Smells of the Road
10-16-18, 07:44 AM
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Ahh yes. I turned down a road years ago to visit a friend and was immediately hit in the face with the odor. His small 1 acre lot was carved out of a bunch of farmland both behind and across the road. The farmer spread pig manure all over the acreage behind and anhydrous ammonia in the field in front. It gagged me to the point of almost retching as I stopped and he let me in. Despite it being about 85 degrees out he had every window and door shut. The odor seeped in regardless. We visited a while and I made a mad dash back out and back to the main road. Whew! Few things in this world smelled worse than that!
10-16-18, 08:35 AM
#27
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Riding through the farms of Oxnard California. Broccoli, onions to make your eyes water, celery, strawberries, cut grass. There is a chicken farm halfway up a climb near me, on a calm day it is a struggle to get past that place.
10-16-18, 08:44 AM
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Ahh yes. I turned down a road years ago to visit a friend and was immediately hit in the face with the odor. His small 1 acre lot was carved out of a bunch of farmland both behind and across the road. The farmer spread pig manure all over the acreage behind and anhydrous ammonia in the field in front. It gagged me to the point of almost retching as I stopped and he let me in. Despite it being about 85 degrees out he had every window and door shut. The odor seeped in regardless. We visited a while and I made a mad dash back out and back to the main road. Whew! Few things in this world smelled worse than that!
A farmer owning land adjacent to the town, wanted to sell some land for residential development.
The town powers-that-be refused to allow it to be rezoned from agricultural to residential.
So he decided to raise hogs on that land.
10-16-18, 12:53 PM
#29
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Other than that, it's mainly weed that I smell, apart from exhaust, or Asian food in Chinatown.
10-16-18, 01:16 PM
#30
☢
That just reminded me of something years ago in Superior CO; There was one spot on my regular ride where I sometimes encountered some stench, depending on which way the wind was blowing. I got the story from a co-worker who lived near there:
A farmer owning land adjacent to the town, wanted to sell some land for residential development.
The town powers-that-be refused to allow it to be rezoned from agricultural to residential.
So he decided to raise hogs on that land.
A farmer owning land adjacent to the town, wanted to sell some land for residential development.
The town powers-that-be refused to allow it to be rezoned from agricultural to residential.
So he decided to raise hogs on that land.
[size=+2]Here is Los Angeles, I call it "cow manure" season[/sie]. Soon, gardeners throughout the city will spread steer manure (literally, they sell huge bags of it at Home Depot) on every other front lawn.
Other than that, it's mainly weed that I smell, apart from exhaust, or Asian food in Chinatown.
Other than that, it's mainly weed that I smell, apart from exhaust, or Asian food in Chinatown.
10-16-18, 01:43 PM
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Nope, bona fide cow ****. (link to Earthgro Steer Manure from Home Depot).
10-16-18, 04:56 PM
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10-17-18, 01:37 PM
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I have both good and bad memories. Riding through a local park on a muggy June evening, still air, as the sun was setting over a lake, with the heavy fragrance of roses hanging in the air from big banks of naturalized (unfortunately, invasive!) Rosa multiflora. That was a good memory. The worst "bad" memory, another hot, still, muggy, ride, this time early morning just around sunrise in July, I rode on the pedestrian/bicycle path over an Interstate freeway - and there was a very, very, very ripe dead deer carcass on the embankment about 20 feet down - really nasty, and I all but lost my breakfast.
10-17-18, 03:34 PM
#36
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10-17-18, 05:41 PM
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Smells of the Road
Back in April of 2017, I engaged with a fellow Metro Boston subscriber about all the sensations that can make any ride, even a mundane one interesting, including smells:
The smell that I most associate with cycling seems to occur in early fall, and that’s the delicate smell of riding past a stand of mint.
The aroma is as ethereal as a bike ride, and requires that you pass slowly, and in an open vehicle close to the shoulder of the road.
Maybe my sense of smell is getting better because my eyesight and hearing are getting worse, but one thing I notice more and more are the different smells I come across on my rides
Sometimes its something pleasant like flower blossoms and other times its something not so nice like a road kill possum that's been left to ripen for several days.
Sometimes its something pleasant like flower blossoms and other times its something not so nice like a road kill possum that's been left to ripen for several days.
I enjoy it [riding a bike] most of the time. When you bike to work every day it can get a bit tedious going more or less the same route every time,
...So when the commute [route] is getting too familiar, I just raise my head higher and look over a wider field of view…
A local BF subscriber @rholland1951 who contributes hundreds of photographs to the local Metro Boston thread from the same11-mile long MUP he rides, once commented something like that just the lighting / time of day / day of the year makes the ride “different.”
So too does the direction, one way, or the reverse…
I’m going to add sounds, as well as sights and lights, to a prescription for boredom.
...
So too does the direction, one way, or the reverse…
I’m going to add sounds, as well as sights and lights, to a prescription for boredom.
