Head Clearing Ride

I'm in serious danger of becoming dull. Every weekend has been spent working on my bathroom remodeling project and you know what they say about all work and no play. So it was again this weekend, handling 40 lb sheets of hardibacker and attaching it to the shower walls. I was forced to quit when my saw blade broke and it was probably a good thing at that. I've been telling myself for 2 weeks that I needed to go for a good bike ride. When I left the project room it was about 3:00. It was still cloudy out, we never got the promised sun and I didn't really feel like going for a ride. I wanted to just sit on the porch or watch football. But my head felt thick and I was working on a good grump as well. I knew I needed a ride.

 At first I felt awkward, almost like I hadn't ridden for months. But then after a few miles I caught my stride. I was facing a pretty stiff headwind, and even though the temperature was in the mid 60's, I was glad I had worm my jacket. As I cranked down the road I was bombarded by signs of fall. Partially harvested fields of dried corn stalks. Dark green fields of soybeans that were showing the first tint of browning off. Weeds mature and tough, ready to belch seeds in every direction. The smell of wood smoke.

Traffic was especially heavy even for my back road route. Occasionally a biker runs into someone who for whatever reason regards them with contempt. Today I was stopped at a remote cross road when a pickup truck full of bushel crab baskets pulled up. The driver stopped and gave me a hateful glare for about 5 seconds, then just drove off. I'm not sure what the source of this contempt is. Does he think I'm going to call my fellow biker friends and take over his back shore turf? Or does he just hate any activity that doesn't involve a boat and a crab or a gun and a deer? I rode on and passed a fellow biker who returned my wave and a smile. We understand.

The clouds were starting to clear a little and so was my head. I rolled home in a better mood.