Earthworm Thruway

The musty, slimy smell of eathworms covering the wet highway gave an added dimension to the rainy scene that unfolded before me at 6:30 in the morning of day 2 of the tour.  Everyone has seen the phenomenon of worms crawling across sidewalks and roads when it is raining.  There were so many of them on the highway that they created a smell.  I wouldn't go so far as to say that there was any danger of skidding off the road because of their numbers. But there was an inordinate number of platyhelminths to thread your way around.



Peace out man!

 It wasn't until 7:11 that another cyclist passed me while I was taking this picture of some creative road tar artistry.  The cyclist stopped long enough to ensure that I was okay and then pedalled off into the rain.  It is a real treat to find road tar art and I sometimes wonder if the fumes from the hot asphalt has anything to do with the work crew's creativity?

I don't know why I didn't pack my long stretchy cycling pants or my rain booties - I guess I based my clothing decisions on a weather forecast that wasn't aimed at Camrose on Sunday.  For some odd reason I did pack my helmet rain cover and at least I was spared cold rain water dripping down my back.  The bandana also soaked up some of the frigid rain drops and my yellow cycling jacket did an okay job of protecting me.  My cycling friend Molly told me that if I put my cycling jacket into the clothes dryer, the heat would help reactivate the jacket's rain - repelling qualities.

As the day wore on, I was losing feeling in my hands and fingers and shifting became a bit of a challenge.  I found myself wobbling across the paved shoulder every time I reached down to shift and I inadvertantly sliced a few worms in half as my skinny road tires acted like large rolling pizza knives.  Lyn, another MS Tourist,informed me that worms have the ability to regenerate themsleves when cut in two.  So I contented myself with the idea that I was actually expanding the worm population and doing my part in the environmental domain.