Center Blog

So, for those of you who have never made the trek from Gettysburg to NYC, the great blur of landscape between battlefield and city skyline is ground zero for the Amish and Mennonite community in the US. Oh sure, there are some buggies in upstate New York, a few folks making furniture and jam in Ohio, but for the most part this is it–and Lancaster is nothing if not the Amish Big Apple.

Usually, as we ride by in all our spandex glory, we watch them and they studiously avoid us with averred eyes and disciplined disinterest. This year, however was different. This year the ride took a new route and we cruised through even smaller towns than before, down roads that rarely see vehicles not pulled by horse. And what a sight! 140 cityslickers cruising past with padded butts, bared calves and unzipped jerseys, rainbow flags waving and the occasional stuffed animal strapped to handlebars. Amish children turned and watched with mouths agape, clutching their lunch boxes in hand, as we huffed up hill after hill in the rain.

I wondered what they thought of us and this lunatic thing we were doing. After all, you have to be a little crazy to willingly subject yourself to what looks–to the entire world, and even sometimes to ourselves–like perfect misery. On one particularly tough hill, 80 miles and 8 hours into the day, a small tow-headed boy said to my riding buddy Dan as he labored past, “do you want to use my horse?”

Dan’s answer: “Yes, yes I do.”

I’ve been thinking about the boy and his offer for a few hours now and this is what I have figured out: that little boy watched us struggle, thought about what he could do to help, and offered what he had. That is the reason all of us get to ride at all, really. People learn about this lunatic 300 mile weather-be-damned weekend of riding; then they learn why each of us take on the ride and the fundraising; and finally, they learn about the Center’s cradle-to-grave care for our community. And they give what they can to help. You can also help by donating to support the ride and the Center here: www.gaycenter.org/brakingthecycle/donate

Well folks, its getting late, the alarm is set for 5am and there’s 106 miles of tough riding ahead of me tomorrow, and little chance of horse rescue. So, I’ll sign off for tonight. Stay tuned!

Kaden
Rider #47