OntheWilderSide

Day One: Whoopee!!!  I’m on my bike and it feels so free!!!

OK, Friday night, July 23rd, we had a wonderful sendoff at the House of Common Sense.  Minister J.R. and the young people are to be commended for organizing the event and the San Francisco Bay View and KPFA must be thanked for the publicity.  Thanks also to the folks who came to the House of Common Sense and to the Green Party members for the consistent support they have given, Sandra Decker organized the potluck.  I want to thank the riders who rode with us on the morning of the 24th and escorted us out of Oakland!  Thanks to the 25 or so bikers who met us in Martinez and rode us into Sacramento.  John and Peter stayed with us and John’s wife and Dave (a friend of theirs) rescued us at about Davis because–especially me–we were biked out!!

Day Two: Rhythm of the Revolution–The Revolution will not be motorized!

Ron Toppi, one of Bike 4 Peace’s co-founders was my gear whisperer today.  Telling me when to shift gears, and teaching me how to shift them!!  From Sacramento to Folsom Prison.  Then, I had to call it quits.  That’s when the beauty of a sag vehicle became crystal clear to me.  Rich rescued me just in front of Folsom Prison, hosted us with warm showers and a potluck for well-wishers, and Ruth and Natasha Hull-Richter presented me with a prize for being the most courageous elected official–even though I was actually UNelected–for 2009.  We told them I can’t carry the very beautiful trophy with me on y bike!  Climbing, climbing, climbing, I was consistently reminded of the rhythm of the spin, spin, spin:  for me, that became the Rhythm of the Revolution.  Imagine, the bikers and hosts and sag vehicle volunteers and those who attend the potlucks are all participating in the Rhythm of the Revolution.  By biking, we are demonstrating personal transformations, personal revolutions, can take place and they, like individual acts of justice that Bobby Kennedy spoke of, can wash down the mightiest walls of resistance.  The participants of this Bike4Peace experience will forever be transformed and certainly will serve as inspiration for me, and I hope for everyone reading these words.  The Revolution will not be televised and it won’t be motorized–even though I need a sag vehicle!!!

Day Three: Raw Hide!!

Oh my goodness, why didn’t anyone tell me what a bike seat will do to your body:  OUCH!  And all the bikers could say to me was:  “Keep them doggies rollin’!!!  RAWHIDE!!!  Thank goodness I brought my shea butter with me!!!  Thanks to Peter Rathman (?) for riding with us up to Carson Pass–elevation 8,573 feet.  I made it to about 4900 feet; Yaney made it to 5500 feet, and Peter, Annie, YaYo, and Scott made it all the way.  Vernon was tail rider with me–that meant the ace rider of the group, who has done this cross-country Bike4Peace effort twice before didn’t get a chance to really ride because I was so far behind and eventually had to stop.  Once the sag vehicle picked me up (that was Marie of Code Pink who lives in Woodfords, CA–yea!!), Vernon was free to really get his ride in.  Last night, I pitched a tent, rolled out my therm-a-rest and sleeping bag and camped at Silver Lake camping park in the Sierra Nevada mountains.  This is beautiful country.  This community is seriously exploring energy independence and self-sustainability and ways to ensure clean drinking water and clean rivers.

Day Four: Rest and Communication Day at Starlight Lodge!

Whoopee!!  Rest day for me.  After rawhide, I need some time to recover.  I washed my clothes and hung them out on the line to dry.  We’ll stock up on food, but the closest store is 20 miles away!!  We are being hosted by Diana at Kyle’s Cabin and Starlight Lodge.  Bike4Peace thanks Diana for allowing us to have some really comfortable down time.  I’m making calls to enlist some volunteer help so that I can complete this effort.  And now the other bikers are expressing their desire to have the security of sag vehicles or one rented vehicle accompany us in case of emergency.  Annie, who is as big as a hummingbird and also as fast as one, is a nurse practitioner and since we’re traveling across treacherous mountains, unforgiving deserts, and endless prairies, wants us to have the security of a vehicle, too.

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Here are the states we need vehicular support through. We will also need hosts with space for potluck receptions, etc. that can also provide maybe shower opportunities, too.  That would be real nice.  Our internet and cell connectivity is spotty especially through the mountains and we anticipate, through the deserts.