This morning, almost immediately after breakfast, Pete and I went for a lengthy bicycle ride on the White Highway. For me, lots of things to think about. Riding with Pete is different than riding alone because I then push myself harder, in order to keep up with him. I had not ridden my fat tired bicycle for some time (for shame), so I am out of bicycling shape. I’m slowly regaining my balance, and with this of course comes confidence. I am again seeing what I can do on this bicycle, which is cut sharp corners and power up steep hills. It is too bad that we’re coming to the end of the winter bicycling season, but there will also be next year.

Alys on the white highway

The White Highway – this morning the bicyclists were out. They have never appeared to be all that friendly. Their helmets, wrap around glasses, and tight clothing make them look like not so friendly insects. And because of the virus, we all are having to keep our distance which exacerbates the problem.

Some passed me on Pete’s trail, the ski trail he put in a few year’s back. Now it’s just another well known trail entity. They didn’t linger, the couple were powering along. I thought, if you stopped for a moment maybe we could chat about the origins of this trail, but no. Off they went, never to be seen again.

For fat tired bicyclists, the White Trail is an outdoor gym, there for fitness purposes. For the snowmobile and four wheelers, the White Trail is a motocross track, there for non-fitness reasons. For those in large, amphibious vehicles, the White Trail is the road to nowhere. For dog sledders, the White Trail is dog exercise trail facility. And for the wildlife – take them out of the picture. Used to be that there were wolves and coyotes in the Matanuska Moose Range. They can go elsewhere, or so some think. The problem is, there is no more elsewhere around here. Houses and small businesses on the outskirts now abound.

Oh, and let’s not leave out the hunters, who presumably are “harvesting” the moose. They mainly inhabit the Moose Range in September – they’ve been given the best month of the year to maim and kill. The other months of the year they poach, and we’re not talking eggs.

I am just a lone voice in what was once the wilderness. I talk and no one at all listens. The Moose Range is at a point in which it is going to need to be managed, and for sure, no one is going to consider the viewpoints of a far, far, to the left environmentalist.

I am going to hold fast to my belief that extremists like me are extremely important. This is because our ongoing efforts, to move thinking to the left, does every so often nudge it in that direction. And each move left serves to make this planet a better place.

Oh, I was going to write today about the importance of varying routine. I’ll save this topic for tomorrow.

Next: 102. 4/12/20: The Non-Routine Routine