Riding the Backroads
Wednesday morning I woke up in Chester to storm clouds passing over. I thought the forecast had called for mostly clear skies for the week, but it didn’t look good. I got things packed up and when I was ready to go a light rain that was falling had stopped.
The route offered two options. One was through the hills and the alternate was along the Mississippi. Since I hadn’t seen much of the river except for crossing it, I considered taking that route. But a lot of it wasn’t directly along the river and the truck traffic was said to be much worse, so I decided to take the main one through the hills.
The weather had started to look a bit ugly again while at breakfast so I waited it out a while and got a late start after being up so early. But I used that time to write yesterday’s post.
The main route on the backroads was a great choice as there weren’t any cars. It makes an amazing difference in the enjoyment of the ride when you don’t hear the sound of loud vehicles. And when you compare it to higher traffic areas, such as the main road in the town of Houston last week or later this day in Carbondale, after two months on the road you realize how irritating traffic and the related noise can be.
We’re so used to getting around in a car, we don’t notice how much we’re influenced by them. I thought as I was riding today (you have plenty of time to think) how cars can create an environment of noise and stress and getting irritated at minor inconveniences.
This reminded me of a time at a previous job when a very nice, mild mannered customer left me a message as she was driving. She thought she had hung up and seconds later went into an obscenity filled tirade over someone who did something wrong in traffic. It was very unexpected and rather funny.
So the backroads were fantastic. I got just a few drops of rain along the way but then it cleared up. I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been with the lack of bad weather and not having a storm front passing through that lasts a full day or more– but the trip isn’t over yet.
I stopped at a convenience store around noon and was back to my shorter stops and quick lunches after riding with the trio of Charlie, Marcus and Kirsty for the past week. Here it was a 32 ounce Powerade, an apple and an oatmeal cream pie. Many times I’m not too hungry at lunch time. At this stop I saw the first Amish horse and buggy of the trip (cover photo).
Further on I passed through the nice little town of Murphysboro and then about eight miles later and 56 miles for the day I was in Carbondale. This is the fourth of the five towns on the route with over 20,000 people. It’s also a college town, so it feels somewhat big.
It was getting to be late in the day and the next stop was much further along so I stayed in town at a motel–free thanks to the remaining points I had. So I was back in the real world last night watching election coverage and an update on a hurricane about to hit Florida.