East Bay Bike Path

Terrain: Paved Bike Path

Path: Providence to Bristol via East Bay Bike Path
Time: ~4.5 hours
Mileage: 10/13
Blister Count: 2

 

 

To say we 'pushed' through may be an understatement. The weather called for low 80s and a breeze. It turned out to be more than that. The temperature had to be in the high 80s, mostly no breeze, and hello humidity. 

We met up at India Point Park in Providence at 9:30am. It was supposed to be a 8:30am start, but someone (cough, cough) did not wake up on time. I doubt the hour would have made much of a difference in the weather and our walking. My mother drove Jill, Kate, and I up, while Becky and Aunt Irene carpooled. Aunt Irene and my mother played crew and met us at different intersections along the way with water, snacks, and many thumbs-up.

The park was busy. Kids were playing on the playground. Morning joggers were out on the paths doing their thing, and a group of paddle boarders were taking off on the bay. They looked to be just standing on the water. We made a Jesus reference as we drove by to the parking lot, and decided that was our church for this Sunday. 

Once we all met up and took our pre-walk picture, Becky, Jill, Kate, and I took off for the bike path. Before we even found the right direction and bridge to cross, Becky was firing away with the questions of my dinner the night before and why I slept in. Really, it was just as simple as I didn't hear my alarm. But in an effort not to answer directly, I continued to stuff my face with my breakfast. "You're going to eventually run out of rice cake," she warned me. 

When I finished my breakfast, I changed the topic to my thyroid levels which proved to be a good distraction. We crossed the right bridge - the Washington St. Bridge, not the India Point Park Bridge that I wanted to cross, and continued down through East Providence.

The start of the bike path here is just on the road and sidewalks. It isn't until almost 3/4 of a mile in that it turns to a dedicated paved bike path. The bikers were plenty, walkers few. Some gave us dirty looks as we passed, as if they were offended we were walking on their bike path. Others yelled at us to walk on the other side - yet all the signage said "Walk Left, Bike Right." But maybe we were the only ones who could read. We did pass a few friendly bikers, as well as other walkers and runners, but they were few and far between. 

One of my favorite parts of this bike path is the scenery. Once we pass the Port of Providence, the harbor views are great.  Pomham Rocks Lighthouse sits in the bay and many times the path splits the water. Becky and I were keeping our eyes out for deer, seals, and birds crossing the path. Neither one of us would have done well with that. 

Becky and I eagerly kept our eyes peeled for the mile markers. On this bike path, they are painted on the pavement. At one point, Jill asked us how we knew we were at whatever mile before looking down and realizing she was standing right on the marker. The half-mile intervals were also marked, but they weren't nearly as exciting as seeing the real numbers, or the numbers from the other direction (which really told us what we had left, not what we've done.)  The double digits couldn't come soon enough!

If we were thirsty along the route, we were able to find that too. Our crew kept water on ice for us and we were able to refill our water bottles with cool drinks. A mooring in Barrington said it held beers and around mile 11 we stumbled into Del's for a refreshing drink. They had the air conditioner on I thought it felt great. Jill said it made her feel sick and realized how much the heat was getting to her. 

We sat for a bit to refresh and regroup our bodies. Jill and Kate decided not to continue. Between the heat and hot spots, they were done. Becky and I chose to go on. I'm not sure why. In retrospect, we probably should have stopped here too. But, how much more could 3 miles really be? 

Much more! The last 3 miles were probably the most grueling of the walk. It was around 2pm and all we could see ahead of us was paved path. The afternoon sun beat down on us and the pavement. No shade was in sight. The breeze we were counting on from the water was hot or non existent. Our feet clad against the path and the weather wore us right down. All Becky could think about was bed; all I could think about was having a cheeseburger.

We knew Colt State Park was getting close, but Becky and I hoped that Aunt Irene or my mother would happen to be at one of the intersections before we got there. No such luck.  Jill texted me and said just 1 mile after we passed the entrance to the park, we'd be done. Ha! We laughed as we passed a half-mile marker. 

Becky and I were done. We turned off at Colt State Park and were about to ask my mother to swing around and pick us up when we spotted Aunt Irene's car. I couldn't climb in and sit fast enough! We were beat. 

