No Fair

October 13, 2009. Last week was rainy and no one rode. 52 degrees F and overcast this week discouraged most of our riders. With no fair weather friends I was the only rider. It felt like early in the season when I was alone. Only 12.3 miles at a leisurely 12.8 mph average was my evening ride.


There was an interesting character who made the ride quite an experience. I first saw him, far ahead, after I made a turn onto the road he was on. As the distance between us diminished I could see a fishing pole stuck out the back of his bicycle. His winter coat, with the fur collar, was also evident. Several cars coming from behind made passing impossible for a few minutes. Then, as I began to go around, I announced, "There are lots of things passing you tonight." An instant and angry reply stated definitely that he did not care. A few more gruff statements and his final words were, "...I like to bicycle. "

I completed about the middle third of my ride and returned past where I thought he would be fishing. Sure enough, he was by the lake. I stopped to apologize for making him angry with my statement about passing. I assured him it was just an attempt to be friendly.

Almost right away he began to talk about his bicycle and I got the whole tour. It had a console full of switches for turning various lights on and off. There were fog lights, tail lights, head lights and more. It took two small twelve volt batteries to operate all of his accessories. I noticed, and mentioned, that he even had a light on his head. That launched him into stories about how unsafe this road was for bicycles, and how the light could get him back to town.

The light strapped to his head was going to help him in another way. He told me he was, "...going to catch one of those big catfish!" What an uncomplicated life this man had for the evening. He enjoyed his bicycle ride to the, "...old fishing hole," and his remaining tasks were to catch a fish, and get home safely. I thought I was doing well just to enjoy the bicycle ride. It probably did us both good to have a few minutes of conversation and recognize each other for what we considered important that evening. I don't think he was angry when I left.