A Woman Outstanding in Her Own Field

We drove to Collinsville, IL, just across the river and enjoyed a wonderful day of cycling in the country. We biked to Edwardsville and back, with a little extra backtracking to retrieve a lost water bottle. Bonus miles! The field of yellow flowers that Anne is standing before is rapeseed and is grown for its canola oil. We rode in Madison County that has literally hundreds of miles of rails-to-trails bike paths. I had to invoke Google maps to navigate their labyrinth around Edwardsville and when we exited the paths in downtown Edwardsville, Google dumped us on a brick paved street, pavé. One nice feature of these trails are their numerous tunnels that cross under busy thoroughfares and facilitate car free cycling. There is no need to dodge traffic. We counted eleven on our route. They are usually very dark, especially while wearing sunglasses on such a brilliant day so that diving into one is almost like taking a leap of faith into a black hole. We lunched at Foundry Public House. Anne had a flatbread dish, while I had a burger and Greek fries, which are cooked with olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, parsley, and grated Mizithra cheese. Yummy!

Strife on the Nickel Plate

OMG and I don’t mean the usual, “Oh My God” use for this acronym, but instead are referring to Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. Those OMGs had a bit of a dustup down in Waco a little while back. Where more than a few cyclists were lost at the Twin Peaks that day. I guess that’s why our little gang’s enforcer, Strife, launched our death march ride today. Maybe she had a tribute ride in mind? Maybe she was just getting all fury road? I don’t know. When Strife says ride, I don’t ask where to, but instead just throw my leg over the cycle, get my motor running, head out on the highway, looking for adventure, in whatever way it comes, with her. We were born to be wild! But then we got old. Our little ride today, turned into a real three-hour tour. We’re too small a gang to have a cool name like the Diablos or the Cossacks, after all it’s just Strife and me, but when we ride we’re always ready to rumble. Our little OMG is not so much a motorcycle gang as it is a MCT-cycle gang. The MCT stands for Madison County Trails, where there are hundreds of miles of rails-to-trails bike routes. Still, you don’t want to find yourself down some dark Madison County bike path, trapped between a bollard and us. I’m just saying.