Detritus

What little snow we've had this winter is gone, except for a large pile on the north side of my town's multi-story parking structure- stuff that was scraped off  the top level by the plough and won't be gone until June.

In many places the road along the fog line is liberally sprinkled with glass from jettisoned beer bottles- it's a minor miracle that i haven't punctured yet.

i used to wonder how so much brown and green glass wound up on the road until i witnessed some yahoos tossing out their beer bottles so as not to be caught with open liquor in their car.

i'm not sure what makes me angrier- the fact that people are consuming alcohol whilst driving or that they feel entitled to just toss their trash along the roads.

When i ride in more rural parts, i see a lot of beer cans and 12 pack cartons strewn along the right-of-way. One time i remarked to a riding companion that the overwhelming majority of those cans were from one or two of the more common brands of "light" ("Lite?") beer.  He pointed out that the reason for so many light beer cans being tossed was that they were ashamed to leave evidence in their cars that they actually drank such dreck. i mean, if you're going to drink beer, drink real beer. Ah well...

Along with the beer cans and bottles, i lately notice an alarming number of hard liquor bottles out there. Empty 750ml vodka and whiskey bottles are frighteningly common. When i find myself on an evening or nighttime ride i especially worry about this.

Among of the odder things i've seen are vanilla extract bottles. At the last couple of years' 3 Speed Tours there were dozens along the shoulder of Wisconsin 35. i wonder if under-agers were spiking their soda with the stuff...  How's that for desperate?

It's depressing to me that so many people feel it's okay to scatter trash along the highways and streets. i have on a couple of past occasions been able to scoop up someone's trash and toss it back to them at the next stoplight, but i don't think i'll do that any more since i never know who may be packing heat.

Of course, not everything i encounter on my rides is useless. Last Sunday i found a crisp dollar bill in the gutter- yea me! For some reason, 12mm box wrenches are a regular find, as well as the occasional pliers and other small hand tools... i once came back from a brevet with a claw hammer in my seat bag. You miss these sorts of things when behind the wheel of a car.

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