There were ten of us who rode under the banner Team Swirl this weekend – 150 miles on bike – from Hammond to Mississippi and back. The first day we rode semi together for the 75 miles and it was fairly painless if you consider I have been traveling and haven’t had much time to get road time in. We rode through Louisiana’s landscape – fields of mustard plants reminding me that Napa is probably celebrating the mustard festival right now, roadsides of purple and pink wildflowers and yellow butter cups – and lots of oaks and lakes and streams, and Moo Cows and Horses galore.
It was me, the Mesmerizer and 4 Lesbian couples. We made a fine group. We had our 3-person tents and the ride ended in Percy Quinn State Park – which was great – I highly recommend it for camping. Our camp was on a nice patch of land that led down to a cement dock and to the big lake and we had it all to ourselves despite there being 1100 people on the ride. This is my view from my tent:
Once our tents were up, we went down to the water and swam around and washed clothes and hair and cha-chas and then, of course, tried our lot at synchronized swimming.
Later that evening, after dinner, the Mesmerizer built us a perfect fire and we sat around drinking delicious wines from Swirl – a Margaux, a Washington Cab, and a Pinot – yum yum.
We were next to a makeshift outdoor memorial with an old wooden cross – called the Chapel of Sunshine. There were three wooden benches and a built up bank around the cross that included plants and polished stones with name plaques for tombstones. Most of the dead were very young – one 20, one 33, one 41, and others. It had been a difficult week for us – we have a friend who was in a motorcycle accident and is having his third surgery today (he may lose his foot), one of the girls riding had lost an 11-year-old patient in the operating room and had lost her godmother a few days before, another has MS, one who didn’t make the ride lost her 39-year-old brother and yet here we all were – healthy, riding long distances on our bike, grooving to Mother Nature at her finest, and so Sunday morning, when we had broke camp, I led a service to give thanks for our abundance and to ask for help with those who are having a harder time than us.
And then we set off to ride home – the next 75 miles were a little more grueling – we were sore, the road was hilly with long stretches of uphill grades and a headwind and heat not to mention storms.
I returned home with a renewed optimism and a sense of hope:
1) Life is fragile – in the blink of an eye it could be over – seek to be happy.
2) Nirvana does not come from another person; it’s being able to give back to those less fortunate who are having a harder time in life.
3) Happy people make happy couples.
4) Don’t be quick to judge a person right away – sometimes seeing the same person in a different environment reveals more than you could possibly know.
The Mesmerizer was made an Honorary Lesbian by the girls – the highest honor they have to bestow on a man. To quote one of them, “He has beautiful eyes” – so my nickname for him was spot on.
In the end, we all passed a good time, and we rode for a cause.