This afternoon I took a quick spin out to the Headwaters on Elk River Road. I’ve been having an ERR resurgence; I can’t believe how beautiful, what an ideal cycling road it is. It’s a two lane road down a river valley to a forest reserve where there’s a paved path that goes about a mile to a deep river pool beneath mossy maples at the logging ghost town of Falk. It takes about an hour, out and back, from my home and there’s hardly any traffic, just rolling hills and farm animals.
I can tell I’m riding fast when I startle the cows. They look up at the streaking figure in spandex and gallop away in horror. When I’m just going easy the cows don’t notice me. The bulls are scary, even the neutered, placid ones. Once I stopped near a group of tres toros to put on my arm warmers and this bull looked at me with the most ominous WTF look that I instantly realized the only thing separating us was an electric fence and decided it would be best to ramble on. I was once stalked by a young bull on Cannibal Island Road; he followed me like a cat stalks a mouse, behind a fence as I gasped and accelerated. My final observation about cows is that they have a funny way of scanning; when they’re looking at you they don’t trace smoothly, they move their neck in jagged little increments, like the ticking seconds of a clock or a sprinkler.
I was riding pretty fast today and scared some cows. I also horrified a horse. The good thing about my first failed bike tour is that I appear to have leveled up. I’m feeling a lot stronger. I rode fifty miles to Patrick’s Point yesterday and felt good. I stopped in Trinidad at the Beachcomber Cafe where I drank a small coffee, ate a scone, and zoned out with the December issue of Sunset. It was quite nice.
Out on Elk River Road today I thought I saw my bar end plug lying at the side of the road. I recently lost one somewhere, and thought wow, I’ve found it. But it wasn’t my plug, it was a big blackberry and I noticed the bush on the fence was full and ripe. I think it’s finally time to go collecting for enough fruit to fill a pie. I also stopped to check on the wild plums, which need more time. Then I realized that I hadn’t yet brushed my teeth today.
When I reached the Headwaters there was only one car in the parking lot, a beater which seemed to be hot boxing. I sped down the path feeling like the only person in the forest, startling bunnies and banana slugs on my commute to Falk.
