Now What? Part Three - The Man in the Mirror

I wish I could, I just can't, no mater how hard I try.  Keep up with posting on a daily basis.  As it is I'm still trying to reconstruct blog entries I started while on the open road.  Invariably, after a long day of riding for 10 - 12 hours I would finally sit down to write only to find myself falling asleep at the keyboard after only a few paragraphs.  I would quickly jot down some notes from the day's events before falling into bed with the full intention of coming back a few days later and finish them.  Unfortunately, those days kept piling up more and more with the long days on the road until I have found myself with about fifteen blog entries that I'm trying go back and finish.

That fact, coupled with being back at work and sliding back into the old routine leaves me little time to write the way I want to.  Sooooooo, I end up not blogging for a week or so at a time.  I really don't know how people do it, how do they manage to write pages of blog entries every single day.  I wish I could be like the Bike Snob and either have an intern or a helper monkey named Vito to write down my every thought.  Or even a helper monkey named Steve who has a thought translater;

 

 But alas, its just me with my own thoughts and not enough time to always get them down in a timely fashion.

 

As many of you know (or if not, its new to you) I once was an English Literature major.  Now granted, my concentration was Medieval and Elizabethan English but I did occasionally delve into the more contemporary authors, especially when taking those granola crunchy poetry classes.  A body of work that never appealed to me in college was that of Walt Whitman.  I just didn't get him.  I guess my not being from Long Island stunted my appreciation of this artist much in the same way it has any appreciation at all of Billy Joel (Moving Out the musical notwithstanding, at least it had Twyla Tharp's choreography) - I just don't get where he's coming from.  So there you have it, I'm out of the closet - I DON'T LIKE BILLY JOEL!!!!! 

 

But back to Walt.  There was one of Whitman's poems that did seem to resonate with me and I found myself over the years appreciating more and more, his Song of the Open Road.  As I traversed this great wilderness that is our country I found myself on occasion reflecting on the words of Walt and I would occasionally go to the link above and reread his words.  And the ones that echoed time and again along with the cadence of my pounding pedals (when I wasn't listen to Foo Fighters, Green Day, AC/DC, Snow Patrol and others) was stanza 4;

The earth expanding right hand and left hand,
The picture alive, every part in its best light,
The music falling in where it is wanted, and stopping where it is not wanted,
The cheerful voice of the public road—the gay fresh sentiment of the road.
O highway I travel! O public road! do you say to me, Do not leave me?
Do you say, Venture not? If you leave me, you are lost?
Do you say, I am already prepared—I am well-beaten and undenied—adhere to me?
O public road! I say back, I am not afraid to leave you—yet I love you;
You express me better than I can express myself;
You shall be more to me than my poem.
I think heroic deeds were all conceiv’d in the open air, and all great poems also;
I think I could stop here myself, and do miracles;
(My judgments, thoughts, I henceforth try by the open air, the road;)
I think whatever I shall meet on the road I shall like, and whoever beholds me shall like me;
I think whoever I see must be happy.

And I had to admit that almost everyone I met on the road I did like.  It was rare that I met anyone along the road that I found obnoxious or ignorant.  Even the most uneducated people had a quiet and dignified wisdom about them and I found when I listened to them I learned much. 

Of the many people I met along the road there was one gentleman that I really became enamored with.  As I've written before, there were certain people that I kept running into along the way and I met many cyclists (mostly going West) that were taking on the cross country challenge for their own reason.  But I came across this one guy who I just thought was amazing.  He was funny, energetic, compassionate, patient, loving to his wife and children, and even though he occasionally lost his temper he had a positive outlook and optimism that was infectious.  He inspired others and shared his joy of cycling with all the cyclists he met on the road.  He stopped on the road in Kentucky to help a man push his car up a hill and stopped to help a woman who ran out of gas in Missouri.  He took time to listen to others, no matter what their story.

