An Unusual Ride

People who ride with me know that I often ride with my head down (looking at the road in front of my tire).  I could pass a lot of interesting things and not notice them.  What’s that about?  I don’t know for sure.  Some of it is that I’m often riding with others who are so much stronger than I am and I’m working to keep up.  Some of it is to relieve the pressure on my neck.  Some of it is likely habit.

I noticed at the end of today’s ride, that I was a lot more alert than noticed more things.  Granted, they were BIG things, but they were noticed none-the-less.

We had 4 who rode to breakfast.  I rode with Mike B to his work near the airport and then returned home.  Along the way, the more unusual things included:

• An emu.  Maybe it is not so unusual to see the emu because it is on a piece of fenced property next to the airport, but come on … who expects to see an emu while riding a bike in Maryland?  It is fun every time.
• I decided that I would add some extra miles and ride to Elkridge.  I was undecided about whether or not I would try the steep hill on the fixie, but as I approached the turn near the off-airport parking lots, I saw a lot of police activity.  I waved at the officer putting out flares, and kept going.  A vehicle had slammed into a pole that had a transformer attached and the sparking from the transformer started a brush fire.  Smoke was pouring out from the fire.  As I continued, I noted that there were flares completely blocking the road ahead.  I turned around, encountered an officer, and asked if I would be able to get back through this area later.  He said I wasn’t even supposed to have passed the other “roadblock”.  We had a nice, brief, civil conversation, and I abandoned my plan to visit Elkridge.
• On the trail at the southern end of the airport, I encountered two officers on ATVs (I loved the goggles).  This is the first time I saw this type of patrol around the airport.
• As I approached the place where the trail crosses Dorsey Road, I smelled cordite.  Some firearm had been discharged in the area.  I observed a police vehicle leaving the airplane observation park, but noticed no other activity.

Beyond these events, it was a pretty typical ride.  I took it easy.  I enjoyed the day.  I could have kept going for a very long time.  It just felt good … except for my toes.  It took half an hour in the house before the floor stopped feeling weird.  That experiment in terms of socks, shoes, and toe warmers didn’t yield results I’d like to repeat.

This Morning’s Ride: 55.2 miles
Month: 176.7 miles
2013: 176.7 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 19,946.6 miles (Nearly ready to complete my second 10 thousand mile mark!)