08/27/2008: "Bicycler’s Lament"

By Lyne McPherson

What a glorious place to be a bicycler! (I use that word rather than ‘cyclist’ because I don’t wear the standard uniform.) How privileged we are to ride any hour of the day or night without fear of overwhelming traffic or carnivorous wildlife. We do have an enemy on the road, however; debris, mostly of human provenance.

Maybe you’ve seen me early on a Saturday or Sunday morning scraping a broken beer bottle off the road with the side of my shoe, destroying my shoes but saving tires, my own and those of visitors who will wake up in a few hours, rent bikes and head out for fabulous adventures on our lovely roads.

Beer bottle shards in the leader’s tire wrecks the day for the whole group, while a pickle jar flying out of an uncovered pickup truck on the way to the dump can cause a concussion, lacerations or several fresh tire tubes to go flat before the nearly invisible slivers can be found in the grooves of the tire. And believe me, it’s no fun being hit by a flying pickle either.

Would that bottles, cans and condiment jars were the most hazardous items flying willy-nilly from passing vehicles. But alas, that distinction belongs to bits of lumber and picket fencing, all quite pointed, and frightening when airborne.

Most baffling to me, though, are the much maligned thin, plastic grocery bags. Often still fresh, I pick them up to add to my collection of free garbage bags. Occasionally I’ll use two of these bags to collect some of the smaller bits of litter along my route; one on a hand serves quite well as a glove.
There is a movement afoot to eliminate these bags in favor of thick ‘reusable’ ones, the idea being that people will remember to take them everywhere with them just in case they happen to pop into the shop for a few items on the way home. I wonder how many actually do. I have noticed the ‘Free’ bin at the thrift house growing full of them. Maybe we should return to packing our groceries in cardboard boxes; everyone recycles those now.

See you on the road as we roll along our little piece of paradise.