If you haven't guessed, that man is me.  I was freed up while on the road by the routine of waking up, riding, eating, blogging (mostly) then sleeping, only to wake up and start again the next day.  The daily dose of endorphines kept me happy and positive but it was more than that.  I found my family and my connection to them.  Every single day I was reminded of how much I love my wife and children and how lucky I was to have a family that loved me so much that they would hear the call of Allons! and join me on this Quixotic journey.  And yes, I rekindled my love of epic literature.

It was a bit disconcerting to hear people praise me and tell me how amazing I was, telling me that I was their hero (I kid you not).  That always left me struggling for words because that's really not why I was doing this.  I'm just a normal guy who has finally realized that I have been so incredibly blessed and it's time to take what I've been given and try to use it to help others.  I'm not a hero, I'm not exceptional.  Far from it, my wife would probably say I'm stubborn and hard headed.  And in my head I often have this song running through it;

 

No, I'm no superman but I am trying to continue to make a difference.  I've been put on this earth for a reason.  I don't think I've really figured out what that reason is yet.  Maybe I never will.  But I do know that I have to keep giving to others because life has been good to me and there are so many who (even on my worst of days) are far worse off than I am.  It's one of the reasons why I'll start EMT training in January - to give back because of the many blessings that have been heaped upon me.  If I'm going to make a difference in this world, I have to start with me.

But the trick is to keep this change in me, to hold on to the optimistic, energetic, loving guy I met on the road and not let him regress into the short tempered, irritable, pessimist that I was turning into.  As with any self help program its an uphill battle but one that I think is worth the battle.  The trick is to be the change that I want to see happen in the world and to be able to look at myself in the mirror every day and see that guy.   I guess the real sentiment has already been expressed extremely eloquently in the past and even though many have covered the song, it still sounds powerful when heard by the original artist;

I don't know if I can keep it but I promised the man in the mirror that I'll try to blog more often - wish me luck.

Stay well my friends and once I get myself back together I promise to see you on the road!


To get another perspective of our journey check out Amy's blog at www.crosscountrymama.blogspot.com
It's not too late to donate! Go to www.connorsarmy.org to find out how!

The World According to a Snob

Okay, so lately I've been reading a very enlightening book written by a persona known as Bike Snob NYC (if you look to the right of my main page here you'll see a link to his blog or you can just follow this link to BikeSnobNYC).  Now I have to say, I don't follow too many blogs on a daily, monthly, yearly, regular basis.  Honestly I don't have that much time in reality but I do follow his as well as the Cycling News website mainly to see if Alberto Contador has 'fessed up to using Clenbuterol - I mean c'mon tainted beef, the only time that happened to me was from eating bad meat in a Mexican restaurant in Berlin, Germany and I had food poisoning for three days.

(click on the "D" above and zoom in to street view to see the theater where I was performing West Side Story at the time I contracted said food poisoning - ugh!)

Of course the other main website I follow is that of my beloved Dallas Cowboys who don't seem to be doing so well.  Actually, for them it probably feels like the world is falling down around their shoulders, or at least the sky is falling.  It would probably look something like this;

(Notice the nonplussed expression on this Cowboy fan's face)

But of course, anyone who is a New York Met's fan probably knows that same feeling.  I can't help but already start to think that the season is already over.  And now that the last great challenge for the peloton comes this Saturday in the form of the Giro di Lombardia whatever will I pay attention to?  Yes, I guess I could hope against hope that things will change (remember, the glass is half full) but I'm not holding out hope this year.  I really can't anymore.

But I digress - what else is new oh faithful readers??????

So I've been reading the Bike Snob's Book, the full title being (as you can see from up above) Bike Snob:  Systematically and Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling.  Now don't get me wrong I love the Bike Snob's post and I've learned a lot (even borrowed some things, see the dachsund of time) about writing and posting blogs.  Although I have to shamefacedly admit that as much as I try I'm not as prolific as he.  Still I try.  Digression anyone?

