TWO MILES OF PLASTIC-Y NYLON-ESTER-POLYPROPYLENE TWINE: The Sequel
The Message section on yesterday’s “Two Miles of Plastic-y PolyNylonEsterLenePropyl Twine” post isn’t exactly a scientific poll, but there seems to be a consensus that I should have gone back to find its origin. Okay, okay, okay! I can take a hint.
It was bugging me all night . . . what might I find back there? It was suggested that I might find alien activity. Or that I might find the answer to the age-old question, how long is a piece of string? Personally, I was thinking more along the lines of a POT OF GOLD! And it would be all mine.
Greed, anxiety, and peer pressure got the best of me. I rode west on Highway 55 this morning in search of fame and, more importantly, fortune.
One problem I had though, was that I often couldn’t see the twine from the other side of the road. I had to make several excursions back and forth across the busy highway to make sure it was still there.
When I got to the point where I discovered the string yesterday after coming off the gravel road, my excitement level really started building up. I rode all the way to the next intersection, crossed the highway again, and I saw no polyolypropoly twine.
I was smart enough to realize that was the time to turn around and ride back eastward to find the end of the line, the pot ‘o gold, the motherlode of Cycle-365 glory. And I found it.
I gotta come clean: I brought that fake million-dollar bill with me to stage the last two pictures. Here is what I actually found at the end of the line.
Alright, that last picture wasn’t completely legitimate either. G-2 photo-bombed me without my knowledge. He did NOT tie that twine to the pole. But somebody did. And I’m guessing after they tied that knot, they drove off in the middle of the night while holding a huge ball of twine out the window and let it unwind for 2.1 miles. [As you know, I don’t carry a bike computer so I went to Google Maps and set the before-and-after coordinates to obtain that 2.1 mile figure.]
On the way back to MY Town, I had some more Polyethylenepropylitic fun.
The traffic on Highway 55 was one thing, but the thing that I feared more than that was that rumble strip in the middle of the shoulder. If I had hit that thing while riding one-handed I most certainly would have dropped my phone and added even more screen cracks than it already has.
I rode around some more today, but when I got home I was curious about what it would cost somebody to tie one end of polypropethylmethylacetyline twine to a highway post and ride until it runs out 2.1 miles later.
gregblood
Hi. My name is Greg and I ride my bike a lot. That is to say, I ride my bike almost every day. I go on long rides and short rides. Sunny rides, cloudy rides, and rainy rides. I like commuting, errand-running, day-tripping, overnighting, and touring on my bike. I ride on city streets, highways, gravel, single track, and snow with equal enthusiasm. Sometimes I ride fast and sometimes I ride slow. I try to keep my feet on the pedals at stop lights and I do not dismount when I hop up on a curb. I have a roadie bike, a mountain bike and a touring bike. I try to accept any challenge a bike ride can throw at me without complaint. But I don't like bugs.
6 response to "TWO MILES OF PLASTIC-Y NYLON-ESTER-POLYPROPYLENE TWINE: The Sequel"
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I’d love to know if there was some sort of legitimate reason that someone would be doing this. On one of the roads I ride, there’s been guys out surveying all summer, but that all seems to be optics and lasers, no string involved. I googled ‘string along highway’, but all that turned up was info about strings of robberies, strings of car crashes, strings of shootings, etc.
Yeah, I don’t get it. But there must be some reason companies manufacture such long strings of twine. I’m still sticking to the theory it was some kid who had a pick up truck, a buddy, and access to his boss’s polywolyolyzolypropylethelene twine that he didn’t have to account for.
Thank you for re-investigating! Like Bob, I’m thinking there must be a legitimate reason for that long a string, but, these days who knows?
Oh!! And I found the answer to How long is a piece of string!!
Yes it took great diligence and judicious assessment of all the information available . . . .
“A piece of string is twice as long as half its length”
We can all sleep well knowing that.
Fantastic post, and an excellent bit of reporting.
Thanks for following up on the other end of the string! Not that it answered the question as to why and who and what for…
Thanks for investigating. I’m still convinced this phenomenon is in some manner connected (!!??!!) to the UFO. Watch yourself!