Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Revolution of a cyclist: Sunday rider

In Minnesota we have a term for people driving slowly looking at everything except the road while traffic piles up behind them. We call them Sunday drivers, and naturally you would encounter them mostly on Sundays....farmers on their way to church checking out all the other farmers' fields and comparing them with their own. Dad would say "Would you look at that!" and we would all obediently look out whichever window he was pointing to and see just another corn or bean field. But he would tell us what we should be seeing and when we got older we'd nod sagely and my brother would throw in a comment or two (just one of the many reasons he's the favorite) and eventually we'd get to church.

This Sunday was another day to ride by myself, because Leif's team was holding their raduno, which is a kind of practice race that teams from the area all participate in. He was super excited, in part because it was his birthday but also because it was an absolutely gorgeous day and he would be riding in it. Being alone allowed me to be the consummate Sunday rider; stopping whenever I felt like it to take pictures or just rest in the sunshine.Cyclists passed me regularly, but it was too nice to rush through my ride. I was momentarily engulfed by a large team riding in my direction. Each rider passed me with a boungiorno or ciao and a smile. Actually, everyone on the road was smiling and happy. How could they be anything else on such a beautiful spring day?

So this is my version of driving slow and pointing out the window. Don't be surprised if you don't see anything fascinating or pretty, it's part of Sunday riding.

Would you look at that?
Vineyards waiting for leaves to start popping out.

Words can't make this more beautiful.

Look at that!
(points dramatically to the right)

Quiet streets....a little too quiet for Sunday at the church.

The piazza is so clean today.

Would you look at that?
Things are getting green....see there?

No, over there!
(again, points dramatically, this time to the left)

Roadside shrine,
All those flowers make one wonder what happened here.

One of those cute and terrifying streets
where two full size cars can't pass.

And yes, the poppies are out.

1 comment:

  1. Yes, it's beautiful (as I strain to see what you're pointing at). When I look to my left, I see snow and bare trees.

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