Some of the best cycling can be found on back roads. Many of my favorite haunts are sleepy, sparsely settled farm-to-market roads, with plenty of wild places and lots of wildlife. But while these pleasant byways don’t get much traffic, the shunpike cyclist can’t afford to nod off. Speeding vehicles can appear out of nowhere, their drivers completely unfamiliar with the etiquette of “sharing the road.” Moreover, even if all the drivers you encounter are courteous and competent, you never know when a farmer’s dog will get serious about putting the bite on you. Then there’s the road itself. It, too, sometimes harbors dangers, often in the guise of “death valleys,” deep longitudinal cracks that can wrest control of your bike from your hands in an instant, forcing you off the edge of the pavement and onto the shoulder. And the shoulder is often no better—little more than a a sand trap, just waiting to take you down. Still, the times they are a-changing, and some of the changes are indeed welcome. Helped by the ebbing tide of stimulus dollars, North Country towns have been grading and hardening the shoulders on many back roads, and cyclists have every reason to be grateful. Here’s an example:

Located at the top of a long climb, this newly improved shoulder proved a welcome refuge when a speeding pickup brushed past me, far too close for comfort. My rearview mirror warned me of the danger, but the shoulder made my subsequent evasive maneuver a lot safer. And my conclusion? Happiness is a hard shoulder.

 
Send a Comment