Member-only story
Life and Death at the Speed of Bicycle
The three little kittens, they washed their mittens,
And hung them out to dry,
“Oh, mother dear, do you not hear,
That we have washed our mittens?”
“What, washed your mittens, then you’re good kittens,
But I smell a rat close by.”
“Meow, meow, meow,
We smell a rat close by.”
People tend to put warnings on disturbing things today. So, I’ll just let you know that this story is a bit macabre and fitting for October and the new season we’ve entered.
You don’t forget the miles you ride on a bike as much as you do those covered in a car. The pace is perfect for taking in the landscape as it recedes from the roadways. The ground disappears beneath you but not so fast that it’s blurry. The three dead kittens came up pretty fast though. Or maybe I tried to overlook them. I don’t know. What I do know is that the image of three dead kittens on the side of the road stuck with me for a good, long while after the first time I passed them. You always notice roadkill as a bike rider. You try hard not to ride over the already flattened carcasses, but you don’t always get an alternative route, especially with the way assholes drive these days. I try never to place a value on a dead animal, but…
