slipped on a banana peel...

I’ll be upfront and forthright and admit from the start that I don’t like bananas. I’ve probably eaten two or three of the nasty things over my lifetime, but I didn’t enjoy them. They’re ugly, they’re slimy, they’re squishy, they’re hard to peel and they don’t taste good.

On top of that, the peels are disgusting. Especially on the shoulder of the road as you’re riding your bike.

And thus begins today’s lesson. Bananas are popular with road cyclists for several reasons. They’re nutritious and high in calories. They fit nicely in the back pockets of cycling jerseys. They're easy to eat while riding. And apparently the wrapping is considered easy to discard: simply drop the peel onto the shoulder beside your bike and keep going. After all, the peel is biodegradable, right? It will decompose, won’t it? Yes, it is; and yes, it will. But on a paved surface this doesn’t happen very quickly and in the meantime a rotting banana peel is rather unsightly, especially to cyclists like me who don’t like bananas even in their most pristine state.

The countryside where I ride is rather sparsely populated, meaning that on a 60 km ride, I might see three or four discarded banana peels littering the shoulders. I consider this more than enough and I hate to think what the shoulders must be like if the same attitude prevails in densely populated areas.

Now, I'm not trying to discourage people from eating bananas while riding a bike. And I know it can be unpleasant to carry a smelly, slimy banana skin with you for the remaining 40 km of your ride. But, come on… I've seen you. Most of you are big strong guys, capable of extending your arms and flinging the peel into the ditch, or even into the shrubbery, where it will be out of sight and will decompose more quickly. Do this, and you’ll do me and many others a big favour. 

This afternoon I rode Milly 52 km on the country roads north of town and spotted only two discarded banana peels. Not exactly good, but not terrible either. Then again, I was working so hard to fight the west wind and the crosswinds from the north that maybe I missed a few. Other than the wind, it was a fine day for riding -- sunny and warm -- and I was happy to see another woman riding alone up on Airport Road, as well as a few assorted people out on mountain bikes.