Stop and smell the roses:

Today's leisurely 80.8 mile ride in 90+F with a 10 mph head wind took us into beautiful Crawfordsville IN. "A really nice place to raise your kids up." Crawfordsville ranks as 43rd on the roster in The Best 100 Small Towns in America according to author Norman Crampton's 2nd edition of the book. Hey! I don't make this sort of stuff up you know. All joking aside it was a nice ride. I decided that to day was a take it easy day just ride along and stop to smell the flowers. I rode along by myself and had a great time just cruising. Sometimes riding hard sometimes just puttering along however it struck me.

We crossed the state line in to Indiana and immediately the shoulder of the road increased from 0 to 18". The country side has changed as well. We have gone from wide open flat with straight see for miles roads to very slight rolling hills with winding tree lined roads. The tree lined roads were very welcome as there was shade along parts of the road. Although I didn't stop for a lunch as such I did stop a bunch of times to eat a little snack out of my bag or to just stop have a drink and take a picture.

Today was also helmet decorating day. I thought that the participation would be low due to the lack of formal judging or prize (this is a verrrrrry competitive group - unlike myself), however I was quite surprised at the level of participation. Out of the 34 riders there were 18 people with decorated helmets. The level was unbelievable. There were helmets with sharks, flowers and all manner of creative designs. See the supplemental picture post. I decorated my helmet with Post-it notes. Most of them blew off during the day but a bunch stayed on and a couple of them provided a hum in the wind.

Today's picture is of this old trestle which I believe was part of the old road. It has been replaced with a new concrete bridge over the little creek. There was some shade here from the large trees so I stopped to eat a bar and sit on the bridge rail. The weeds have grown over the timber trestle and the sun was shining though the treed canopy. It was really pretty and the sound of the creek was very soothing. It was just one of those moments.

Thanks for visiting my blog and thanks for your comments.

Remember to smell the flowers!

Terry