Long Neck, DE

Men sailing wooden ships across oceans were brave. A man flying a cloth wrapped box from New York to Paris was brave. The people going into space are the same. All I did was ride a bicycle but Wednesday I did pass a museum where these people are honored. Trying to sleep Tuesday night I imagined myself racing down the National Mall during the last leg of my ride, a Sousa march in my head. Yet when I got there and pulled the bike up beneath the gaze of Lincoln…

I pedaled slowly along the mall and stopped at the monument dedicated to the troops of World War Two. My ride was even slower at Capitol Hill. A suspicious backpack had been abandoned near a tree. I just happened to be on a bicycle, wearing a backpack and with a global positioning system on my back basket. I certainly got noticed! Once it was cleared up we went to the office of the Minority Whip and were escorted to the House Floor. The Minority Leader shook my hand and offered a thank you. His office had our petitions for about 40 minutes and then had us meet with the staff from our home district. Our local Representative doesn’t like returning our calls and the young lady we chatted with didn’t seem pleased to see us. Maybe they thought I wouldn’t make it? Matters got worse as our conversation in the “Cloakroom” was overheard by bloggers from Redstate.com and I believe a site called the Humanitarian. Redstate.com should have a notice about our arrival. Can I note she did accept the petitions?

Speaking of folks we met, I wish Jim Gerlach lived a bit more to the south. The Congressman from Pennsylvania appears to be a “regular” human being. He came by and spoke at length with Denny, Walt and me and is a most unpretentious man.

And can I give an endorsement for the Jamis Commuter? This well engineered bicycle handled open roads, rumble strips, old railroad beds, wooden planks, the bumpy trails at Rock Creek Park and the brick streets of Old Town, Alexandria. I’m in love. If we can’t drill and can’t use shale oil and can’t use coal and can’t use nuclear power then I guess I’ve discovered the Honda of the bicycle world.

I heard some news this week, in between stops, and it appears the “Peace Dividend” is a bit too 90s and Al Gore, well, he’s suddenly as relevant as love beads and the Pax Americana was a myth, as we learned 7 years ago.

I want my government to have some stones. I want the people serving in my government to have some stones. The folks I mentioned at the top had big sets and are now enshrined at the Smithsonian, in our hearts and our memories. Don’t let it fade away.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 6:43 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.