We met Jill, Kate, and my mother at Agave Restaurant at the end of the bike path. Becky just wanted to head home and catch up on her rest from working the night before. She and Aunt Irene shuttled off. We reloaded into my mother's car and went to find lunch. 

We ended up at Aidan's Pub and ran into cousin Taylor working. They sat us right under the air conditioner which was perfect. We had a small appetizer and then I finally had my cheeseburger. For the hour ride home, I think we all slept - or at least I did!

Misquammy Miles (8/19/15)

Terrain: Road
Path: Misquamicut to Watch Hill-ish & back
Time: 1.25 hours
Mileage: 5 miles
Blister Count: 1

Walked: August 19, 2015

It's been a while since I've walked and I needed to get out as The Walk is looming. A package from Hippie Runners was in the mailbox for me, and email solicitations sent out earlier in the day brought in close to $300. Motivation was set.

I forwent my daily nap and slipped my Fit Flops on - orange this time as they needed to be broken in more before I wear them for 50 miles. I picked out one of my new Hippie Runner bands and set my audiobook on my phone. Off I went. 

My route took me down Shore Rd. to Ocean View Highway.  Not wanting to go too far in one direction and wear myself out, I turned around at the Misquamicut Club and headed back toward Atlantic Ave. 

Generally, I am not a fan of the out-and-backs, but this stretch of sky along Ocean View Highway was worth it. The humidity was starting to settle in and the sky showed it. A layer of pink from the sun about to set sat just above the horizon with a layer of white then blue atop it. Among the weeds in the marsh before the barrier beach the sky was changing and kept me going. 

I made my way over to Atlantic Ave. where I had to dodge traffic, a loose barking dog that the owner couldn't control (fortunately it was just a small terrier type), and tourists cruising the beach. Again, knowing I didn't want to go too far one way, I decided I would turn at the State Beach.

The sun was just about down and more out of fear of deer and raccoons running across my path, I turned at the main entrance to the beach. When I did I saw what I was missing in the sky behind me. The colors popped out of the West and streaked to the East.  

I went up on the pavilion to get a better view, not thinking about my miles any more. It was somewhat blocked so I made my way to the sandy beach and took a bunch of pictures. At some point, and probably too late, I slipped my shoes off and let my toes settle in the cool sand. Is there a better feeling? 

People were still on the beach, lounging, skygazing, and picking up from a long summer's day on the sand. I walked down toward the first path and slipped my FitFlops again. I barely made it across the parking lot when I realized my mistake: I never brushed the sand off my feet before starting again. 

By the time I made it back home, just over a mile or so later, I could feel where the strapping rubbed the sand granules into my foot. I am not used to getting blisters so I didn't really catch on or do anything about the hot spot when I felt it. Needless to say, I had a nice blister form when I got home. 

Not being one for needles of any sort, I let my blister dry out naturally and callous over. I've also gotten all the sand off my feet and FitFlops. Now I should be ready for another walk and more miles!

(I am going to have to keep this in mind on Saturday of the walk when we hit the National Seashore!)

Making a MesS

Hot MesseS made a mess! We took advantage of our creative strengths and pulled together a successful Paint Night, raising over $1400 toward our team goal.

Kate and Jill, artists extraordinaire, led the charge. Jill worked on the logistics and pricing, while Kate found a picture, gathered donated and discounted materials, and taught 40 eager participants to make lilies (or starfish) look good.

Once we settled on a date, Friday, July 31st, we had to find a venue. Fortunately, Paul, who is like a second father to Jill and I, had an in at a local social club. He secured the hall and a bartender for us.

From there, Jill and Kate figured out price per ticket ($45) and we set out promoting the fundraiser. It was slow to start. We depended mostly on word-of-mouth, Evite invitations, and email. As the date got closer and the numbers weren't where we wanted them, we made a Facebook Event page and invited everyone. 

It still took about a week or two to catch on. We needed payment up front to help cover the costs and we limited the tickets to 40. But once, it caught, it spread! We filled up quickly in the two weeks prior the event and had to start turning people away.

The night of the event we met down at the Calabrese Club early. The tables had been set up already. We added tablecloths, and set the stations with water, brushes, easels, and canvases. As people filtered in we put the paint pallets out. We also set up at table for basket raffles, and one for pizza and chips. 

