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.

                                                          ********************

The Neoplasm

The thing about cycling is that it isn't generally a nocturnal activity. We spend most of our hours on the bike in the broad daylight, most often through the long hours of a sunny summer day.

i suspect that most of us ride in short sleeved, short legged kit, exposing large areas of skin. How many of us ever think about sunscreen?

In younger days, it never occurred to me to grease up. If i took a sunburn on the arms, no matter... it faded to a deep farmer's tan in a day or two. Noxema cream and maybe Bactine spray provided enough temporary relief. In the days before findings about ozone layer depletion, no one really gave sunburn a second thought.

Look at some photos from the golden age of cycling. Here's an example:

Gino Bartali & Fausto Coppi

Take a look at Bartali's arms. This is a typical cyclist's tan.

My version was never quite so dark, but by early June my arms, legs, and from my neck up were usually pretty brown for someone of Northern European Mongrel lineage.

Another artifact of sun exposure was the well defined oval on the back of the hand from our gloves. My favourite style was- and is still- the gloves  with a crocheted back.

This spring i noticed what i first took to be a wart on the back of my hand:

Yeah, i know.. yuk.

 Denial is a deep river...

So, i finally took myself to my doctor who immediately referred me to the dermatologist.

 Welp, when you need to schedule an appointment with a specialist, don't be in a hurry.

Turns out the good doctor cannot see me before mid-September, but i will be seeing his P.A. in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, it grows. i hope it won't take until September to be rid of it.

 In more recent years i had gotten in the habit of greasing up my nose, and lately gotten better at remembering to doing my ears, neck, and arms as well. The thing is remembering to stop and re-apply the goop every 90 minutes or so. It never occurred to me to do my hands as well-  they were covered, right?

i ought to be more mindful about sunscreen, especially since i had a small "hot spot" removed from my temple a couple of years ago...  Denial isn't a river in Egypt.

A few days ago i heard a radio interview about how many if not most off-the-shelf sunscreens don't live up to their advertised SPF ratings, sometimes by less than half. The FDA doesn't test sunscreens for their efficacy- they depend on the manufacturers for that information. This does not inspire confidence. Do the research. Consumer Reports just published their findings. Seek it out.

And, no matter which brand of sunscreen you chose, remember to use it.                           

Time to escape...

10 AM, Tuesday...

Time to escape from the noise of the edgers and leaf-blowers and lawnmowers, the reek of 2 stroke fumes and the rotting grass in the back of the dump trucks..

The racket of the slamming of the tailgates...

The soundscape and ambience of suburbia on a weekday morning.

i'm going out for a ride.

i hope i can safely dodge the landscapers' pickup trucks and dump trucks with their over-wide and overloaded trailers that make up the bulk of the traffic on a fine morning in the suburbs and exurbs.

i will ride for the next few hours before the thunderstorms roll in and try to get away from this cacophony that is invading my space and making me edgy.

Hope to be back later.

Feel free to join me.

Be safe out there.