It’s the most beautiful time of the year, on the High Plains. Fall’s pretty special in the places where hardwood trees grow, but that’s not here. Very few trees grow here, except in the major creek bottoms or in town, where folks water and care for them. So, Spring is the most beautiful time of the year, as the prairie flowers bloom and contrast the dark green fields of winter wheat.
As Spring gets her legs under her, the wind starts to moderate and everything turns green and beautiful; I wonder what it was like a few centuries ago when the bison herds covered the countryside, feasting on the buffalo grass, fattening up after a long hard winter. I expect they thought the Spring was awesome too.
“From the end spring new beginnings.” ~ Pliny the Elder
I haven’t set a mileage goal for the season yet, I’m still just happy to be out on the gravel, riding the bike without two layers of clothes. I got off pretty early this morning; there was still plenty of chilly in the air but I braved it without the windbreaker and I was 5 or 6 six miles deep into the ride before I stopped wishing I had put it on.
The breeze was light and out of the west. The forecast showed it drifting around the compass from the west to the north, east, and south. So I headed south and went further in that direction than I’ve been in a few years. There was a boneyard or two to check out, so I stopped and captured a few images. The thought occurred to me that I was at least a decade older than the rusted out vehicular remains I was taking pictures of – “Rust Never Sleeps.”
In other words, “Keep On Truckin’.” The roads were in good condition and it only took a couple hours to log 34 miles, which brings the Spring tally to about 200 kilometers. Towards the end of the ride a big rig was coming down the road towards me hauling a giant plow that was over hanging both sides of the road, so I pulled off and let him go by.
It got me thinking about the new bike build I started at the end of last season. A stretched out, fat-tired, smooth riding, dirt road, dream machine; designed and fabricated to ride the range. Created specifically for multi-day, dirt road explorations. I’m building it on a Surly Disc Trucker frame, so I reckon I’ll be a “Hardcore Trucker” soon.
Post some pictures of the “Bike Build” as you go. Keep up the good stories!
There is a gallery of the Disc Trucker Build on the Photography page. Hopefully I can get an update there soon. Thanks for stopping by.