From 10 Speed Spoke, Newport, R.I |
There were decisions to make. And like someone once said. "When you come to a fork in the road, take it".
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| From 10 Speed Spoke, Newport, R.I |
We cut the ride to around 20 miles because
1. It was getting dark
2. There was pizza back at the shop.
Maybe those two should be reversed.
In short:
A no fee bike ride around Newport R.I.
All the pizza you can eat for free.
All for only $100.
Nice.
