robnye
10-31-2003, 10:45 AM
Here in New England the good riding days are starting to get scarce. With the return of daylight savings time it gets dark early, the first week is the toughest as all the BDC'ers haven't driven in the dark for months.
Fortunately the morning ride is better with more early daylight. Unfortunately cold temps and even shorter days are ahead which will reduce the fun return on my morning ride.
Here is a map of one of my more indirect routes to work.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204342-M.jpg
Before getting going a good meal is in order. My friend Roy retired from Tweeter and got bored (in about 10 minutes) so he opened the Village Cafe in South Dartmouth.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204349-M.jpg
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204344-M.jpg
Roy is a very hands on kinda guy. While we were chatting the timer on his belt kept beeping. Roy would mutter something and disappear for a minute.
Soon breakfast arrived. Note the supplied reading material.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204348-M.jpg
After breakfast I headed out to do my ocean route to the office in Bristol. The first leg is south along Padanaram harbor. The boats are starting to thin out for the winter, in a few more weeks only the poor planners or serious die-hards will still be at anchor.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204343-M.jpg
Padanaram Harbor looking North East
One of the things I love about this area is that even though we are between New York and Boston our coast line is just out of the way enough that it is not over developed (yet). We still have many working farms near or along the water.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204339-M.jpg
From here it is a hop, skip and a twist to Horseneck Point, aka the Westport Town Beach. There is very little traffic in this area and with minimal effort to timing no stops for school buses.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204352-M.jpg
Looking SSW from Horseneck Beach, Westport point visible in distance
Continuing west there are more back roads to cover before hitting Little Compton. LC is a very quiet town and they really like it that way. To build a house you need to have at least 2 acres, plus there is a rather large purchase tax which goes to a fund for preservation of open space. We recently sold our house in LC and moved over to Dartmouth mainly because LC has no high school and the lower school is marginal. With three kids the school situation becomes pretty important.
Note the nice New England church in the photo. Hollywood came to town and wanted to film the Witches of Eastwick (Jack Nicholson, Cher, etc) in this church. The town took a vote and said no, thanks.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204341-M.jpg
Not all roads near the ocean go straight, here is a little sample of what the ride is made of:
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204340-M.jpg
From the center of LC the route heads south west to Sakonnet Harbor, another quaint New England Harbor.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204337-M.jpg
The harbor is tighter than it looks, especially as most of the boats are gone. If you look closely at the picture you can see the mast of a boat on the far shore. This boat is 30' long, when I was a captain I used to bring a 60' sailboat in here mid season for pick ups. It could get very challenging as the water depth outside of the channel gets down to 4' pretty quick.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204347-M.jpg
A great day to pull some traps
From Sakonnet point there is not much sense in any more detours so it is straight to Bristol. A fitting end to the harbor tour, it is easy to give folks directions to the office with boats on the front lawn.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204338-M.jpg
America's Cup class yacht at America's Cup Museum, Bristol, RI
All up it is about a 65-mile ride and a great way to start the day. While I love fall for the colors I do lament the end of the good weather.
So.... What is your ride to work like?
Best,
Rob Nye
Fortunately the morning ride is better with more early daylight. Unfortunately cold temps and even shorter days are ahead which will reduce the fun return on my morning ride.
Here is a map of one of my more indirect routes to work.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204342-M.jpg
Before getting going a good meal is in order. My friend Roy retired from Tweeter and got bored (in about 10 minutes) so he opened the Village Cafe in South Dartmouth.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204349-M.jpg
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204344-M.jpg
Roy is a very hands on kinda guy. While we were chatting the timer on his belt kept beeping. Roy would mutter something and disappear for a minute.
Soon breakfast arrived. Note the supplied reading material.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204348-M.jpg
After breakfast I headed out to do my ocean route to the office in Bristol. The first leg is south along Padanaram harbor. The boats are starting to thin out for the winter, in a few more weeks only the poor planners or serious die-hards will still be at anchor.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204343-M.jpg
Padanaram Harbor looking North East
One of the things I love about this area is that even though we are between New York and Boston our coast line is just out of the way enough that it is not over developed (yet). We still have many working farms near or along the water.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204339-M.jpg
From here it is a hop, skip and a twist to Horseneck Point, aka the Westport Town Beach. There is very little traffic in this area and with minimal effort to timing no stops for school buses.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204352-M.jpg
Looking SSW from Horseneck Beach, Westport point visible in distance
Continuing west there are more back roads to cover before hitting Little Compton. LC is a very quiet town and they really like it that way. To build a house you need to have at least 2 acres, plus there is a rather large purchase tax which goes to a fund for preservation of open space. We recently sold our house in LC and moved over to Dartmouth mainly because LC has no high school and the lower school is marginal. With three kids the school situation becomes pretty important.
Note the nice New England church in the photo. Hollywood came to town and wanted to film the Witches of Eastwick (Jack Nicholson, Cher, etc) in this church. The town took a vote and said no, thanks.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204341-M.jpg
Not all roads near the ocean go straight, here is a little sample of what the ride is made of:
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204340-M.jpg
From the center of LC the route heads south west to Sakonnet Harbor, another quaint New England Harbor.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204337-M.jpg
The harbor is tighter than it looks, especially as most of the boats are gone. If you look closely at the picture you can see the mast of a boat on the far shore. This boat is 30' long, when I was a captain I used to bring a 60' sailboat in here mid season for pick ups. It could get very challenging as the water depth outside of the channel gets down to 4' pretty quick.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204347-M.jpg
A great day to pull some traps
From Sakonnet point there is not much sense in any more detours so it is straight to Bristol. A fitting end to the harbor tour, it is easy to give folks directions to the office with boats on the front lawn.
http://rpb.smugmug.com/photos/1204338-M.jpg
America's Cup class yacht at America's Cup Museum, Bristol, RI
All up it is about a 65-mile ride and a great way to start the day. While I love fall for the colors I do lament the end of the good weather.
So.... What is your ride to work like?
Best,
Rob Nye