My Life as a Bike 2: 19 July 2011 Ride: 200 Days

200 days of continuous riding. Wow. It does feel special. 165 days to go. That doesn't sound as overwhelming as 185 days to go. A few days back I thought I might try to do a special ride today, something long and elaborate. But, Carol and Rachel were supposed to return today from Germany. Actually, they were supposed to return on Monday but couldn't get on the plane since they were flying standby. This morning, when I woke up, there was an email from Carol that she had been throwing up all night (presumably food poisoning) so they were postponing their return one more day. Alas, the travails of travel.

I opted for a short ride in the neighborhood with lots of pictures. The ride felt celebratory with the photos gifts to be unwrapped later in the day.

I was on the bike just before sunrise. The strands of clouds in the sky seemed very apropos as I thought of all the segments of the journey leading to the whole.

200: The number of NASCAR Cup Series races won by Richard Petty. Which leads into a bike memory. On my Arkansas to Georgia bike trip, I had some concerns about riding the back roads of the very rural south. I encountered enough good ol' country boys in our area who liked to yell out the window or honk just as they were passing and, in some cases, liked to pass uncomfortably close. Placing a small American flag in my Camelbak seemed to help tremendously. But, I wondered if I needed something more potent in the Alabama and Mississippi back country. A Confederate flag was suggested to me but that was out of the question. At one time, however, I did seriously consider donning a #3 pennant, Dale Earnhardt's number. But, in the end, I stuck with the American flag and I never did have any problems. Most everyone I encountered was very friendly and respectful.

As will be seen shortly, it's not that I am hopelessly in love with contrails that I need to show the same trail twice in the same post. There is an interesting evolution going on here.

During the past few months on my rides in the neighborhood, I have been passing Cliff who has taken to walking in the early morning. This seemed like a good day to stop and get a picture of him. Though, I did catch him in the light of the sunrise which explains the pinkish glow.