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How was your Rainy Day ride? April 20th, was Rainy Day in Pelkie. I'll preface this story by saying that it has more to do with why I ride than actual riding. In addition, I'm a city boy, so please excuse my inappropriate use of farm/animal terms and my amazement at the everyday events of a farm. I was going for a somewhat blustery ride out past Pelkie on Pelkie Rd. I had already passed that cow farm that stinks horribly, rounded the last big corner, hit the T intersection and turned around. Then the rain started to pick up. I put on everything I had with me, put my head down into the wind, and started chugging home. As the waft of rotting cow pies hit me again, I lifted my head a bit and saw a calf tumble on the ground.
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It was small and
cute enough that I decided to turn around and watch
it play. I saw the farmer there and asked how old it
was. He responded, "you just saw it born, 30 seconds
ago." Upon closer inspection of the mom and calf, sure
enough it was a newborn. A new experience for me. I
had literally seen it "bounce out." There were numerous
discoveries at this point for me, the uninitiated. However,
while making these discoveries, I watched the farmer
and his son load the calf into a small, straw filled
front loader. As I started to get ready to ride off,
I saw that they were driving the calf around the pasture
towards me and the barn. They - the son driving and
the father and calf curled up in the bucket filled with
hay - stopped in front of me, where the father smiled
and said, "so what's it's name?" I said we should name
it after a bike and he said that he didn't know much
about biking. I changed tactics and decided to go with
the more neutral topic of weather; and Rainy was her
name. After some petting and baby talk to the calf,
I zipped up and started pedaling, no longer fighting
the rain but trying to protect the teeth in my now smiling
mouth from freezing in the cold rain.
This is what makes riding special, at least one of the
things that makes it special. If I was in a car, there
is no way I would ever have seen this and even if I
had, I doubt I would have had this interaction with
the farmer - the embroidered name on his club jacket
was "Duck." Riding, either on the road or on the trails,
allows you to see things that can only be seen at that
pace - I must have been averaging 25mph. On the road,
people really don't expect you. Even if you pass by
quickly, I find you often have these "moments." A little
glimpse, a little surprise, a little smile. That and
racing dogs, makes you forget a 20mph head wind.
So, the first thing everyone has said is how cute that
was with the guy and calf in the bucket and why didn't
I get the picture. I just didn't think of taking out
the phone with the camera. But … that was my Rainy Day
moment. Go on out and find your own rainy day picture
and don't take that one either, just share it with us.
Keep your eyes open.
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