Training the Bike

Keene, NH. 

I may have told you that my bike has the bad habit of turning into diners, restaurants and cafes whenever it passes one.  Well, I can't afford such luxuries, so I have been training it to pass them by without complaining.  And I have met with great success in that regard.  I have been able to stay away from places that serve prepared food and eat entirely from my larder of groceries, but I am allowing myself the luxury of coffee and pastry in the morning at a convenience store and some ice cream in the afternoon.  I have also so far been able to refrain from patronizing places of lodging.  The campsites I have found have been perfectly satisfactory.

I've been off the trail for a week now and I have been really missing the wilderness.  Too much traffic, noise, congestion, people, buildings, and roadway (which I call the Long Black Ribbon).  Not enough forest, streams, lakes and natural settings.  But this afternoon as I was riding into Keene on Route 9, I saw a turnoff on a wooded stretch of road so I turned off to have a look.  There, hidden by trees, I saw a babbling brook with no houses along it.  I made my way down to it and, except for the sound of traffic, I felt like I could be back on the trail.  It was so pleasant!  I had my lunch, refilled my water bottles, sat by the rapids for awhile, then got back on the road.  I would have spent the night there except it was too early in the day for that.  It's nice to know that the Long Black Ribbon can take me to natural places now and then.