What a day(s)...

I will start by saying thank you to my partner in crime Molly for being the author of our blog these last few times—I’ve been a lazy, lazy man, but she holds me accountable, and so here I write. There’s plenty to catch up on, too.

Our itinerary for the past few days since Sewanee has been Pulaski, Savannah, Bolivar, and Memphis, Tennessee. Instead of describing each day after the next, I’d like to describe the past few days thematically—first, I’ll discuss the rides themselves, then I’ll look at injuries of riders, and lastly, I’ll look at race and racism—a strange three themes, but all relevant, as I hope to soon describe.

Per the riding aspect of our biking and building, the terrain has quickly changed over the past three days, getting flatter by the minute, and getting more urban as we approached Memphis. Flatter is good, and I’d say that people are thoroughly enjoying the newfound abilities that we all have to cruise at 20 miles per hour. It’s becoming more and more clear each day that our bodies are changing for the better, getting stronger and more toned for biking with every pedal stroke. The Appalachians and their 5,6, and 7 mile-per-hour climbs are long gone, and replaced with 70 mile days finished in 5 hours. It’s been wonderful to ride these Tennessee hills in that regard. On a negative note, these Tennesseans know how to fill up a shoulder with stuff—lumber, glass, wire, and of course, road kill have exponentially increased the number of flat tires we’ve gotten as a group—I think the Sewanee to Pulaski ride yielded 19 flats for the group—and they keep coming. But, Arkansas is coming soon, and with it, a set of clear roads (we hope). The rides have been really enjoyable for the most part, but we’ve had some serious set backs in the form of accidents that have tested our group deeply.

Yesterday (June 21st), one of our riders was caught up in a serious accident. Andrew Martin (many of you have read his blog) was struck from behind by a pick-up truck on Highway 64 between Bolivar and Memphis, putting him in pretty rough shape. He returned to us today around 7:00 pm just to say hello, and will return shortly to Greenville, NC to be with family and friends during his recovery. I’m not sure as to whether or not Andrew will rejoin us after he’s healed, but I sure hope he does. He’s a great person, and a great member of our community.

It was a surreal moment for all of us, I think. We saw ambulances rush past, and as we came up on the accident, none of us could have imagined it was what is was. But, the closer we got, the more clues were revealed—our van parked in a turn about, our riders huddled together on the side of the road—police, fire, and rescue vehicles—and, not to forget, some serious traffic backup. It was difficult to see, obviously, but we were quickly told that Andrew was conscious, moving his arms and legs, and sitting up on his own, so our nerves were calmed a bit. We rode together to the nearest church, and regrouped, got the events of he day together, and pushed on to Memphis.

There have been other less serious, but still painful falls these past days—a bruised wrist, a mashed up toe, some road rash from falling on train tracks, and so on. It’s remarkable to think of how fragile we are—there is nothing between the cars that pass us and our group while we are on the road. Andrew is so lucky, no broken bones, and a little internal bleeding that is quickly healing—I can’t help but think that he was being looked after. It was and remains a stark reminder of how important it is for us to look after each other, and ourselves and to be safe while riding.

After we got into Memphis and on to Germantown (where we actually stayed), we got settled a bit, ate food, fixed a few bike problems, and prepared for our night off in Memphis. It was a good thing that we could all unwind, get a few drinks on the famous Beale St., and eat some good Bar-B-Q (provided by two former Bike and Builders).

One of my dreams was fulfilled that night in hearing the Marc Cohen song “Walkin’ in Memphis” live in Memphis. I thought it was the start of a great night, but I was just a little wrong about that…

By midnight, we were feeling good down on Beale, and made our way into a dance club to shake our booties—a good crew was there, and we were having a blast dancing. Out of nowhere, a woman started dancing on me, feeling me all over, and I though, “wow, people are friendly around here.” About 10 minutes later, I realized my wallet was gone…I needed it to get into the bar (ID), and didn’t buy any drinks at the bar, so it must have stayed in my pocket. So naturally, I confronted the woman I was dancing with, asking if she had found or taken my wallet. She was abrasive, and a man she was with told me in a gruff way to leave them alone…later, others went up to her and asked the same thing (we suspected that it may have been in one of her bulging pockets, not to accuse), but the conversations weren’t great—there were comments of racism, yelling, and so on. Not fun. On top of that, the Memphis police were entirely unhelpful. Andy, a rider, was hung up on four times by an officer, and another took my information, then threw the piece of paper away outside a bar. I was on the phone until 3 canceling credit cards and trying to file a report. Tough night.

The next day, I scrambled (with my parents’ help) to get information to include in a police report, but when I called, I was given the run around again—I didn’t successfully file a report until like 3:00 that afternoon, when by chance I got a really nice officer on the phone. I was outside the National Civil Rights Museum at the time, which is why (if you recall) I mentioned race. Late at night on Beale, a man told us that Memphis isn’t like other cities—that black and white is all people see there, and that it isn’t uncommon for the race card to be played. In a city where Civil Rights are celebrated to the outside community, racism still exists deeply within its culture. And, it’s not hard to see.

Bike and Build is about affordable housing, but there are so many factors to that cause—unfair wages, racial profiling, single parenthood, lack of quality education, and the list goes on. What a challenge to be sensitive to all these things—our jobs as bike and builders is to raise awareness about a deep issue—I’m going to try and make an effort to relay to the people I chat with just how deep and complex the issue is, and how interconnected affordable housing is with other problems we face in society today. Memphis has so many good things to offer, but the bad is there—a deep history of racist and activism and a great night time district with an underbelly to name two—I was reminded there that no matter how much progress we make in changing the world for the better, we have to be aware that there is always more to do.

Hope that made sense—sorry for the long, delayed post. We’ll be better.

Cheers,
Eric