Sales of Peleton bikes and bicycles are up 172% and 121% respectively. There is a revived interest in riding a bike, for exercise or as a form of transportation.
I can’t use my bicycle as a form of transportation away from the farm right now. It would be very unsafe. We live on a highly traveled gravel road. Below is a photo of a truck coming down the road that goes past our farm. Most vehicles speed down this road around 50 miles an hour. That’s a lot of dust for a bicyclist to contend with.
Country Roads are Dusty Roads
People tend to drive in the middle of our gravel road, as the road really isn’t a two-lane road. It’s more like a 1.25 lane road. Speeding drivers aren’t looking for a grandma on her bicycle with her dog trotting by her side. I just cannot ride my bicycle on this very unsafe and dusty road. The harvest season creates too much traffic; with combines, semi trucks, tractors, and wagons going from field to field. Adding my bicycle to this mix would be bad for me!
Robert Frost Revisited
During harvest there’s a better and safer road I can take – a cornfield. A road not taken by many. I feel like I’m channeling Robert Frost! “I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”
Some of you would disagree, but have you ever ridden a bicycle in a cornfield?
When bringing in the harvest from our fields, the tractor and wagons take the same path over and over to get to the grain bins in the farmyard. This creates a path for my bicycle! After I go down this newly made path, I then ride up the waterways on the tractor/wagon path to the top of this field. It’s a quiet and panoramic view. My dog trots beside me, searching for prey. He’s not a hunting dog, so he’s just wasting his time. But what a nice time we both have! Just me on my bicycle and Duke in the grass.
At the top of the field, the waterway stops. I turn around and go back to the beginning of my 1. 5 mile journey, and if I feel like it, I’ll make another cornfield ride.
Be Blessed!
P.S. The next post will be Cereal Cookies!
Discover more from Family and Farming
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.