5/14/17

And so it really begins

This morning was the real beginning.  It went well.  About 52 miles, more or less flat.  The surrounding vegetation was mostly scrub, with lots of sagebrush and a lot of the cactus pictured above.  There wasn't much road kill to report.  Two frogs and a snake.  Birds were around all day, making lots of beautiful noise.  The highlight of the day was the reaction of a young calf.  The calf had wandered away from the herd and was right up against the fence where I was riding. She looked up as I was passing and immediately sprinted 70 feet to the other side of the herd.  At that point it turned around to see what this strange looking thing was that had frightened it so.  I met three cyclists going the other direction.  Two of them were from Holland.  The other rider was heading home to the western slope of the Rockies.  It was good to compare notes.  They were overjoyed that the wind was unusually out of the east.   I, on the other hand, was fairly underjoyed about that fact and ended up fighting a headwind all day. The "stuff" on the side of the road was the usual - rubber, plastic, glass, cardboard, lumber, etc. 

The only unusual piece was the bottom half of a plastic shelving unit. Tonight I am staying on a unique, small farm. It takes in a variety of abandoned animals, and also hosts people who want to learn how to farm organically.  I spent the afternoon talking to a French guy who has been working here for the past 10 days. A good day.  Til next time.