Woonsocket to Watch Hill

Ben and Pappa take a bike ride the full length of Rhode Island. From Woonsocket in the Northeastern corner of the state to Watch Hill in the Southwestern corner. It was a long day. We started in Woonsocket at 9 AM and ended up at the waters edge in Watch Hill at 5 PM.  And we had hills, lots of hills and while Pappa was struggling pulling his weight up the hill, Benny was cruising along behind, whistling. We had a beautiful day for the most part, with a quick rain shower in the middle and a lot of wind in our face at the end, and somewhere around the 38 mile mark we had a great chicken dinner at the Middle of Nowhere Diner, and we both would recommend this place to eat. A special thanks goes to Nana who drove us up to Woonsocket and picked us in in Watch Hill.  Here is a link to the stats and a map of our ride. Ignore the last couple of miles - forgot to turn off my app and it ran for 2 miles in the car…

Some Statistics
Oct 18, 2014, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
ride time               5:35:56
stopped time         2:42:59
distance               66.07 miles
average speed      12.30 mph
fastest speed         35.5 mph
ascent                  3029
descent                3182
calories                 5833

New Bikes

Ben and I just got new bikes...well at this point only Ben has his new one..I have a loaner until my bike comes in on Wednesday this week. There was a comedy of errors at the bike shop resulting in me getting a frame that was WAY too small for me, which I had said to them from the start, so the immediate remedy was a very long seat post..this turn out to be really silly. Ultimately they said they would get one for me in about six weeks but a few phone calls later and they found one in California and had it shipped - it is supposed to get here Wednesday. In the meantime they provided me with a decent road bike loaner so Ben and I can ride together.

Sunday Morning ride

Sunday Morning we did a different section of the east Bay Bike Path - from the overlook down to the Dari Bee in Riverside. We were disappointed that the Dari Bee was closed. .  it was a short 7 mile ride but fit the bill for this Sunday morning as Ben was off to visit with his Uncle Shawn and Auntie Erin.

Wednesday night ride

Another ride tonight..we are getting our selves in shape for a longer ride..my bottom is sore but Benny tells me his bottom is getting used to the saddle.  So it was 4.5 miles on the first night, 5.5 on the second night and tonight we rode 6.5 miles. It is coming along. This is just the early work, adventure is around every corner. . .

First Real Flight Lesson

This past Sunday morning at 8:30 AM Benjamin began his flight training in earnest. His first lesson, which he paid for himself, began with some information in the office, then onto the preflight inspection of the aircraft and then off into the wild blue yonder. Don Turrell who is the flight instructor at North Central Flight Center has just the right temperament to match Ben and they have hit it off well. Ben spent an hour in the air and about an hour on the ground. He is excited and looking forward to his next lesson. The people at North Central couldn't be nicer. I like that in this video, while Ben is taking off, for the first time, Don seems to be fussing with his iPad. . . .didn't seem to bother Ben.

The Zoetrope

We have the Zoetrope almost completed.. all we need to do now is to motorize it.  We have the motor and a speed controller so now we can work that out. But it has to go to the science fair as it is this week. This video shows both the Zoetrope and a Phenakistoscope that we made. The Zoetrope is made with wood, 36 magnets, a reed switch, some wire, a LED flashlight, a lazy susan bearing and 36 pencils. And a lot of math! I would like to thank everyone who took my surveys and helped me with my project.

Animation Test for Science Fair

READ THIS BEFORE YOU WATCH

The video above shows a bouncing ball at different frame rates. I am trying to determine when the motion of the ball FIRST begins to look natural or smooth. Please watch the video (maybe a couple of times) and then vote by taking the survey on the right hand side of the screen. (at the top of the next column)
Video By Benjamin O'Neil, made in Adobe After Effects

Flippin' Eggs

Ben and Pappa cook up some eggs with a new "OrGreenic" non stick pan. Pappa got this pan for Christmas, replacing his trusty Teflon pan. Things stuck to it the first few times he used it, but it is becoming seasoned so it is more slippery now. Pappa never uses a spatula to flip things, just the slippery pan. You can see by the clock on the stove - this is a very late breakfast. . . . lazy guys on a Saturday morning.

Back on the bikes

Ben and Pappa are back on the bikes.  This was a quick 9 mile ride along the East Bay bike path with a stop in Barrington to get Ben a Cookies and Cream ice cream cone. . . The first part of the video is a bit foggy as the camera had some condensation on the inside of the housing which we remedied at the ice cream shop. And yes, Pappa almost falls down when he dismounts at the ice cream stand. . . . we had a good laugh.

Click the title at the top of the video to view at YouTube and in full screen HD