dryfj.com / drycyclist.com (kevin cook)

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I have a slight headwind, so I don't hear the six 4WD vehicles sneaking up behind me on the Barnwell-Searchlight railway grade

3645-railway-grade.jpg Castle Peaks Road ends after 30 minutes; I start riding the Barnwell-Searchlight railway grade and find this stray balloonThumbnailsAfter 3 miles on the Barnwell-Searchlight railway grade, it ends by an open area, where the next road on my route should beginCastle Peaks Road ends after 30 minutes; I start riding the Barnwell-Searchlight railway grade and find this stray balloonThumbnailsAfter 3 miles on the Barnwell-Searchlight railway grade, it ends by an open area, where the next road on my route should beginCastle Peaks Road ends after 30 minutes; I start riding the Barnwell-Searchlight railway grade and find this stray balloonThumbnailsAfter 3 miles on the Barnwell-Searchlight railway grade, it ends by an open area, where the next road on my route should beginCastle Peaks Road ends after 30 minutes; I start riding the Barnwell-Searchlight railway grade and find this stray balloonThumbnailsAfter 3 miles on the Barnwell-Searchlight railway grade, it ends by an open area, where the next road on my route should beginCastle Peaks Road ends after 30 minutes; I start riding the Barnwell-Searchlight railway grade and find this stray balloonThumbnailsAfter 3 miles on the Barnwell-Searchlight railway grade, it ends by an open area, where the next road on my route should begin

I'm startled! I hear a noise, then notice six vehicles right behind me! Shocking, I haven't seen people in 3 days. As they pass, we chat briefly. One of them gives me a bottle of water (colder than mine, thanks!) and one of them thinks I'm nuts.

Some people don't realize it's possible and potentially rewarding to travel without a motor vehicle. Motor-vehicle advertising, which so many people happily consume, reinforces such ideas. Ironically, the people who think my bicycle trips are impossibly extreme are sometimes people much stronger than I.