country vs. city top 5

Having just moved back to my hometown of Rochester, WA last December, I have been reminded of the many and numerous ways training in the country differs from in and around the city.

Here are my top five.

5. In the city, courteous but clueless drivers, trying to be kind, come up behind you and honk. In the country, courteous but clueless drivers come up beside/behind you in 4x4 diesel trucks and punch the throttle. Both of them making you think your about to die.

4. In the city, you regularly dodge pedestrians, cars and parched paved-over roots rising to get a drink. In the country, you regularly dodge pets (or you try to), fallen trees, vermin (dead and alive), snakes and parched livestock meandering to the river to get a drink.

3. In the city, many drivers think cyclists should not be on the roads but on bike trials. In the country, many drivers think cyclists should not be.

2. In the city, people prefer to shout politically correct slurs like a-hole, and jack-a**. In the country, well... all political correctness is out the door-- but I really cannot quite figure out why country-folk like to call cyclists a "bundle of sticks." Must be a firewood reference??

1. In the city, the people shout, "get a car" from BMWs and Land Rovers. In the country, people shout, "get a car" from Pintos, Geos and Festivas (worth, of course, a fraction the price of a race worthy bike).

~Cole