The rest of the bike ride

Hello,

The rest of the bike ride was really quite uneventful, but very nice. There is no longer a barrier on the trail and they had re-oiled the north end so it seemed quite fresh and new.

We did see three chipmunks on the southern trip. Coming back however, I was saddened to see a recent dead one. I suppose some bike had hit it. We have more power than we realize. Leroy spotted a live snake on the way down, but I unfortunately missed it. I am interested in snakes so I was disappointed.

We looked for black raspberries, but only found a few along with a few mulberries. If we had worn jeans we might have ventured into the brush a bit more and been more successful.

Even though it was early in the morning a number of other bikes were on the trail, perhaps trying to beat the heat just as we were. After our exciting beginning we were especially careful to call out loudly, “On your left.”

On the return trip we got intermingled with a run. A man and a woman were in front of me. I called out when I wanted to go around. The man moved over, but commented when the woman did not that she probably could not hear with the head phones in her ears. I had noticed the same response from other head phone wears. It seems that they do not hear Leroy’s bell at all so shouting is required.

Thinking of safety on the trail makes me ruminate about the fact that most, possibly above 90%, of bicycle riders wear helmets. However on the Iowa highway where danger is exponentially greater, motorcycle riders cling stubbornly to their bare headed independence. After all no one can tell them what to do, no matter how sensible it might be.

Paula