Sunday the weather was lovely, and I got lots of exercise, putting several miles on my mountain bike, probably a mile on my unicycle, and eight miles on my track bike. This last entailed some country-road riding, which requires a high state of awareness at any time, more so in harvest season. Anyway I saw a couple things that, if I could, I’d discuss with the people involved. Here’s as close as I can get.
Dear smiling, waving coeds in the Mustang convertible that flew past me with butterflies wide open while I was stopped taking a picture: I know the Ford 302 makes a lovely sound and the kick is a lot of fun. But I wish I could tell you what a bad idea speeding is on rural Illinois roads during harvest season. Especially across from the entrance of a grain elevator, which I was photographing. Your little car would be a hood ornament stuck to the front of some of those tractors as they pull out. Please think of your family and loved ones, if not of yourselves.
Dear pickup-truck-drivin’-guy who casually tossed out a burning cigarette, which I clipped with the front tire of my bike as it rolled across the road rather than see it roll into the ditch: Littering is bad. Burning litter is worse; don’t be a jerk.
That is all
Note to pickup-truck drivin’ guy from a fellow smoker: get a bloody ashtray. They make ones specifically for cars, you know.
I never understood the idea of purposely littering, or littering in any manor other than accidental. In other words I can understand not chasing the bag that 40mph wind just took away from you. But what really gets me irked is seeing trashing in a 100ft radius of a trash can or a place that everyone understands to have trash cans. That’s a special kind of lazy.
One good turn deserves another. You seem smart and aware enough to know this already, but it can’t hurt to see it in print. Don’t stop to snap a picture over the crest of a hill, or in one of those “whoop-de-do” vanishing points. I’m betting you’re smart enough to get well off the road, but you have to get back on again, don’t you?
http://www.wmur.com/news/18684776/detail.html
Easier to dodge on a bicycle, but not if you’re caught flat-footed.
You’re right; I am smart enough to know that. I was well off the road and there was no blind spot for getting back on. But a grain truck or tractor has zero maneuverability and the girls’ Mustang was moving about 1.5x the speed limit and still gaining.
A horse-drawn RV? That’s a new one. Glad the horses survived.
You are absolutely right