mile 40 Merrick

I couldn't help but notice that the town of Merrick had a lot of shiny office parks filled with shiny cars as I rode through there. As I biked along the road, I noticed that a woman from the post office was staring at me from alongside the road. So I stopped and said "hi!" Now Karen who worked at the post office asked me where I was going and why I was riding a bicycle in a road filled with cars. I mentioned to her that I was riding to Montauk. She said that I was out of my mind, that I was going to be killed. I just smiled, told her why I was doing this, and mentioned that I had already ridden 40 miles and received not a scratch(not entirely true as my buttocks was scratched a bit then). At that Karen smiled and mentioned that she thought about biking to work sometimes but was too afraid of the car traffic. I told her that the greatest danger of riding in car traffic was the bicyclist's FEAR of being hit by a car. A person's fear of auto accidents creates a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. That made her laugh. She mentioned that I was crazy for doing this, but it was a good cause, and she thinks I can make it to Montauk alive! I thanked her for the compliment and was on my way!