Ride for World Health Blog Bonus

I was in charge of blogging for the main Ride for World Health Blog yesterday about the ride from Picacho Peak to Tucson, each of us are assigned 2-3 days along the ride to blog for the group.  I know some of this is redundant from the blog I posted earlier but I wanted to share this here as well because the quote at the end by Bourdain is one of my favorites of all time, I hope you enjoy it as much I do:

Tuscon was just a short 45 mile ride from Picacho Peak. After some of the riders who didn’t get the opportunity to make the climb up the peak the night before made the 5 am trek to the top we hit the road to battle the heat and a headwind in to town.  I think most of us agreed that the 45 miles felt a lot longer than the stated distance but we all made it town by the 1:30 pm time cutoff for showers at the local JCC even with a few added stops along the way (see Katie and Maggie’s new helmets above).  Tonight were staying at a Jewish synagogue near the campus of the University of Arizona where we have an event tomorrow during our day off from riding.  We all just finished an amazing brinner (breakfast for dinner) prepared by today’s support team and are now preparing to hit the town for the evening/have a movie night at the synagogue.

I think all the riders had a great time at Picacho Peak state park yesterday, sharing stories, a few drinks and smores around the campfire under the night sky full of billions and billions of stars. Sitting shoulder to shoulder in a circle around the flames made me realize just how close I had become to these random strangers in just a weeks time.  For many of them I now know about their families, their passions and their goals for the futures. Hearing their tales of trips to places all over the globe continually amaze me and inspire me to extend my own reach when this journey across the nation ends.  One of my favorite television shows is No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel, sitting there last night I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes from the show:

“It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn. Maybe that’s enlightenment enough - to know that there is no final resting place of the mind, no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom, at least for me, means realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go.”