Aquidneck Island ride, Rhode Island 4 Nov 2015

Brenton Point

Command Central

So I've never been a big fan of riding Aquidneck Island. During the summer the island is filled with tourists making it hard to navigate the small roads of Newport. No matter where you ride on Aquidnick Island you will eventually ride on route 138 or 114 which is a very bad road to ride on. The roads are very busy and have zero shoulder for bicycle to ride on. 

Even riding on Bellevue Ave is can be difficult the road is concrete and many tourists are busy looking at the beautiful mansions and not looking for a bicycle.
However riding this morning in November offered a different experience. This was Wednesday morning many people were at work it was not tourist season so the roads were not too bad. And yes Aquidneck Island (which is comprised of Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth, Rhode Island) offered a very nice morning ride for the bicyclist.

As you can see, there is a lot of bikers
 marking their paths on the island!

I started off at Fort Adams State Park and rode to Bellevue Ave and then to Portsmouth past Easton beach quickly riding up Indian Ave. Indianapolis a beautiful view of the Sakonnet River in Tiverton and Little Compton Rhode Island. Middle Ave offers a nice view from the top of the hills on to Quonset point. On the west side of the island is probably the most secluded riding around the old Navy base. There was even a chance to ride cobblestone in downtown Newport.

Ride with GPS file: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/5646393

What a great morning ride a good way to start the day before I had my job interview at the navy War College.

The Sackonnet River from Park ST in Portsmouth

Overlooking Tiverton RI

Concrete road on Bellevue ave

BIKE PORN!
 Nice quiet roads, fresh tar, big smooth shoulder in Brenton Point.

Narragansett Bay Wheelmen ride number 16

A farm on Narragansett Bay Wheelmen Ride #16

This is how the Narragansett bay wheelmen mark their courses.
So if you don't have a gps, you can just follow the arrows.  

What a great ride to start November with.

 I started on Sunday morning a little earlier than the group ride because I promised to take my daughters to an afternoon movie. The ride is only 35 miles long and it starts in historic Apponaug village and goes through East Greenwich Rhode Island. We also get to go through awesome Goddard Park. I need to spend some more time in Goddard Park and do some horse back riding there. 

This is a short ride at 33 miles. But well rewarding! Here is the gps file: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/6327322

One of the reasons I love riding with the Narragansett Bay Wheelman or other bike clubs, is that I get to see areas I never knew existed. For instance I lived in Rhode Island in this area in Warwick for many years years. I have never seen some of the beautiful areas off the beaten path as I have on this ride. 

This is one of the reasons I love bike riding!

 For instance if you have to drive somewhere in a car you are going to drive to the business area where the malls are all the stores in that in general is what you are going to see a business road and shopping centers. When you are on your bike you get to go down residential areas and wooded areas and areas that you normally wouldn't have gone if you drove. This shows me the greatness and beauty of America when I hear people badmouthing and saying America is not beautiful anymore they obviously have not gotten off the business road. 

And this ride with by the wheelman displays that never have I have a need to drive down the street and see the big beautiful mansions and see the beautiful farms in East Greenwich. The coast of Narragansett bay is so pristine with boats getting ready for the winter and lobster traps stacked along the pier. 

Wish all the roads were like this! 

This ride takes you into Awesome Goddard Park! 

Entrance into Goddard Park

50 mile ride through Pachaug State Forest CT

Harvesting Hay on Newport Ave, Oneco CT.

One of my favorite local rides! A beautiful crisp New England day! 

Beautiful New England!

I headed out around 0900 on Saturday. I started in Hope Valley RI and went up Fenner Hill RD, across RT 138 onto Woody Hill RD. I am always leery of rds with word hill in them. On this route there are many roads with the word hill, however, the elevation is not too high. After Woody Hill RD, we cross RT 165 onto Escoheag RD. This is a great riding rd that goes by lots of beautiful farms and colonial homes. This road turns into Hazard rd. 

While on Hazard RD it is important to turn right on Muddy River RD. If you continue on Hazard (even though my GPS said we can ride on), it turns to a dirt road. There is an awesome Colonial New England farm at the end of Hazard, but you'll have to turn back because of the dirt road. 

Well we continue on into the village of Greene and turn left onto rt 14 to head into Connecticut. 

Once into CT we continue on RT 14A and take a left on Newport Ave. This takes us into Pachaug State Forest. There aren't many homes and lots of hiking paths and horse farms. If you are lucky you will get good visuals of the rolling rills into RI on the left and CT on the right. 

Here is a link to my map: http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/1232410219

My ride was slow. I gained a few pounds and I felt it! 

Plain ST in Greene RI

Looking south on Plain ST in Green RI

A farm in Greene RI

Harvesting Hay in Oneco CT. Newport Ave.

Why Gummy Bear?

So why call this blog Gummy Bear Cycling? 

Is it because I carry gummy bears for food in my back shirt pocket? 

Is it because we throw gummy bears at people watching me ride? 

No, it's because I look like a gummy bear riding a bike in my bike riding clothes! Look I'm an old, over weight, man. I have suffered from Asthma for many years. But that doesn't stop me from riding. When I retired from the navy after 20 years on submarines, I remembered that even though I am happily married with three children, there was still something missing from my life- cycling! 

So I'm not fast by any means. Most people (some a lot older than me) pass me on my bike rides. But that doesn't matter. For me, cycling is good for my soul! It clears my mind. I feel like I accomplished something. I have seen some of this beautiful country I live in. When I return from a long ride, I just feel cleansed!

So as you can see, I am no expert. I like to watch and cheer my fellow spandex wearing cyclists. I like to watch cyclocross and mountain bike races. But I mainly love long road rides and fall mountain bike rides. 

In this blog I hope to show some of my rides and hopefully get some conversations going!