Country Views: Summer Fading Away

Escape Route: I went around this road closed sign to...

Late August is when I deem Summer to be over. It kind of coincided with Gravel Worlds, but now that I don't go there anymore, it has settled on August 20th or so for me. 

That's when the Sun starts setting before 8:00pm here. The Sun is noticeably lower in the sky as well. We lose a ton of daylight time in August, and soon nights will be longer than the days again. 

Nature points out this Summertime fade away also. The song birds start disappearing. Gone away for the Winter already. The corn starts drying out. More brown things start appearing in the ditches. Life seems to be fading away like the Sunlight during the days of late August. 

The countryside rings with the sounds of insects. The "neek-breek! neek-breek!" never ends. Only the wind can drown it out, but August is usually calm, so it typically is noisy out there. 

The bridge on Hoff Road is being.....replaced? I hope so. 

I decided to use the 4Runner to haul my Singular Cycles Peregrine Mk4 to Prairie Grove Park and start off from there. It eliminates a bunch of city riding that sometimes I'd rather not do and it saves time, of course.

I'd thought to run down Hoff Road, as I am wont to do, but when I reached the corner to turn right onto gravel I saw a "Road Closed" sign. "Oh oh!",  I thought to myself, "I wonder if the bridge is out?" I figured I would run down and see what was up. And obviously, you see above what I found. 

A wee bit of pavement later and.....

....all was right with the world again.

No problem! I was willing to backtrack. However; I saw how the bridge crew had laid a steel beam on its side across the creek. Tempting.... I also looked at the shallow water, and again, I was tempted. But why risk turning an ankle and getting muddy shoes just to cross the creek? It wasn't necessary. So, I went around. Besides, it gave me bonus miles!

Looking South down Ansborough

The roads were a mixed bag. It was obvious the County laid down fresh gravel immediately after the rains quit last weekend. There were some patches of road which hadn't received fresh gravel and these were hard and fast dirt, for the most part. But those were rare. 

At least the car traffic in this area is high enough that it pushed aside the gravel to create some good lines. It was dusty though. More so than I expected. The rare car which passed me really was kicking up a cloud! 

Dust or no, it was great to be back out in the country once again. For the better part of the two weeks prior it simply was not a good idea to ride out there. Either it was blazing hot and humid, or it was raining, with thunder and lightning. So, this stellar weather was welcomed with open arms.

Rural traffic can look pretty alien at times. 

August riding is always very different than it is at any other time of the year. I learned just the other day that it is the least windy month of the year here. That tracks, actually, and it adds to the serenity one can find out in the country at this time. 

It feels different because of the way the light hits as well, which is unique to August. Not so low in the sky that it blinds you, but not so high that it washes out the shadows which lend contrast to the scenery. The massive puffy clouds on the day didn't hurt in this regard either. 

All in all, one of the best days outside in 2026 so far. Hope to repeat that again.