Moooooove Over!

Now to those of you have already read my endearing story of the Psych O'Lists you will enjoy this follow-up!

Now normally I do not ride along with my husband as he heads to work, today was different. Today he needed a ride because he is changing out the pipes on his motorcycle. Little did we know what kind of treat our morning ride would entail.

Now my husband likes to drive down the canyon roads every chance he gets, not just for the thrills and terrifying sidebends and winds, but also because they do get you where you need to be much faster. So we headed up Drum Canyon, which connects the town we live in to the town my husband works in. As we started up the road, I enjoyed looking at the ground squirrels and the birds as I watched the workers in the field pick the current ripe crops. My husband and I were discussing the effects of the marine layer and how as one rides along Drum Canyon Road one feels the many variations in temperature due to this part of the micro-climates along California's Central Coast. When of course, what do we encounter a pack of Psych O'Lists practicing hard for their Tour d'Force. The problem with cyclists, is not their effort at exercising or their eagerness for living strong and training, but their unwillingness to share the road. For those of you back east, you are very familiar with this unwillingness to share...it is very common among the tourists that invade the beaches every summer. Very much like the tourists, cyclists who train in a group are unwilling to break into a single file or even a paired file to the side of the road. And like the locals we have met here, it makes you furious because they don't seem to understand your need to share the road and therefore it makes you want to hit them.

Now I do not support hitting them, nor do I encourage it, I think one should be patient and eventually, the cyclist(s) will let you pass. However, I do suggest to cyclists to take a pointer from the cow we encountered further down the canyon. Yup, you read correctly, we encountered Sheila the Cow. Now, Sheila was a sight, and no, I did not have my camera (and even if I did, stopping on a canyon road to take a photo is not a very bright idea). Sheila was the stereotypical redneck cow, chewing grass and staring at us, like everything was just hunky-dory. We slowed down just like we did for the cyclists, waiting for a moment to pass, and Sheila made it easy, even for a redneck cow. Sheila kept to her side of the road, she obviously knows the golden rule of sharing the road. We passed and were glad that Sheila did not decide to have a confrontation with our car. After we passed Sheila, I wondered how willing the cyclists would be to share the road with her? Meanwhile, my husband was more concerned with Sheila becoming so engrossed with her grass eating that she might stumble down the canyon and onto our car. I assured him that we would first encounter the red oak trees that would slow down Sheila's fall down the side of the canyon. Then, I said to him, that Sheila is smarter than the cyclists at least she understands the rules of sharing the road.

So if you are able and willing a Sideways adventure is just waiting for you on Dumb Canyon Road. (My husband renamed Drum Canyon Road during this morning's drive).