As I was saying before I so rudely interrupted myself I've been reading his book and I'm working on my second reading of it, primarily because I have nothing else at home I want to read, although I have been thinking about digging up my copy of Stendahl's The Red and the Black (which I haven't touched since I read the first third of it in my college English class but it's always intrigued me as a great source for a musical) and reading through that.  Darn, my constantly moving train of thought, now I'm stuck somewhere on a sideline.

So in the opening chapter the Bike Snob talks about how the bicycle is one of the great inventions of all time and a way that we know that is because the Amish people (who normally eschew anything that is technological and ostentatiously decorative) use it constantly;

and even the womenfolk get into this utilitarian mode of transportation;

and sometimes they even use it as a family outing event, sort of like an extended SUV - but of course I think they prefer to call it Ye olde paceline;

The point that he makes though is that the bicycle is an amazing invention and there is not much you can do to improve it, though many have tried, witness The Schweeb;



Now, given my penchant to enjoy many things German I am intrigued by this simply because the name for it comes from the German word "schweben" which means to "float" or "suspend" as the company proudly flouts on its website schweeb.com.  Yet as one of my students (Jillian Feinstein to be exact, which now makes two of the past four ACT presidents I have quoted), "I don't think people will use it because people are lazy and when they commute they want to sit and listen to their iPod.  You're the exemption to the rule of American laziness."  Ah, gee thanks Jillian Sarah.  But I think she has a point - to which I imagine the Amish velocipedists would agree.

We as an American people (can we really be considered a people when we can't even get legislature passed because we can't agree on anything?) are lazy when it comes to our European, Asian, Australian or even Antartican bretheren and sistren.  In those parts of the world the bicycle is used as a form of commutation (in the sense of commuting not to be confused with its use in the legal sense which is defined as "the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional.") on a daily basis which is part of the reason why (with the possible exception of China) no other country in the world contributes as much to global warming as we do.

There are many good reasons to get out and ride your bicycle - transportation, exercise, attracting the other sex, save the environment, or to help others less fortunate than yourself.  All endeavors of which I think even the Bike Snob himself would be proud.  Yesterday seemed to be a day when a bumper crop (which is slightly more than boucoups and slightly less than a hell of a lot) of cyclists seemed to be on the streets that make up the environs of Syosset, Huntington, Greenlawn, Northport (i.e., the route I usually travel to and from work).  I counted at least 22 cyclists of all varieties (commuters, day laborers, casual riders and a pace line of four "enthusiasts") in my 15 mile (shhhhh, I took the long way home) commute home.  The weather was great and it was nice to be sharing the road with so many of my cycling brethren and sistren right here on the streets of home.

I have to say, of the five categories I listed above I think I qualify for all except the third one (primarily because I have already attracted the perfect woman and its hard enough as it is to get her to ride her bike) but the one that is most near and dear to me is the last one.  I just wish I could do more. 

As you've all read in many of my previous posts I really want to cycle cross country to raise money for Sunrise Day Camp.  I believe in what they're doing and I see what they can do for the kids that are fortunate to go there.  To be able to raise $50,000 in order to send 8 kids to camp and make a difference in their lives would be the most amazing gift I think I could give to the world.  But I can't do it by myself.  I need help and to be honest at this point I don't know where to turn to find it.  I'm not good at all at the self promotion business.  I don't toot my own horn, even at those times when I should.  I know the route I want to follow, I know (roughly) what we need in terms of financial support but I don't know how to go about getting it.  Do ANY of YOU have any ideas?  Can you share them?  I know some of you have put the word out (thank you so much Jason) but I think its going to take a village to pull this one off. 

So, my fellow villagers in this great community we call Earth, how about it?  Can each of you help me by trying to reach out to ten people who might be willing to help me procure sponsorship to complete this Mitzvah Project?  Can you help me find ten people or businesses willing to sponsor me for $1,000 each so that I can have the funds we would need to raise five times that?  You have my e-mail, you have my facebook information so let's see how we can make a difference in the lives of children with cancer - let's use our bikes to fight this fight!

Stay well, and I will see you on the road (weather permitting).