A Peach of a Ride!

Lucky for us we live near a good working star. The kind that is able to convert matter into energy in the cataclysmic process described by Einstein's famous law. The same Sun that rained down its glorious light on us all day during our ride, also gives us peaches. Be a star. Eat a peach. Have a taste of our galaxy.

Favorite song about peaches? Check out Peaches by the 90's alternative band - the Presidents of the United States of America, and stay to the end to see the dramatic Kung Fu finish.

Carbon Based Life

Formed in the heart of stars and then scattered throughout space in the dust of supernova explosions, carbon forms the basis of all living things. It's also pretty good for bike frames. Here's Alex rolling down the road in his new Felt carbon bike.

Here's Daniel, new to our group, also sporting a carbon based bike.

A whole lot of carbon! The bikes take a rest while their riders get fuel and cool off. Note the water jug used by Alex to perform a little water boarding - on his head!

A Monadnock

Sugarloaf Mountain is a Monadnock: a hill or knob that rises up abruptly from an almost level surrounding plain, that plain sometimes being described as "flat as a pancake."

The mountain is always there, peeking out between trees, coming up suddenly behind a barn or appearing all at once at the crest of a hill as we ride familiar roads around Poolesville, Maryland. Today, Jose and I had to agree, the mountain has lost some of its mystique as our climbing skills have increased and the weight of our bikes has decreased (the latter thanks to our good friend carbon).

People are mountains, with families stretching gracefully across the broad plains of ordinary life. We are children of parents and then parents of children and yet always children ourselves, pulling each other up and over the summit into tomorrow.

Here are the peach pickers, friends are mountains.