Early Morning Road Kill Ride

I took the Baron out on an early 50 mile ride this past Saturday morning, and the weather was awesome. Clear skies and the cool, dry South Plains air made for a pleasant and relaxing workout. I was heading north on FM400 just east of Ransom Canyon when my heart was given a jump start at about 48 miles per hour. The road cuts through a hill on the south end of the canyon rim, and the angle of the sun at that early hour caused some strong shadows to reach across the pavement. You can really pick up some speed on FM400 as you enter the canyon due to the very steep gradient, and I didn't see the nice piece of road kill lying in one of those shadows until I was already committed to hitting it. It ended up being a dead coyote, and I was sure it was going to result in me picking up some road rash...thankfully I was wrong! The only injury sustained was a water bottle that was no longer fit to drink out of. I took the bottle out of the holder and as I lifted it to my lips, the smell of rotting corpse was so strong that I thought the coyote might have been sitting in my lap...needless to say I no longer had an urge to finish the Gatorade in the bottle!


The cotton plants are all starting to bloom as the summer months begin to fade away. You can see the Baron's silhouette against the cotton field as we are making our way along the route early in the morning.