Rock'n the Competition

I met some competition on the road today. Actually he was on the sidewalk – along the W.C. Jackson Memorial Bridge to be exact. I experienced a strange sensation when I saw him ahead of me as I started the climb. At first I was annoyed that someone might be blocking my path. He was, after all, walking, pushing a bicycled with a trailer in tow. I soon realized who it was: a guy from my church who pedals his rusty old cruiser around, hauling a trailer with a plastic bin on the back, picking up cans.

Can Man pulls away, temporarily.

Then the competitor in me rose up. Can collecting is my bag, baby. I have a friggin’ blog about it, for chrissakes. That gives me some sort of right, right? Those cans out there are mine, unless I don’t see ‘em, in which case they’re up for grabs. But this guy was in my territory. Not that I’ve expressly established that – or have I? I mean, I haven’t peed on trees and lamp-posts in the area, but I’ve blogged about my routes. Surely everyone knows what I do and where I go. The gall of that guy, coming into my ’hood and taking my trash.

Well, as it happened, I realized there’s plenty to go around. And I think this guy relies on the income from cans more than I do. So I decided to play fair. As he stopped to pick up a can – the second I’d seen him nab – I trotted around his wagon and continued on. I passed on the first can I saw on the downward side of the bridge. That one’s his, I said to myself. The next two were mine. Sorry, pal, it pays to be speedy. Ha! Not that I am speedy. In reality, I knew our routes would soon diverge and he would see plenty of cans that I wouldn’t and vice versa.

Soon I crossed to the south side of Third Street to run against the flow of traffic, as you’re supposed to do, and thus began the can collecting in force. Picking up cans – and other stuff – during a run is a mixed blessing. It’s great to have something about which to write and it’s great to clean up the community, even if only a little. And the brief respite every time I stop to collect a can or cloth or wrench or whatever is truly rejuvenating. But it’s also an interruption to my pace. It feels a little like a cheat. And so I cheated about 80 times today. Actually it was more than that.

To extend the roughly 4.5-mile route that takes me across the County 10 bridge and back via Saluda Road, I continued east from the bridge along County Highway 10 to County Road 500 East, which becomes Farnham Street in town, and made my way back west to home along Fifth Street. Once on the bridge I had to stop to extract a big rock from the tread in the heel of my left shoe. Twice more on County 10 between Seminary and CR500E I had to do so again. Lots of big gravel along that road, and a rather narrow shoulder, which forced me into the ditch several times as big trucks sped toward me. Seemed the prudent course of action.

 

Some clever 49ers fan on Fifth Street near Day Street
expresses his or her love of team for all to see.

I’ve never had to deal with rocks in my tread before. And I don’t like feeling as if I’m a nuisance to traffic, though I get over that quickly. Not sure I’ll do that route again. Easy enough to modify it and get the same distance without the headaches. There is a nice stretch along CR500E, though. All in all it was a great run and I gathered the second highest total of cans since I’ve been doing this. FYI: 75 cans is about 2 pounds, which at the current rate equals about 70 cents. If Illinois had a deposit container law, those same cans could be worth as much as $7.50. In that case, maybe there wouldn’t have been so many out there. Think about it, Illinois.

Today's Stats
Temp: 69 degrees F
Distance: 6.36. miles
Weekly Total: 6.39 miles
Treasure: 1 BNSF Working Board Report dated Aug. 25; 1 dish cloth (white with purple and green); 75 cans (second highest total ever).

 

iPod Playlist (Shuffle):

The Difficult Kind – Sheryl Crow

Africa – Toto

Maria Maria – Santana Feat. The Project G&B

Rosanna – Toto

Big Shot – Billy Joel

Nobody’s Home – Avril Lavigne

Time – Hootie & The Blowfish

Harder Now That It’sOver (live) – Ryan Adams

Tom Sawyer – Rush

Jack And Diane – John Mellencamp

Bad Woman Blues – Trampled Under Foot

Out Here in the Middle – James McMurtry

Heartbreak Warfare – John Mayer

God Part II (live) – U2

Brother Louie – The Stories

Need You Now – Lady Antebellum

Shame – Matchbox Twenty

Money – Pink Floyd

Snowblind – Rob Thomas

Don’t Pull Your Love(Out) – Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds

Caught Up In You - .38 Special

Running From An Angel – Hootie & The Blowfish