I don’t hate any people, I am not even a little bit irritated at anyone, but there are some things I hate, let me share a few with you. At the top of the list are rumble strips, those ruts put in the road when constructed to wake up drivers that have fallen asleep and are about to run off the road and die in a fiery crash, or those texting and about to do the same. A few seconds riding on those rumble strips on a bicycle causes great pain on an already super sore bottom, your teeth to fall out or your bike to fall apart, or all of the above. It really isn’t the rumble strips themselves that I hate, it is where the builders decided to put them. Often the space between the rumble strips and the dirt at the edge of the road is 6 inches so one little wander while attempting to ride in that 6 inches as a result of looking around at the scenery results in a dreaded few seconds getting shaken to bits or hitting the dirt and flying through the air to land with an aweful thud. The other option is to ride on the road side of the rumble strip, which I choose to do, but all the cars passing you can’t figure out why you are riding in the road when you have all that shoulder over there, and honk rudely. So far it has only been California and New Mexico that like these pains in the rear, Texas has been wide shoulders and zero rumblers. A second thing I hate is “chip seal” road surfaces that use 1 inch gravel. You know the the road surfacing system where they put hot oil on the road and then spread gravel on top of that. Small gravel is no problem, but big gravel is just a bit better than rumble strips but there is no place to get away from it. It is constant vibration up the front tire into the handle bars into my arms, neck, and shoulders. It is a little smoother where the car tires run , but I have to keep a constant eye on my mirror watching for cars or trucks coming so I can move over. The third thing that has been more of an issue for John than me so far, but I am sure it won’t be long before I have a flat caused by the wire used in steel belted tires. It is everywhere along the roads, it is stainless steel so it doesn’t rust away, it gets broken up in little bitty pieces by cars running over it, and it has an affinity for bicycle tires. It is an absolute pain. The fourth thing that I hate is head winds. I hesitate a bit to say it because God causes the wind to blow and decides where, and I don’t want to grumble against God and His sovereign choices in my life, but just as a point of frustration there isn’t much worse than looking at the profile on the map and seeing a day filled with down hill riding only to have a 10 mph head wind make the pedaling harder than going up a 6 percent grade. Almost makes you cry. That is just a few of the things I hate, but I am rejoicing always and having the time of my life😀