Bike Ride On Willow Creek Rd.

I love riding my bike around here because there is so much to look at - but I wish going uphill was a hec of alot easier! I can only make it so far on my bike, so I have been scoping out Willow Creek Road over and over, flying down hill, then pumping uphill all slow and out of breath. Old men pass me by in their farm trucks and wave hello, but have a look of "WTF are ya doing lady!?!" on their face.
Passing cows, barns, brick ranch houses and some fields down the road I arrive at my destination. Standing away from the gate facing the road are endless rows of corn. Big Sandy Mush valley is really two walls of mountains protecting the corn down the center. Corn is the hot shit 'round these parts.
I jumped (another) red metal gate...this one was tricky. It is on a busy part of the road, and without thinking I went out right at 5 o clock, so way more people were going by then usual. I hid my bike in the tall weeds against the fence, pretended to be taking endless pics of the corn across the road and listened carefully for distant cars before hopping over the gate.
This place is one of wonder to me, I have felt attracted to it every time I saw it from the road, I felt like it was a forest similar to the one I lived under in Marshall, NC - my place that I loved but had to leave. As soon as I jumped the fence I smelled the sweet smell of that perfect mix of trees, of a secret pocket that doesn't get alot of human traffic, of native plants growing unimpeded. It may not look like much, but it has just the right feeling, just the right lighting, just the right scent.
The first thing I saw was this little "tree house" -- if it had just been a tad bigger I might have moved in!
But then I begin noticing some junk that didn't really belong. It wasn't a total dump or total loss, but here and there pieces of someone's past trash lay randomly spread amongst the magic. Chemical tanks...
Oh, and a washer... (a bunch of tires, metal bowls and plastic buckets were all part of the landscape too). This wasn't discouraging, I wanted to help clean it up - but then I heard a dog barking really close by and another sound that was probably a human doing something at their house- a house I didn't realize must be right over the hill behind the trees. I used my quiet stalking skills to creep softly away and back to the gate- silently hopping back over and getting on my bike.
On my ride back home I noticed a tiny creature in the road, a baby snapping turtle! I love snapping turtles and wanted to take it home, but then realized it had been killed in the road, along with some other baby snappers. :( Poor wittle turtle. After that I couldn't help but notice all the micro casualties in the road - so many dragonflies and crickets all smooshed by cars. Makes me glad I have a bike and will soon be jus' riding a donkey! I hurt for that turtle, and I don't really care if that's being too sensitive for most peeps living in this fast paced society.
Bye bye cows! Time to go home.
XoXo

Get A Bike! Ride the Sidewalk?

Recently I sold my Ford Ranger Truck and got a used bike instead. It was the best decision I have ever made... but at first I was a little worried. Not that I would not have a car for transport but that biking in the mountains of Asheville NC would be really difficult, and I would be a spazz on my bike. Which led to my next concern: the fact that bikers are supposed to ride on the road with speeding cars instead of the sidewalk and that the spazzy drivers might hit me. It seems a little unsafe to treat bikes just like vehicles and require them to hug the sides of busy highways next to a virtually empty (safe) sidewalk. So when a guy in the Co-op grocery told me to ride the sidewalks unless I was right in downtown, you best believe I am doing it (see picture)! This gave me a chance to learn how to ride my bike- how to use the gears, brakes, etc without spilling out onto the street in front a behemoth car going 50 mph. Riding a bike is so easy, anyone living in flat cities should fear not & be on a bike- it brings fun back into traveling. And these here hills aren't so bad to get up and down if you learn how to properly use those 10 speeds sitting on the handle bar. CAUTION: riding in thrift store heals is really hard and may lead to ridiculous laughing spells.