A bald eagle. High in a dead tree out in the lake. Approaching Paradise I hadn’t seen the eagle. My riding companions told me where to look. I didn’t see it. But returning from Paradise, I stop on the bridge and scan the tree tops off to my left out in the lake. At about one o’clock, I spot it. At this distance the memory of other eagles I’ve seen is required to flesh out its shape. Hawks are not uncommon sights along Missouri roads, but eagle sightings are rare on the roads I ride. Even at great distance, the presence of an eagle confers a rare and much desired dignity.
For the third year in a row the New Year’s Day temperature in Greater Liberty will reach 62. The average for this day is 38. The record high was 64 in 1897. But the high will come later in the day. We pedal away from the Hanson home on the outskirts of Kearney at 8 AM into an overcast and frigid morning. Steve has laid out a route north on Plattsburg Road to C Highway. Left on C to Highway W. Right on W to Paradise, crossing an arm of Smithville Lake. Then back on W to C. Right on C to Highway 92. Left on 92 about a quarter mile to Highway A. Right on A to 144th. Left on 144th back to Plattsburg Road. Right on Plattsburg Road to 139th. Left on 139th to Scottie Drive. Right on Scottie to the Hanson’s home. Out to Paradise and back. Prelude to the sumptuous breakfast Sharon has for us.
Every Saturday of the year we ride. Ordinarily from Biscari Brother Bicycles in Liberty. The Greater Liberty Riders we call ourselves. To small town cafes out from Liberty we ride for breakfast, to tell stories and keep up with one another’s lives. Some 225 folks have ridden with us at least once, built around a core of a dozen regulars. By email word goes out weekly to invite everyone to join our Saturday ride.
Then on the Saturday before Memorial Day weekend every year, we hold our signature ride, the one we call The Greater Liberty Bike Ride for MS. On May 20, 2006, we will hold our Fourth Annual Greater Liberty Ride. Last year more than 200 riders came. We raised more than $5000.00 for MS.
When that doctor told me 25 years ago that I have MS, he—and I—thought he was pronouncing my doom. “It’s a damnable disease. And you can’t be active,” he said. But as it turned out, he was setting me at liberty to think and do audacious things. If he had not told me to rest and not get hot, I would never have dreamed of riding my bike from Orlando to Seattle to Anaheim. Alone and without money. And when I was back and that Klansman got elected to the Louisiana Legislature, I might never have taken my students there to help the state redeem itself if that doctor hadn’t told me I couldn’t be active.
I might never have discovered that the only medicine I need to hold my MS at bay is to ride my bicycle. Thirty to fifty miles every day is my goal. And if I ride, I can run. If I don’t, I can’t walk. Simply being good for my physical health, though, is not enough to get me on my bike in all kinds of weather in every season of the year. Being healthy, I have discovered, is not the goal of my life. Only a means of getting there. My goal is to bust hate, to help folks visit with one another and learn to like each other. To do this, I have to be healthy, meaning that I have to ride a bike.
Every morning of the year as I mount my bike in my garage and pedal up the hill to the road that ends as I reach its summit, I have decided whether a left turn toward our town of Liberty or a right turn the town of Independence is the order of the day, issued by the unseen mapmaker that lives in my head.
On my very best days, I can ride 125 miles. So with Liberty at its center, I drew a circle showing all places within 125 miles. I call this little piece of God’s good earth GREATER LIBERTY. This is where I ride. I write about the places I go and the people I meet. I ask everyone to help me. Help me raise money for MS so those who suffer from it can be helped. Help me raise money for HateBusters so we can bust hate and teach people how to like people. Help me to encourage and inspire folks everywhere to live above and beyond whatever limitations other try to force upon them.
On this first day of 2006, I have driven in my little red HateBusters mobile, with its H8BSTR license plate, to the home of Steve and Sharon Hanson, two of our regular Greater Liberty riders. Steve has laid out our New Year’s Day ride route to Paradise. Sharon will stay home to have breakfast ready when we return. Long ago I came to value symbolism. Today in spades we have it. Sitting on an arm of Smithville Lake, Paradise is a church, a store, a service station and a few houses. A place seldom seen and little noticed. But able in the mind of all who hear its name to conjure a rapturous vision. To come en route to Paradise upon an eagle only magnifies the magnificence of a magical morning.
The 2006 Greater Liberty Ride for MS and HateBusters has begun. We ride every Saturday. We invite all who hear to join us. Come ride if you can. Support us in every way you can think of. Visit us at www.greaterliberty.org. Send us a message at hatebuster@aol.com Write us a letter to Box 442, Liberty, MO 64069.
HateBusters
Box 442
Liberty, MO 64069
Phone: 816-803-8371
e-mail: hatebuster@aol.com
No Boundaries On Our Soul!