Right on time, people started coming in. Jill gave me a somewhat organized list of who was coming and if they paid. We sold raffle tickets at the door and directed people to the baskets. The bar was open as a cash bar and people mingled about.

Once the seats were filled and everyone settled in, Jill thanked everyone for their support and introduced the team. We weren't painting, just hanging out and being in the background, sometimes causing trouble....

It was neat to see everyone's blank canvas transform into bright oranges, purples, and greens. The main picture was of two tiger lilies with their leaves set on a dark purple and green background. Despite Kate leading everyone with the same direction and painting, there were 40 very different pictures in the final.

That's how I see MS affects us. While it attacks the body and the nervous system in distinctive ways, it manifests differently for everyone. I hope by continuing to raise funds for the National MS Society, we can continue to paint everyone's picture full of bright and vibrant colors.

Breaking Hearts

Terrain: Trail
Path: Arcadia Management Area, Heartbreak Pond
Time: ~2 hours
Mileage: 6.7
Blister Count: 0 (for me)

The months since we met as a team back in February flew by. The weather finally broke and outside from doing short 3-5 mile walks, we haven't done much as a team and distance. We were anxious to pack some miles on.

Jill met me at my house and we went to Kate's. She lives near the woods so we snaked through some back roads and found a parking spot at a trail head. We had a general idea where we were, but no real trail map or plan. I had my GPS with me just in case and Kate had a map of sorts on her phone. 

The summer thus far has been humid, and we were feeling like a trio of hot messes trudging through the woods. Before leaving the car at the lot, we lathered up in our sunscreen and bug spray. Due in part to the humidity, the bugs were crazy. They stuck mostly to Kate, which she blamed on her blue hair. Something about the color must attract them.

It wasn't long before starting down the path that we could see a giant hill ahead of us. It's just a warm up, I told Kate and Jill. It was one of those long, gradual, feel-it-with-every-step kind of hills. If we thought we felt like hot messes before starting, we certainly felt it now! Thankfully there were steps on the other side we could take down. They were nice on our knees.

We took the path down to an old farm road, past a dead end street, some houses, and two horses. After passing Fabio's calling card, we spotted some trail markers and followed those down hill. We had a feeling that hill may kill us on the way back. 

The trail took us down to Breakheart Pond and we did the loop around. It was still early in the morning so the water was calm and yielded nice pictures. We walked around the launch spot to the fishing ladder and stayed mesmerized by it for a few minutes. Due to the dry spring and summer, there wasn't much water running down the ladder. 

Occasionally, I try to geocache while on these training walks. The caches on this loop around the pond I had already found. However, when we passed an old foundation, Jill noticed a Tupperware container among the stones. (I've trained her well!) Nothing was showing on my GPS to be here, so I went down to investigate. 

Stepping carefully to avoid any creatures, namely snakes, from grabbing my toes, I safely made it down. I pulled out the container and before I had the lid fully off, Kate was squealing. I thought there would be a deer hiding behind me. When Jill and I looked at her funny, she spouted out, "Rainbow Dash! My favorite!" Still unsure of what she was referring to, I took the lid off and found what she was referring to. A My Little Pony lay on its side in the box. I found a stamp in there too which indicated it was a letterbox and not a geocache.  

The heat was getting to us enough. We thought we'd be able to avoid it being under the trees, but we were wrong. Our trail antics and conversations were getting a little crazy. Unlike a roadside walk, on the trails we had plenty of distractions to keep us entertained.  We test drove an old tricycle, played with a Frisbee, and discussed the colorful mushrooms along the way. 

This year will be Kate's first walk with us. On the farm road back, she asked us for some tips and what to expect. We mentioned all the people, the crew teams, the hotel we planned to crash at, the soreness we push through, and the fun of it all.

Jill suggested we line our canvas "change of clothes" bag with waterproof bags/ziplocs - nothing like putting wet socks on at lunch. We mentioned the multitude of snacks and pit stops. Find a light water bottle to refill at the stations. We go out to dinner and hit the Jacuzzi at night. Expect blisters and bring scissors to cut the moleskin. 

It was a good almost-7-mile walk and talk. After the walk, the upcoming 50-mile Challenge seemed more real and sudden. Time to really start packing on the miles! 

 

We did this walk on July 11, 2015