JJScaliger

I went out for a 41 mile ride this morning. It was a little warmer than yesterday, but still cool at 35 degrees.

My goal was to find an old boulder that was languishing in obscurity. I had recently read that a large rock was used by the Narragansett sachem, Miantinomi to set the western boundary of the Providence colony with Roger Williams (founder of RI). My searches yielded a general location for the object, which unfortunately is located on private land. It is, however, only about 100 yards off a street in Johnston RI and clearly visible in the winter from the road.

My quest was not fruitless: veni, vidi, trespassi






I could see this giant boulder from the road, but I had to get a closer look, so I crossed someone's well maintained suburban yard and strolled into the wooded tract behind it where Hipses Rock is located. I had to pass through one of the most insidious patches of pricker bushes to get there, but I would not be deterred. It is massive; approx. 25' high and between 10-15' at its base. It is a glacial erratic that was deposited here between 10,000-20,000 years ago. Its name is probably derived from Hesperius, the Greek goddess of evening, often allegorically meaning western. This rock was the western boundary of Roger Williams' land grant by Miatinomi in 1642.

In 2011 the new owner of the property had a tour to the rock, which was open to the public (that day) headed by a park ranger, who is very knowledgeable. His tour was recorded on youtube. One of the interesting things he said was that the native americans used to do a quick burn once a year in the woodlands which destroyed all the underbrush and all the pines, maples and other soft wood trees. Only the oaks, chestnuts and hickories would be left. This burn would also kill a lot of fleas and ticks. The woodlands would be more open than they are today; easier to hunt in and see farther. The rock was a regional landmark, a giant boulder visible from very far away, a meeting place.

After this excursion I headed west and rode out to check out an observatory in Scituate.

seagrave observatory (1914)




Found the ruins of another mill on the same road as the observatory. These things are everywhere here!

Harrisdale cotton Mill (1845), burned in 1875, never rebuilt






There were flurries this morning, but I missed them.


maple syrup lines


A short ride, but I saw a lot of different things!

bykemike 

I always enjoy your posts JJ. I lived in RI for 33 years, mostly in Wickford and Jamestown. Biked a lot in the South County area. I really enjoyed my time there, spent a lot of time on the Bay, worked in some local boat yards and did a lot of sailing.. still miss it a bit but I was delivering a boat down the coast to Florida and realized how nice it was to be warm in December and just stayed.

Mike

northbend 

I rode in the woods for a few hours with some friends this morning.

Vonruden

Nice pic...very green.

gaucho777 

Cool ride report. I love seeing and reading about the old places you seek out!

thinktubes 

Man, I need to visit RI!

Is that observatory still operational?

We have the Dearborn observatory on the Northwestern campus. It's open to the public a few nights each month. Got to see the rotating bands on Jupiter last winter.

JJScaliger

Thanks guys!

A friend mentioned the Seagrave Observatory to me because I bought a cheap telescope for my daughter's birthday a month ago. An amateur astronomy club meets there and it is open to the public every Sat night. It is on a road I ride frequently so I thought I would check it out.

bikelovers

@ the White House.

thinktubes 

^^^^^^^^^^^
That for looks bent - put a man on him!

spacemanz

And you didn't get arrested? It seems most pics I've ever seen of that fence, involved some sort of protesting.

big chainring 

Oh man, nice to get out today. Hit 40 degrees in Chicago with full sun and south wind. Brutal cold on the way though. Nice day to get out and ride.

Some improvements to my Gitane

gomango

Now that's a nice bicycle.

Looks practical as well, with that triple.

jimmuller 

Today I rode a circle route from home in Waltham to Concord and back, 36.17 miles on the Bianchi. Temperature a bit over 40F. The sun was supposed to come out. It did but it took its own sweet time doing so. The day turned out rather nice when the sun finally arrived. Roads were wet, of course, and I spent half an hour cleaning the bike when I got home. Never underestimate the value of an old toothbrush!.

The theme for today's pictures is Early American Lit'rature, Concord-style.







There is always one obstacle on every ride, isn't there? "Short cuts make for long delays."

Stevensb 

Jimmuller: Seems like it has been a while since you posted a ride report -I always enjoy them and the great photos. How was the cider and cookie?

brad

jimmuller 

Thank you. I didn't have any cider or cookies.

I haven't posted any ride reports for a while because I've been riding indoors. The view never changes on the trainer. Except when I'm watching Netfix. But you don't need my pics to see that.

