[PAA-Discuss] [hq2600] From Cynthia McKinney: Bike4Peace Update: Days Nineteen thru

Thu Aug 19 15:46:00 EDT 2010

Days Eighteen thru Twenty-Four:  Common Ground Along an Uncommon Route

Along this trip, I’ve been testing a line:  “We’re biking for peace.  We
started at the House of Common Sense in Oakland, California and we’ll end up
at the White House that needs some common sense!”  Everyone in every state
has enthusiastically agreed!

Now, you won’t believe this!  I have broken bread with militia members who
voted for Obama!  Now, I know that doesn’t sound possible, but I overheard
the conversation of some Utah men discussing what the heck they were going
to do to put this country -right and bingo—an admission that they had voted
for Obama!  They lamented that they certainly weren’t going to do that
again, but they couldn’t vote Republican, because Bush had ruined the
country, and so they just didn’t know what they were going to do.  That’s
when my feet began to glide uncontrollably in their direction.  The idea of
these men having voted for Obama just overtook me and I begged their
indulgence and interjected myself into their conversation.  In just a few
short moments it was clear that we had similar concerns about the direction
of our country.  I never let on to them who I was.  I just reminded them
that they did have options, even in Utah, where the Green Party was on the
ballot.  That they didn’t have to give their most precious political
asset—their vote—to a political party that didn’t deserve it.  Interestingly,
I left them saying to myself that I always knew that with dialogue we could
find areas of commonality, just as I had done that in the first
Congressional District that sent me to Washington, D.C,. and that if we
worked hard enough at dialogue, that we could bring this country together.  So,
Bike4Peace 2010 took me into a conversation that most likely I would never
have witnessed were I not here.  It only reinforces my belief that we really
can build bridges to each other, if only the hate-mongering,
fear-proselytizing politicians would get out of the way

One last thing:  Now, I think I’m beginning to understand how bikers feel
when they’re on a bike.  Just before leaving Gunnison, Colorado, I decided
to bike into town all by myself!!!!!  To buy some jewelry to go with the
outfit I bought in Telluride.  Even with the bike helmet on, I imagined Mel
Gibson yelling, FREEDOM!  I think that explains why we’ve met so many
bikers, all alone on the road, from all parts of the world, criss-crossing
our country.  Once one gets over the “rumpus hurticus,” a term coined by our
fellow traveler Paul Stutzman, biking can become quite addictive, and if not
addictive, certainly fun and challenging!

.

Day Eighteen -- We left Hite, Utah and Glen Canyon and headed into Blanding,
our last Utah stop.

Day Nineteen -- Can you believe that the core riders have ridden across
California, Nevada, and Utah and are about to do the same in Colorado.  We
arrive in Dolores and begin the process of unloading the car and setting up
the cabin to receive company!!!  We are in a cabin along the Dolores River
and by chance, Yaney discovers an e-mail from Marion saying that he’d like
to meet us while we’re in Dolores.  Marion bought dinner for us and brought
along his friends to enjoy.  Marion s a courageous young, Black man who sued
the county for discrimination!  He also has a copy of the documentary,
American Blackout, for me to autograph.  I knew he’d want to take a photo so
I dressed up in the tie-dye dress that I bought from Marianne!  All evening,
he wanted to know about Obama.  I was able to cut through much of the
propaganda and the prejudice and give him the truth and the facts about our
President.  In addition, I reminded him of the reason we participate in
politics and what our responsibilities are if our expectations are not met.
We had a very potent political discussion.

Day Twenty – Everyone anticipated arriving in Telluride.  Well, as it turns
out, it was in Telluride that I posed the question for the first time—what
the heck am I doing here???  But before I deal with that, let me say that
the shopping was very satisfying.  Between Dolores and Telluride, I made my
first commitment to leave the group.  My intention was not to leave the
group during the entire ride.  But I received an offer I could not turn
down:  September 11 with Luke Rudkowski (WeAreChange-NYC), Daniel Sunjata,
my sister Cindy Sheehan, and former UK MP George Galloway!!!!!  And since I
didn’t pack anything but bicycle clothes, I needed something to wear.
Telluride
provided the perfect answer.  Only thing, the young lady who helped me was
sooo ready to talk.  She was disappointed with politics.  She had been
excited and had even majored in political science.  She wanted to explain
her disappointment and how because of it, she found her way to the
architecture department.  She is now working to go back to school to get her
masters.  I commented to her that it was a shame that a bunch of bankers had
to get in-between her and her education.  After shopping, YeYo took me for a
bike ride and we went on the gondolas, too.  After that, back to City Park
where we pitched tents and that’s when I had my “why am I here” moment.  That
next morning, Day Twenty-One, I was sooooooo cold.  I now know why we have
Thermarest—it does protect you from the cold ground.

Day Twenty-One – What a wonderful shop in Ridgeway, Colorado!!!  Bought some
street clothes since I’ve figured that walking around in the bike shorts
isn’t good for me at all!!!  Overnight in Montrose, Colorado.  The view of
the mountains is awesome.  However, Utah for me is still the most
beautiful!!!

Day Twenty-Two – Gunnison, Colorado.

Day Twenty-Three – Rest Day.  Our hotel is outside of town so I ride the
bike back into town in my first solo ride of the trip!!!

Day Twenty-Four – Monarch Pass!!!  11,300 feet today and the core bikers
rode all the way up and down.  Tonight we sleep in Poncha Springs with a
great sense of accomplishment.  We’re on the other side now of the Great
Divide!  Scott says we’ve done about half of the elevation and about
one-third of the mileage!!!  Amazing!!!

I think Nora Jones’s “Above Ground” is the great song for this week.  That’s
what I played on my father’s iPhone as Yaney and I crossed Monarch Pass and
started our journey on the Atlantic side of the Continental Divide.

Oh beautiful for spacious skies . . . The scale of this country and all its
bounty.  On this day, University of Georgia scientists expose the lie that
all of the oil is gone from the Gulf while the world counts the hours until
Israel strikes Iran with weapons supplied by the U.S.   My son awaits a
storm in Georgia, that originated in the Gulf of Mexico, to see if it will
rain oil in Georgia the way it has already in Louisiana.  We all know what
this could mean.  Let’s hope it doesn’t happen.  On both counts.

Oh, why can’t our country be a better partner for Mother Earth and the
global community?  Who will step up and make it so?

-- 
http://dignity.ning.com/
http://www.enduswars.org
http://www.livestream.com/dignity
http://www.twitter.com/dignityaction
http://www.myspace.com/dignityaction
http://www.myspace.com/runcynthiarun
http://www.twitter.com/cynthiamckinney
http://www.facebook.com/CynthiaMcKinney
http://www.youtube.com/runcynthiarun

Silence is the deadliest weapon of mass destruction.
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