Today's ride was as straightforward as ever. Some hills, but nothing noteworthy. Some towns, but nothing more exciting than the Caryville worm fiddlin' festival, which I will unfortunately have to miss.
As with all long days, I see things on the side of the road. Some are quick to escape, like a large rodent crossing the street today, and some last longer, like road signs, cool shops, or buildings (aside: I won some social points from a local shopowner when I made a hurricaine joke about how roads need to be rebuilt often in Canada because of weather, and here because of hurricanes. I asked her if it was too soon, but she only laughed.). I take pictures of what I can, but some things should be seen or described by words. Some things don't make sense as pictures without stories.
When I saw an abandoned general store, covered in overgrowth, and with a sign saying "beers, burgers, ice cream" I thought it was an important photo oportunity. This was once a bustling community center, where teenagers worked over the summers, and little league baseball teams would go for ice cream after a match. Another building, the remnants of a hair salon, might have been someone's dream business, cutting hair and grooming locals for years. Everyone might have known the owner. Maybe the owner retired, moved away, and lived the rest of their lives in happiness? Maybe the owner couldn't retain customers, as more and more rural youth flock to the cities? Maybe the owner still hasn't rebuilt from the hurricane.
All these small things, the places that are abandoned, forgotten, or simply old, are things that I spend time thinking about on the ride. There's no point in taking a picture of any of them, for the same reason that there is no point in driving by them. They are everywhere, and a photo, or a drive-by are either too flat, or too quick respectively. This is why I bike. That is the value of the bicycle. Everything moves at the pace of thought.
Still, some things are just too good not to take pictures of.
Today's post is short. Most of the reason for this is that I'm in a campground, writing on my laptop outside near the only outlet I found that matches household electronics and not big RV chords. I finished late today, as I biked about 170km, but slowly.
Tomorrow, I leave Florida, and will be staying in Alabama. For the time being, I've shelved all of my good ideas from before the trip - I don't want a schedule, because I want to do what I want to do.