As I’ve mentioned here many times before, Mondays are usually my days to catch up on all the stuff that I should have done over the weekend, but didn’t. This Monday was also a day that I should have fired up Illustrator and worked on a project that I keep putting off, and off, and off, and off, because it’s driving me mad, and I have the attention span on a 5-year-old on meth. So, it remains unfinished.
It was Monday, the sun was out, no lives were hanging in the balance from what needed done, and the world creeps ever closer to nuclear war due to the orange troll in charge of our country. So I said “f*ck it,” and rode my bike.
To be honest the 28.5 mile ride wasn’t long enough to keep me from any work that needed done, but it did get me outside for a while to burn some calories, take a few photos, see the blooming flowers, enjoy the morning sun, and take my mind off the state of the world right now. Mission accomplished.
It was also the perfect sort of morning to find a nice open road, pull off to the side, throw a wiz, and just listen. Listen to nothing except the red-winged black birds singing (female seen above), and the distant sound of cows mooing. I love that.
I know many cyclists see the lead photo in this post and see nothing but a long strip of boring dirt road. No mountains (boo), no twists and turns, no gnarly descents. Just an open–rolling at best–grid of dirt and gravel roads. But in a world swamped in political chaos, and distractions of every sort, I see peace and quiet. I see roads that yesterday allowed me to safely ride for upwards of 10 miles or more without being passed by a single vehicle, a place for me to gather my thoughts, and a place to get/keep myself in shape while doing what I love to do, not something that I feel I have to do.
Hmm… I think I just might try to do all that again today.
Later.