Roadside cleanup has been underway here for about a week. The county has hired contractors with huge tractors and mowing machines to cut back the weeds along the roadways. These machines virtually cut, rip, shred, spew and otherwise destroy everything that they encounter, including the carcasses of dead and decaying animals.

So please imagine for a moment, if you haven't experienced the odoriferous environment this process creates, what it does to the lungs of a cyclist who is gasping for air when this chance encounter ocurs.