5 de Julio 2008
What does it mean to ride on the 4th of July?
So Josh sent out the note - offering a early morning ride on the fourth of July. He challenged
We are changing things up this week and doing an all-American ride on
Friday morning (instead of a non-American ride on Saturday morning). So,
I submit to you a contest: Come up with the most American route for a
new ride. The winner will lead us on it.
I responded:
To be All American I think the route needs to take in cannons and biscuits - violence and overconsumption, victory and bounty, the agony of defeat and the thrill of a grits and gravy, the haunting memory of gunshot and the prospect of heavenly praising.In other words - lets do the battlefield loop and finish by praising the lord.
We started before the sun. Five of us off shortly after 6.
Rode through the country - this land that we love to explore and expose...
.
Then to the Park. The battlefield where so many lost their lives defending different ways of understanding what this country means. Where it is hard to imagine the grit of war when the pastoral is so lush and the riding so cool and refreshing..
.
Then on into the city. A different sort of riding.
Our anticipated southern overconsumption was dashed by someone else's concept of a holiday. What? How can freedom mean that? Its just not American... We couldn't praise the lord and thank him for this country. Oh well.
We felt we could park next door despite the sign.
Jeff had us covered with the super hair.
.
So that was it. 45 miles of American glory. Happy fourth of July. Thanks for the riding.
On a personal note, this weekend represents a different form of celebration for me. After the first four months of the year each having some heart episode. Today I celebrated 3 months with no heart episodes. I haven't gone to the emergency room, I haven't had to struggle with the anxiety of wondering every day. The reality of my heart condition is still very present, but today is a wonderful milestone of freedom. And I'm grateful. I'm grateful that I can hug my kids, climb my stairs, kiss my wife, pray to my God and ride my bike. Life is rich. Life is good. Free.
Posted by rob at 11:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack