I had planned to ride from the house but yesterday I was surprised how much traffic was on Hwy 45 on Thanksgiving and I was afraid Black Friday would have a comparable amount with possibly even more aggressive drivers. So, I drove the short distance down the hill to Habbeton Rd and left from there.
Riding this past week has been emotionally interesting. After the six weeks of very intensive riding and then easing up this week, there is a part of me that interprets this change as if the journey is over. Of course, it's not. About 675 miles to still reach one goal and 36 days left till the end of the year. I guess this point in time in the year-long journey is similar to the 20th hour of the 24 hour ride; that hour felt as if I was just a couple of minutes from being finished whereas 4 hours is still a nice healthy ride.
But, even with those feelings as well as being a bit fatigued, it was a good day, a beautiful day with the sky filled with various cloud patterns. Sometimes a small gray cloud, blown by the wind, would zip by at a lower altitude in contrast to the clouds higher up that remained relatively still.
It seemed to be a great day for black and white photos, with a splash of color thrown in.
After covering a good amount of territory along the rural roads to the east, I finally headed for the trail where I planned to head for Fayetteville and then head back. I was surprised as I passed the main arteries in town the traffic was much lighter than I expected, even by the mall. Maybe Hwy 45 would have been okay.
I stopped at the bathroom at Wilson Park and I saw the man below at the picnic table. I believe I have seen him there before. He had a few belongings on the table and today he seemed to be napping.
I had the wind with me for part of the time on the ride back, which is always nice.
I was really moving along and became a bit too focused on making good time back to the van. When I was at the Botanical Garden I had to cross Hwy 265, a busy road. There were no cars coming from my left and there were a string of cars coming from the right. The first car coming from the right was turning right with a good gap between it and the next car coming; though "good gap" might be a relative term. I timed my crossing to end up behind the car turning right with time to spare before the next car came. Unfortunately, the car turning right didn't understand the intention of this mad cyclist coming across the road so he slowed down. This had me heading broadside for his door with the next car coming from the right heading broadside for me. Not good. I quickly maneuvered to the rear of the car in front of me with only a couple of seconds to spare before the next car reached me. I waved apologetically to both drivers. It was a very poor decision from the start. It's bad enough that I have close calls created by others without creating more of my own.
I had a good 7 miles to think about that one till the end of the ride.
Pulling into our road, in front of me was an amazing sight created by a contrail in the sky; a shadow of the contrail cast on the cloud behind. I quickly stopped the van and grabbed the camera hoping I could capture what I saw. Looking into the sky, I was blinded by the glare and wasn't sure if I was photographing the phenomenon or not.
Getting back home and looking at the pictures, I was surprised by what one of the other shots captured as I could not see it when I was out there.
Today's Ride: 4hrs 32mins. 51.01 miles. 48°-60° 20-25mph winds. Miles YTD: 9,378.29
Number of miles per day needed to reach 10,000 miles by the end of the year: 17.26
Donations for Biking for Food, which support the Community Meals at St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, AR, can be sent to: Biking for Food, St Paul’s Episcopal Church, 224 N. East Ave., Fayetteville, AR 72701
Or, make a pledge per bike miles ridden at www.stpaulsfay.org/bikingforfood.html.
To see older postings, search the Archives listed on the right had panel.
To see postings before 15 August 2011, please go to www.mylifeasabike2.blogspot.com
To see postings before 11 June 2011, please go to www.mylifeasabike.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment