A Simple Bike Ride

Face it folks. We are under the curse of entropy. One step forward and five steps back is nature’s resistance to betterment. Yet, we’re compelled as humans to fight against the inevitable pushback of nature.

I experienced this first hand as I rode my bike, hard-pressed, through a 26 mile course in New Jersey yesterday. I was still hanging on to a head-cold from the week prior and really wanted an excuse to back out of the ride but the weather was too perfect and we had already paid the registration fee so the combination of nice skies and my waste-not-want-not frugality bid me go.

I had to play all sorts of head games with myself to prepare for the journey. First, breakfast at Starbucks. I selected a spinach egg product expensively wrapped in healthy whole-grain cardboard and a cup of caffeine to give the nutrition a jolt.

Ha! Already I felt victorious in my denial of baked goods and syrupy java.

In my tempered enjoyment, I did what I always do at Starbucks. I perused the shelves for bourgeois novelty items cloaked in one-world-community outreach and my efforts did not fail me as I found the perfect

must-have. It was a square box made of wood with a transparent lid marked “MEMORY” in big white letters. Below it was the French branding: “Jeu De Memoire” and inside the box were four square compartments that held brightly colored artistic images stamped on thick cards of highly compressed cardboard impersonating wooden game pieces. And get this… it was on sale. Perfect!

Oh the accomplishments were piling up.

Belly full and purchase in hand, we made our way to Thompson Park. During the car ride, my next step in mental preparation was to imagine myself as a refugee on the run from a war torn country. I don’t know that it’s healthy to call upon the Boogie Man for motivational purposes, but right or wrong, this does it for me every time I need to pull off some ridiculous physical challenge over a long duration. However, this trusty button just wasn’t getting pushed properly for some reason. I think it was the gorgeous weather pouring out over the lush countryside. My mind wanted to bask in it regardless of the task ahead.

We pulled into the park, found a prime parking space and stepped out of the car.

While Andrew was unloading the bikes and getting our registration papers together, I made my way over to a fenced off area where I noticed a young deer was standing as we pulled into the lot. Upon my approach, I noticed it was a doe and she had not moved from her stance since I saw her a few minutes prior which made me think perhaps she was just a statue that the park people set out in anticipation of the day when deer become extinct from cars and overdevelopment. But since statues don’t breathe, I quickly discarded this notion and slowed down my pace until I came to a full stop within five feet of the creature. She was hardly impressed by my presence but I could barely contain my excitement for hers. Steadily and softly I made my way to the fence where she safely pressed her nose up against the chain link as if she were expecting a treat. I actually felt bad that I had nothing to offer other than a sole finger to nuzzle her snout and I told her this with apologies included. She seemed content with my index brush and she conveyed an air of confidence that food was more of a luxury for her than of any real concern; which consoled the guilt of my empty hand.

I stepped back and just looked at her and thought of various friends I have and how differently each of them would respond to that same deer. One guy I know would have no qualms about killing and grilling. Then there’s the guy who would want to pursue legal action to strip the hunter of his weapons and force the park to release the deer into the wild. If denied, he would sneak in at night, cut a hole in the fence and let the deer and her compatriots run free. Then there’s me, happy to see a protected space of land carved out for the deer with just enough domestication to accept a pat from my finger yet at the same time knowing I’d never turn down a steak from a hunter or deny an activist a get-away ride. So I asked myself “As a person befriending people who are opposites of one another, do I cancel out the effectiveness of one friend whenever I extend pleasantries toward another?”

This idea of me being entropy’s tool played in my head as I made my way back to Andrew and the bikes.

Fully awake and charged by a brush with fauna and a new thought to ponder, I climbed onto my Fisher, placed my feet into the toe clips and pushed off into the miles ahead.