too many words by laura lemay

hope for cycling in america

I went for a nice long bicycle ride this last July 4th, and there was this huge black jacked-up big-tire diesel pickup truck that passed me on one of the back roads. This is the sort of truck that has multiple yellow ribbon magnet stickers on it and a dog in the back. A Real Murrican Truck. Normally these are the sorts of trucks that try to run me off the road. It was probably on its way to a 4th BBQ with all the fixings: burgers, beer, belching.

But this one gave me a ton of room as it passed and the passenger leaned out the window and shouted “allez!” as they went past.

It was a miracle. I was stunned. It almost — almost — made up for the Toyota Prius that had tried to run me off the road a mile or so back.