Anne Riding the MS-150

One of the hardest stretches to ride on last weekend’s MS-150 bicycle ride was the segment on Saturday, just before lunch. We had passed through Amish country and had just passed the turnaround point and were on our way back to base. We had enjoyed a freshening tailwind, while riding north, during the morning. At the halfway point, we turned south; into what was now a headwind. This stretch of the route was on a straight, flat road. There were few houses and almost no trees along this stretch, just cornfields. The heat had been building steadily all morning and we felt its full brunt upon us as we toiled along this mind numbingly boring road. I was mostly in the lead, breaking wind, while Anne drafted behind me. The next rest stop was still several miles ahead, when eventually, we both needed to take a break. The nearest shade was still a mile ahead of us, so we pressed on regardless. The trees were too far set back from the road at the first couple of houses, but the last one had trees in the front yard that were relatively close to the street. There were already a couple of Team Kaldi’s riders parked there under the shade. The four of us were enjoying the shade, when the homeowner appeared and announced himself with the statement, “You wouldn’t like it if I drove my truck over your front lawn.” I asked him if he wanted us to leave, to which he nodded assent. We all walked our bikes back out on the road, mounted up and rode away. He hadn’t been trying to protect his lawn, which was a dried out mess. He was within his rights to ask us to leave. He wasn’t particularly old. He wasn’t particularly nasty and he didn’t brandish a gun. He just wasn’t very friendly. Coming right after the obvious friendliness of the Amish, it left us feeling cold and prickly instead of warm and fuzzy. As we rode away, we grumbled about his hostility, but even this foreshortened respite was enough to get us to lunch.