Ship's Log Year 3--August 15, 2005
A good friend scolded me last night for not being more communicative this year.....and suggested I better send a log entry to quash the rumor that I perished in Sturgis....so here goes. First of all Sturgis was unbelievable! We rode 1300 miles there, 1500 miles through the Black Hills of South Dakota while we were there, and 1300 miles back, in 10 days....my ass is still sore. It really is indescribable....my lasting memories will be of the spectacular beauty of the Black Hills and the bikes (750,000 of them) and their colorful owners and all the chrome, leather and ink (I think I surprised Beth when I DIDN'T come home with a tattoo).....one vignette that I can't get out of my mind is "No Panty Thursday" in Hewlett, Wyoming...Hewlett is a picturesque little town with a population of 176, except for one day each year when 250,000 Harleys roar into town....the biker women are encouraged to wear their chaps with nothing else....hmmmm. Seems the small Methodist church in the heart of town views "No Panty Thursday" as a huge missionary opportunity each year. As my buddy, Steve Clark, and I walked by the lovely white, clapboard church, smiling church ladies in long dresses handed us each an oil rag imprinted with "Jesus Saves" and some obscure bible passage. We noticed a small stage set up on the church lawn with several bluegrass instruments on it.....being bluegrass fans, Steve and I decided to come back for the performance after we checked out the town and had several beers (well, it WAS already 10 am). We got back to the church just as a family gospel group was taking the stage...the group was comprised of mom and dad and 8 or 9 kids, ranging in age from 18 all the way down to 2 or 3. We grabbed 2 of the 20 or so folding chairs set up on the lawn and enjoyed the concert....unfortunately, a motorcycle gang took most of the other chairs and turned them around with their backs to the stage so they could watch the parade of bikers and chaps making their way down Main Street.....I must admit the parade was just a bit more entertaining.
As I was screaming across America at 85-90 mph (mostly without a helmet), I often thought of the risk I was taking. Not to condone or justify it, I often wonder whether Ohio is in its current predicament, in part, because we have forgotten how to take risk.....no doubt the founders of our country and our great state understood this.
The bicycling has been wonderful the last several weeks....I have seen more wildlife than prior years, especially different varieties of ducks....wood ducks, teals, I think a bluebill, mergansers and, of course, mallards. I've had several near collisions with wildlife on the bike trail and so I figured it was about time that I hit something...and I did. I had just passed Drake Union and was riding on top of the dike which protects Ohio stadium from the Olentangy floodwaters.....a flock of about 30 Canadian geese came in for a landing and before I knew it I was right in the middle of them. After somehow avoiding 5 or 6, one unlucky goose landed and ran a couple of steps before I nailed him. I thought I was going down, but somehow righted the bike. When I looked back, there were feathers flying everywhere and the goose was staggering down toward the river......I think he survived and is ok.
I am very proud of one of my good friends and clients, Don Drabant, who claims I inspired (or contaminated) him to start riding his bicycle to work. He lives in the Retreat way up on Route 315. A couple days a week he puts his bike in the car and drives to Hills Market where the bike trail begins and then bicycles the 15 miles to his office in the Huntington Building.....sometimes his wife, Cathy, joins him and then rides all the way home....they love it and intend to continue riding. I would encourage you to try to find an alternative way to work, whether its bicycling, walking, taking the bus or riding a motorcycle or Vespa....once a week or once a month....frequency is not the point....changing our everyday dependence on the automobile (which I believe is unsustainable) is the point....and if you only break the pattern for one day each year, you will have done something significant. Let's set an example for our children and grandchildren and make Columbus an example of what a sustainable 21st century city is going to look like! Hope to see you on the No. 2 bus this winter.....otherwise I hope to see you on the bike path in the spring!
You blog is so lovely that speak the words right out my month. The familiar perspectives on this topic really calls for a drink. I bookmarkt you so that we can talk
about it in details, see ya, pal!
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Both I and my friend admire you,fighting!
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