Flattest Century in the East Bandits

Jason Brianas, a member of my class at the War College, and I rode in the "Flattest Century in the East" last Sunday just as tropical storm Hanna made her way up the coast. It was a very windy morning early on, but by the time the ride started the weather was spectacular. There was very little water or debris on the road, and the temperature was very nice for most of the day. This was Jason's first 100 mile ride, so I rode up front most of the day...except when I had a flat tire. I had a record three flat tires that day on my wonderful rental bike.


The following are a few shots I took of our surroundings during the ride through Massachusetts. The ride began on the University of Mass. campus at Dartmouth. It was a beautiful ride through mostly winding country roads.

Newport is Beautiful..."Yank's Aren't Nice"

Newport is certainly a beautiful place (to visit), but I am quite certain I would not like living here for long. The people aren't very nice, and you guessed it, the roads in close proximity to the base aren't great for cycling. The picture below is taken from the Officer's Club at Newport Naval Base, and the bridge is the Claiborne Pell Bridge connecting Newport and Jamestown. There are usually lots of sailboats in Narragansett Bay in the evenings and on the weekends.

This is a shot of the marina across from the Officer's Club. The sailboats pictured are those used for the sailing classes given during the spring and summertime. I was signed up for the last class, but I decided to drop because of an opportunity to participate in a 100-mile bike ride in Connecticut on one of my weekends...turns out I didn't ride after all and could have sailed instead...oh well!


The U.S. Naval War College campus is pretty small, but it accomodates officers from all branches of the service (the largest percentage being from the Navy of course), DoD civilians, as well as other federal agencies (CIA, NCIS, etc.). It's a pretty nice place.

This building, Evans Hall, is where our MSOC classes are actually held each day. I will be here until 3 Oct and then it's back to Lubbock, TX, for some vacation prior to departing for Bahrain.