The fact is, VonR and JJS and EBH and NB and otg and others I've left out have been keeping these pages pretty lively with their pics! Thanks, guys.

otg 

Looks nice Jim, I'm hoping to get out tomorrow morning before the deluge gets here. (and the Patriots come on) Pictures hopefully!

bikelovers

Thank you, it is a Club Racer frame so I tried to setup a light touring bike without compromising on speed.

I think I tried to send a message to Mr. President, build more bike lanes and may be it will fix the healthcare


I was surprised about the protesting as well, last time I was there 4 or 5 years ago, there were many protesters. This time there were 2 people only.


This was today morning ride, not so vintage, but I rode it anyway

EBH

Today I stopped for some pics on a bridge below a dam.





An old timber chute next to the river


Sheeet, were's me C&V..?
(back home, kept away from the road salt )

JJScaliger

I squeaked in 34 miles this morning before the rains came. temp in the high 30s.

Stopped by another old mill I've had my eye on for a while. This one was in Cranston RI, the Henry Jordan saw mill. Nothing is extant except mill pond, dam and mill raceway. The stonework was probably originally built by Field family in 1820s. They had owned and operated a saw mill in Hope (Scituate) RI before moving a few miles east to Cranston just prior to 1800. The records indicate that the saw mill was operational at least by 1823 and shut down about 10 years later. In 1845 Henry Jordan came to the area, leased the land for 20 years and rebuilt the wooden building of the mill which had rotted away in the interim. He successfully ran the saw mill for 15 years up, serving the lumber needs of the local farmers in western Cranston, until his death in 1860 He didn't quite finish that lease). He was on his second wife by that time after his first wife's death and his grown children had moved away. His children by his second wife were minors and no one was left to run the profitable mill. This saw mill is near the head waters of the Furnace Hill Brook, the same brook that had the Richardson pewter furnace down stream. These two mills were contemporaries.

beginning of raceway at dam


lower dam of raceway. the mill building was probably located near here.

This stonework is right next to a road I ride all the time. I have been waiting until the winter to photograph this spot so it would not be obscured by brush.
Rode a little bit on dirt


ice formation

spacemanz

That ice formation is pretty awesome. I rode out to the log boom again yesterday, to try out some old 3ttt Criterium bars on an ITM stem. That's about an 18 mile round trip, so I got things adjusted on the way, like brake lever spacing & such. I like this setup a lot, & braking from the hoods was a new experience for me, LOL, but I'm still experimenting, looking for "perfect". This might be it, but I'm just not going to stop looking.

sollophonic

Recently had my old Record Sprint frame crack on me, and by chance my local bike shop had another which they built my parts on to.

Been without a bike for over a week so I was itching to get out



Took it out this weekend for a short trip, then a longer one yesterday.

https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/339248567

Perfect weather conditions, which seem to happen at the moment in between the storms that are hitting the UK with monotonous regularity. Wouldn't dare venture out today with the severe gales we are having right now.

JJScaliger

I had a short work day today and just enough time to nudge the Dawes to over 700 miles for the year. Not too bad considering it wasn't operational until 10/22.

It was cold at 27 degrees with a light breeze to make it feel like the teens. I only had time for 26 miles.



Arkwright Bridge (1888) spans the Pawtuxet river between Cranston and Coventry RI, closed to motor vehicles in 2011.



mechanical skeleton in Scituate

I'll probably go out tomorrow as well. It's always a good way to start the year and the forecast is for New England to get decked on Friday.

Happy New Year everyone!

otg 

Happy New Year JJS, great pictures as usual. It's been a bit too cold for me lately, I'm hoping we get a few nice days this week as I'm on vacation. Forecast does not look promising though. Better get the snow blower gassed up!

jimmuller 

What otg said! Happy New Year everyone. Be safe.

Lascauxcaveman 

Re-rode the same route I posted about a few weeks ago in this thread, but with a brand new riding buddy, known to BF readers as mikemowbz. He got a (not very C&V) Richey Breakaway Cross bike for Xmas, expedited (sorta) by me. Basically he just had the seller ship to me because shipping to Canada is so dear and I'm just a ferry ride away from him. Pretty cool bike, designed so the rear triangle detaches from the rest of the frame and the whole thing fits into a regular full-size suitcase specially designed to hold it. Here's Mike & bike on the edge of the ocean, down at the Lower Elwha Indian Reservation, about 7 miles into the ride. Weather wasn't as clear as last time, but still warmish (high 40's), not raining and so basically a shirt-sleeve kinda day.




And here's me, scanning the horizon for Pirate ships at the Elway River Estuary.




And we stopped by the industrial waterfront part of town on the way back home to check out the big log freighter that was just topping up its load; probably on its way to China.



If interested, go back to the previous thread linked to above for more and better pix.