Tri-County Dirt

Yesterday was the last Saturday I won't have to get up to an alarm clock until at least February.  I got a good night's sleep Friday night, did a few things around the house, and then headed out for a long dirt ride just for fun.

My first stop was the farmers market on the Monticello square.  It was the last one of the season.  I got some sweet potatoes and shelled pink eye peas, which I left at the office to pick up later, and one of Laverne's delicious fried peach pies.  I put the pie in my jersey pocket to eat mid ride - rocket fuel!  I also found some new handlebars:

Then I headed south, soon turning onto dirt.  My goal was to get a good workout and simply enjoy the day.  Greer Road is one of the prettiest dirt roads right near my house, and I ride on it often.

The road turned back to pavement as I approached Hillsboro.  I loved getting to see these hurricane lilies in someone's yard:

Before I knew their real name(s), I thought of these as pinwheel flowers.  I've since learned that they are called spider lilies, hurricane lilies (because they bloom during peak hurricane season), or surprise lilies (because they seem to bloom all of a sudden).

Turner Road becomes Hillsboro Lake Road, which transitions from pavement to dirt.  Now I was getting into some really good dirt roads that I only get a chance to ride when I have time for a longer ride.  By the way, in case you weren't sure, I live in a rural area.

Although I've ridden on a lot of the dirt roads in this part of Jones County during the Red Clay Ramble, Jackson Road isn't on that route.  It was only fairly recently that I discovered Jackson Road, which is just beautiful.

This old barn with poke salet growing beside it caught my eye.

Robert says when he was a little boy, he would mash up poke salet berries to make warpaint.  I grew up in the Atlanta suburbs and didn't know what poke salet was.  However, we had monkey grass.  I mashed up the monkey grass berries, mixed them with water, and made "preserves."  My grandmother was a great cook who made various jellies and preserves, and she taught me the difference between the two.  Jelly contains fruit juice while preserves have pieces of fruit.  I was a very particular child; because my concoction had pieces of monkey grass berries, I made preserves, not jelly.

It was getting warmer yesterday as midday approached.  I was grateful for New Damascus Baptist Church, one of the few places to get water along the route.  My planned rest stop was only about half a mile later at the bridge and dam at Hungerford Lake.  It hasn't rained in over a month, and so I didn't expect to see any flow over the dam.

It was still a pleasant spot for a peach pie petite picnic:

I was a little more than halfway through my ride.  Although I was still thoroughly enjoying it,  I had ridden nearly three hours by then and was no longer fresh as a daisy (or a hurricane lily).  I thought back to the farmers market that morning and laughed to myself about a conversation I had had with one of the vendors.  She asked me where I was riding, and I told her I was heading south to ride on dirt roads.  She said, "That's going to be so dusty!"  I responded, "Well, I'm going to take a shower afterwards anyway, and so I'll just wash off the dust."  I should have said something like, "Yeah, it's going to be dusty.  And next time it's going to be rainy.  Or cold."  Most people don't realize how great it is to be outside, even in less than optimal conditions, which is most of the time.

I had ridden from Jasper County to Jones County to Putnam County.  The last part of my route took me northwest, back through Jasper County.  It had been a fantastic ride, but I was ready to get home.  Robert and I have always estimated that dirt road mileage is about the same difficulty as 1.5 that mileage on pavement.  Also, you can't ever go easy on dirt roads; you're always going at least at tempo pace.  So, my 52-mile dirt road ride was about like a 75-mile road ride - not nothing.

That evening I made cheese soufflé, an excellent dish I hadn't fixed in quite a while.  I also used some of the sweet potatoes from the farmers market, mixing diced, baked pieces with sauteed onions, cumin, and cilantro.  (This is a great savory way to cook sweet potatoes!).  I also made one of my favorite salads, balsamic fig salad, which is mixed greens topped with a balsamic vinegar reduction, dried figs, and large slivers of Parmesan cheese.  I was grateful for a wonderful ride and the earth's bounty.