Rather than absorb the substantial natural beauty while I cycle between Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo each week-day, I elect to satisfy my own nature to quantify stuff. The most obvious and constant quantifiable variable is the vehicles that zoom by me. Also, though, there are certain road-side attractions: the seasonal rhythm of road-kill and the shame, thievery and forgetfulness embodied in certain flotsam.
1st, the traffic:
I count "pinko" vehicles (hybrids) and "commie" vehicles (full electric). I do this for the same 17,44km section (an odd distance, but which I chose because, regardless of my ingress to or egress from HighWay 1, I will do that section every day). Note that, despite being cannon fodder for other cyclists these days (I've gotten progressively slower as I have lost weight, I guess due to reduced muscle mass and chronic under-fueling), I don't count other cyclists who pass me =). I chose these variables because they inform my world-view -- whether there is some hope that, despite the extravagent wealth of the U.S., people will factor in their respective social and ecological impacts in one of their most impactful consumer choices. As such, I have hoped to see a reduction in traffic, an increase in hybrid and especially full electric vehicles. The answers so far, after 434 samples in 637 days? Nope, not really.
I began tracking all of this 2024-02-02. In the first 100 samples, hybrids made up a median of 11,7% of total traffic and full electrics 3,7%. As of 2025-10-31 and 434 samples, the 100-sample rolling median is 12,5% and 3,7%, respectively. That marginal basis-point increase (a bit less than 7%) in hybrids is something, I guess, but hardly anything to pin one's hopes on. As for the density of traffic, that is dependent on the time (of day) that I'm on the road, which varies a fair amount, but has stayed steady within each time segment (each segment represents 1% of a day (14 minutes and 24 seconds)) at between 8,8 and 11,5 vehicles/minute, c an overall median of 9,5 vehicles/minute.
As it stands, even in this putatively progressive pocket of a generally progressive state, hybrids appear to be a slow-growth niche, and electric vehicles a stagnant niche within that niche. And the static traffic volume should not be surprising because it is effectively pre-determined, combining as it does the 3km guideline, beyond which the vast majority of people will not ride a bicycle, c our tendency in the U.S. to live far from where we work and shop. Still, somehow, disappointing. Non-sequitur as it might seem prima facie, perhaps it is better to pin one's hopes on g.l.p.-1 drugs -- they marry self-interest and social pressures (weight loss) c less food consumption (and therefore less environmental and social impact). I can't count g.l.p.-1 users on Highway 1, though, so I'll continue to just count the dammed vehicles noisily blitzing by instead of enjoying the native beauty in which I am ensconced =\
2nd, and speaking of animals and vehicles, the seasonality of road-kill:
January - February: owls, especially barn (this is the most prolific owl in the world, so perhaps this shouldn't be surprising)
March - May: snakes, mostly king-type, never (yet) rattle-type
May - August: skunks, and lots of them (skunks, as well as raccoons and opossums, are a road-kill constant, but my ride becomes noticeably more redolent of thiols (the compound that makes skunk spray (and certain parfums =) ) so powerful) in this time period)
September - November: deer, passerine birds and tarantulas
December: owls
I'm not sure why these up-ticks happen or, since I don't quantify any of it, whether it actually happens, but assuming my qualitative sensibilities approximate reality, I can guess:
-owls begin to hunt at dusk, which in winter co-incides c peak commuter times
-king snakes are born in small throngs in the spring, then disburse at more or less the same time (within 10 days of hatching)
-skunks begin venturing from the den in summer (at 40 - 55 days of age), un-tested and un-tutored in traffic dealings but fearless and then dead
-deer come down from the hills as back-country springs run dry, tree-cover lessens at higher elevations and one of their favorite foods -- acorns -- begin to drop at lower elevations
3rd, the embodied shame and secrets in certain road-side trash:
There is a constant deposit of 50ml - 300ml hard alcohol bottles on the shoulder, especially 99 Brand vodka (20U.S.D./liter, but less than 1U.S.D. for a 50ml bottle), FireBall whiskey (20U.S.D./liter; also less than 1U.S.D. for a 50ml bottle) and, of all things, Sho Chiku Bai Premium ginjo (25U.S.D./liter). I imagine that functional alcoholics furtively imbibe these on the way to work, then toss them out the window to hide the evidence from family and police officers. Occasionally, a certain brand will disappear from the above mix, I imagine because the litterer has been arrested for d.u.i. or has resolved to quit drinking, but always the bottles begin to return to the shoulder within 50 days. There is also a steady supply of emptied mifepristone blister packs and, perhaps closely tied to this, the occasional pregnancy test.
The last item is yet more folly: Every 20 days or so, I find a wallet, credit cards, an id. and/or other such portfeuille effluvia. Occasionally it is obvious that this is due to the owner having left his/her wallet on the roof of his/her vehicle (because there is cash in the mix), but far more often it is a long trail of items that were tossed out the window as the pilferer went through the wallet. I do what I consider the right thing, which is to attempt to return the items back to the rightful owner or, failing that, turning the items over to the police. Typically the victim has already cancelled the cards, and so the only real value is to re-store some small faith in fellow humans and for him/her to get his/her id. and cash back.
