Well, it has taken a while, but here I am again reflecting on the simple joys of bicycling. One interesting aspect to it is the wonderful array of opportunities to find excuses not to go out. "It's too hot." "It's raining." "What's on TV?" I think you can easily get the picture.
It is no longer spring, but late summer, mid-August and after enduring the usual hot, humid, midwestern summer, the weather has turned favorable and we are being blessed with temperatures in the 50's, 60's and low 70's. The rain has come and gone, the sun shines and there are no more convienent excuses. TV, of course, is a vast land of reruns. Nothing for it, but to take bike in hand and head out of town.
I used to take off around 7 PM. Now, though, the sun doesn't stay up as late as it used to and I have to get out earlier for my one hour ride not to end in the dark. The cooler temperatures certainly do help to enhance the ride. The corn and beans in the fields along the way are beautiful and richly green. It has been a good year around here for the crops. As I ride along, I pass through a corridor of eight foot tall corn plants. They sort of enclose me and add a slight hush to the road. At times they even block out the sun as it lowers itself into the horizon. Then, suddenly, I pass a field of beans and the world is returned to me. As before, cars are few, I have the road to myself.
The birds that serenaded me in the spring and early summer are not so obvious now. They have been replaced by the crickets and cicadas. Spring wild flowers are gone. In their place, Queen Ann's lace graces the roadside along with loosestrife and an abundance of yellow and lavender and purple wildflowers. The colors now are somewhat more restrained, offering subtle contrast with the ripening fields. The few birds I do see are mostly fly-catchers feasting on the genuinely abundent insect life. (Which brings to mind the admonition I received about riding a bike too late in the evening during the summer...you'll get a face full of bugs! True, too true. I can testify to the accuracy of that warning. Down those corridors of corn, the bugs are a formidible presence.)
At some point along the way I always stop and just absorb the general peace of the land out here. It is hard to get over how quiet it is out in the country, how serene and timeless the landscape appears. It goes on and on to the sunset. The sky is almost everywhere and the clouds catch the last of the day as the sun makes it's way to the horizon. In the distance perhaps there is the barking of a dog or the call of children at play.
As before, the feeling of wanting to go on forever pushes me onward. The zen is still there. Briefly I stop to watch the sun set into the bean fields stretching to the distant horizon. A few late birds swing by calling softly. The clouds, towering above catch the final rays of the sun, throwing back all mannner of reds, golds and deep purples. It is amazing. And all so close at hand. As twilight ensues, with some reluctance, I push off and head back to town. Retracing the short miles through the cool and twilit countryside.