...The aroma is as ethereal as a bike ride, and requires that you pass slowly, and in an open vehicle close to the shoulder of the road.
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 10-18-18 at 05:55 AM.
10-17-18, 10:23 PM
#38
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Ask anyone who has ridden RAGBRAI...There is nothing worse than riding past one of Iowa's hog processing farms. After passing the first one, everyone tries to hold their breath 1/2 mile before approaching one and 1/2 mile after passing it. Some hog farms spread their "aroma" even further than 1/2 mile radius. Try holding your breath while pedaling furiously for a mile or so. Quite the challenge.
10-17-18, 10:32 PM
#39
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Is this an outdoor field? I have an indoor grow facility near me, but have never smelled a thing.
One of my favorite scents comes in a certain area at a certain time of day when I get a pine smell that reminds me of the woods around my grandfather's farm. A 50 year old scent memory that I find delightful.
One of my favorite scents comes in a certain area at a certain time of day when I get a pine smell that reminds me of the woods around my grandfather's farm. A 50 year old scent memory that I find delightful.
Yeah, it's outdoors, I'ts over 20 acres, with a large part running just 30' from the side of the road. They have just cut the plants and they are lying om the ground, ready to hauled off to a barn or something. About 10 miles further out there is another farm, but they got a late start and the plants are only two feet high.
Last edited by John00; 10-18-18 at 11:05 AM.
10-25-18, 08:24 AM
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Even tho I am 80 I still have my exceptional sense of smell. To describe all the smells I have noticed would take pages. When riding the bike trails in the city, you can smell what the people in the different houses are cooking. Then there is the smell of the various bikers and walkers you pass.
To me it is just one of the many things I notice and sense while riding. All just the joy of cycling. The sights the sounds and the smells are all missed by the people that are too engrossed in cadence, speed, and having the right kit.
To me it is just one of the many things I notice and sense while riding. All just the joy of cycling. The sights the sounds and the smells are all missed by the people that are too engrossed in cadence, speed, and having the right kit.
Last edited by rydabent; 11-18-18 at 04:38 PM.
10-25-18, 09:12 AM
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Corner of Santa Paula St. and Cummins Rd.
10-25-18, 10:12 AM
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I'd have to say Eucalyptus. We have areas where the trees are quite dense and the scent is quite strong. Some people really dislike the smell but I find it pleasant.
Most of my riding is in rural areas and see my share of cow pastures and crop fields. That means smelling manure, fertilizers, etc. but these usually are not that strong. I'd take them over diesel/gas fumes riding around a city any day.
Most of my riding is in rural areas and see my share of cow pastures and crop fields. That means smelling manure, fertilizers, etc. but these usually are not that strong. I'd take them over diesel/gas fumes riding around a city any day.
10-25-18, 11:45 AM
#43
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Last year on a freezing cold ride in the middle of nowhere I smelled some delicious food and thought it was coming from one of the local country homes.
Then I realized that I had over filled my Thermos and it had exploded bean soup inside my frame bag.
-Tim-
Then I realized that I had over filled my Thermos and it had exploded bean soup inside my frame bag.
-Tim-
10-25-18, 12:20 PM
#44
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You really need to drive past one of the big factory pig feed lots to fully appreciate it. Even the rural folks object to the stench.
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10-25-18, 12:47 PM
#45
Sapient
Honeysuckle and Privet in the Spring and early Summer.
BBQ on a warm evening
Fresh cut grass, freshly turned earth
North Georgia chicken houses in the middle of August- doesn't make you crave fried chicken
The Silver Comet Trail deviates from the original rail bed for a portion between Rockmart and Cedartown where it passes by what we affectionately call "Mount Trashmore". Mt. Trashmore is the Polk County landfill. It's the only real climb on the trail and it's quite pungent in the summer months.
BBQ on a warm evening
Fresh cut grass, freshly turned earth
North Georgia chicken houses in the middle of August- doesn't make you crave fried chicken
The Silver Comet Trail deviates from the original rail bed for a portion between Rockmart and Cedartown where it passes by what we affectionately call "Mount Trashmore". Mt. Trashmore is the Polk County landfill. It's the only real climb on the trail and it's quite pungent in the summer months.
10-27-18, 11:45 AM
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@Kabuki, The fields in Ventura county can offer some amazing scents, from cilantro to strawberries. This week though, it seems to be the time to (organically) fertilize as the soil is prepped for the next crop, so it was bit unpleasant.
10-27-18, 04:57 PM
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Sheep farm on a 90degree day after it rained that night...it will stop your heart!
10-29-18, 01:39 PM
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cpl favs of mine, summer pine needles drying in the sun & autumn fermenting wet leaves
10-29-18, 02:05 PM
#49
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Some of the smells I run into are unpleasant. Skunk roadkill, spreading manure on the fields... I'd call sileage a neutral thing - it stinks but I don't find it objectionable (and I'm sure the cows loooove the smell.) OTOH, there are good smells too. Like when the mint has been freshly-cut, or when the corn is tasselling.
