Cycling’s beautiful answer to life’s cruelty
Cycling’s beautiful answer to life’s cruelty
Cycling can be beautiful; life can be cruel. On some rides you can see both.
Forty Alabama cyclists joined three men riding 2,200 miles in 11 days to raise awareness of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and encourage passage of the 21st Century Cures Act in the U.S. Senate. Some joined in Huntsville; I joined in Oleander.
We picked up a police escort in Kimberly and rounding a curve in the next town, a beautiful surprise: Maybe 20 more cyclists waiting to join us. We whooped; they cheered. In Warrior. And together 43 of us pressed on to Birmingham to meet the real warrior: Gabe Griffin, who has Duchenne and is the namesake of this Ride for Gabe.
He was waiting for us at Children’s of Alabama, stunned by our numbers. I was stunned by the cruelty of the disease, the love of his tearful father, and the grace of friends and strangers trying to help them.