Cycle Life Challenge Ride #9 Frost ‘n Shucks
Frosted seed head of a now deceased firegrass plant
“Not hardy in Zone 5”
Frosted grass
More 50mph + winds on Thursday suggested the fence may have been blown full of corn shucks again
Off to check that out this morning under still breezy conditions, and sure enough, there they are
After the previous episode of high winds I wasn’t sure there was enough trash left in the field to do it again — wrong!
Even tighter weaving of the shucks in the chain link fence this time
Odd how near the left hand posts the fence blew clear — wind had to get through somewhere?
Field of origin — ditch across the road is filled with shucks as well
Had I headed up IL Rt 1 northward I could have been halfway to Chicago in an hour and not have pedaled at all
Rich-Illinois
Very much enjoy all the entries you all have provided -- great to see the everyday cycling venues. Being in eastern Illinois, scenery certainly isn't our forte, but oh well, the roads are normally quiet. Look forward to more and more entries from all of you, I do have a few over on BL -- in Bill's Day Rides, and one journal.
11 response to "Cycle Life Challenge Ride #9 Frost ‘n Shucks"
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Those are really fascinating photos, Rich. That one looks like a close-up of pressboard.
The scenes you share here are new to me. I have never seen, or never noticed this phenomenon. Now when driving (if ever we can go anywhere again) through farmland with corn and fences nearby, I will be on the lookout. I think the key is ‘fences nearby’. Any cornfields I see are just that with no fencing around them.
All that to say — thanks for posting these interesting photos ;’-).
Thanks to you and Scott!
Yes it takes a rare occurrence of wind speed, wind direction, available debris, and a nearby fence for all that to happen.
The fence is at the athletic fields of the High School — few fields have fences, or even hedge rows these days.
Just rode past the fence this morning (Saturday) and most of the leaves and shucks and blown back out with a northeast wind.
Previous Post: http://cycle365.life/21061-2/
I’m waiting for a suitable day with 80kmph easterly winds to go riding and break my distance record.
Uhhh Lednar?? There is an ocean over there. 🙂
While the corn debris on the fence is fascinating, the frost on the grass pic makes me feel right at home.
The corn debris on the fence is kind of coincidental though, and here’s the reason: One of the routes my dog and I take for our twice-daily walks goes by a tennis court which has a tall chainlink fence. There is a trash can that sits next to the fence and quite often I use it to dispose of Diggity’s poop bag. But I don’t just walk up to the trash can and drop the bag in. No, I stop about 20 feet out and take an NBA-worthy jump shot. A poop bag’s movement through the air is very unpredictable, so I probably only make the shot less than half the time.
What does all that have to do with your corn debris photo? Well, this morning was the first time I’ve ever seen debris plastered on that fence around the tennis court and it was caused by me. I misjudged the wind, overshot the trash can, and the plastic bag stuck to the fence. I’m sorry I didn’t take a picture to share, and I’m also pretty sorry I didn’t end this comment after the first sentence.
p.s. I did remove the offensive object from the fence and slam-dunked it into the trash can.
You are a responsible dog owner, that comes as no surprise at all . . . . . . One thing that annoyed me this summer was the canine walker who allowed said doggie to poop in the street. Left side, right side, middle, didn’t matter. Walkers weren’t very thrilled about it either.
That said, being the Hoyt Wilhelm of pooper bag hurling — its a good pitch, but you never know exactly for sure where its going to end up.
Ah yes, the king of the knuckleball.
I’m glad the plastic bag remained intact.
Most incredible corn shuck weaving!
I love the ‘windows’ in the corn shuck fence. I would love to see a visual graphic showing the air flow that created that. I remember one place in IL where there had been so much rain that it washed all the corn shuck debris into the big drainage ditches and filled them, causing even more road flooding. They had big diggers shoveling all the corn shucks out of the ditch.