Time Is Relative: Springfield, IL to Iowa City, IA

Jefferson Ave out of Springfield turns into Hwy 97.  County roads, crossing the Illinois River (which I mistook as the Mississippi because it was so big.  Went through Carthage and across the great Mississippi River arriving in Fort Madison, IA.  US 218 to Mt Pleasant, IA for lunch before heading out for the remaining 48 miles to Iowa City.

This was my one week anniversary of starting the ride.  Tuesday the 5th to Tuesday the 12th of June.  Just short of half way to Vancouver, BC.  I have my routines:  What goes in what pannier, top case, tank bag.  Nightly routine of unpacking, recharging the Sena Bluetooth headset in my helmet, Apple Watch.  My phone is always charged because all day it is hooked into the AUX jack on my bike.  Take a shower, dirty clothes in bag that I will wash along the way.  I sent my Rev'it! Boots back home from the A Loft Hotel in Asheville, NC.  I minimize stuff and actions.  It has become muscle memory.

 Time has become somewhat irrelevant as I glanced over the farmland.  Corn growing on my right, soybeans on my left.  Farmhouses embedded in lush trees like oases (the plural of oasis - I looked it up) on a desert of commodity farming.  An occasional grain elevator in the distance.  Farm equipment on the county roads.  Going 70 mph up and down the small hills taking the welcomed curves.  Does it really matter how long it is going to take me to reach Iowa City?  

A 4 hour drive seems like nothing to me now.  Stopping now and again to talk with convenience store clerks about the value of country living.  I did not ask about housing prices - although if someone moves into a small town, and pays all cash for the house, there is a lot of talk among the citizenry.  If you lived in a high price area of the country, you could probably buy a few of these houses, and a farm, outright.  The problem is going the other way: from the country to the big city.  Once you move to the country it is hard to get back to the city - financially.  The benefit - NO TRAFFIC.  No cell service in many places.  My bike (GPS) uses satellite for navigation - so I am good.

Psychologically, it is good to get rid of time.  I listen to what people have to actually say.  I am not preoccupied by what I have to do next.  I am in the moment - and being in the moment means I have no past and no future.  Just me and the clerk talking while I sip on a cold bottle of water.  To me that is heaven (no it is Iowa).  Come to think of it: this is baseball.  Most commentators think the game lasts lasts too long.  That is because they want to be somewhere else - at least they think the do.





Comments

  1. Dining Diva of BocaJune 13, 2018 at 5:40 AM

    OUt and about early! Enjoy the ride to Sioux City today - greetings to Jackie et. al

    ReplyDelete

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