A Mighty Sad Week...

Hello, friends! 

This week was a bit of a downer in terms of biking.  On Friday, I crashed my bike and got skinned up pretty badly.  Today, I will be biking down to a visitation for Stan Musial, who died on Saturday.  I have a few thoughts on both. 

Friday was my Sabbath.  One of the things that I love to do while on Sabbath is to go for a ride.  These aren't commuter miles, so they don't count towards Penny Peddling, but they are very life giving to me.  The weather was relatively nice for this time of year (I believe it was in the 50's!), the sun was shining, and I had nothing but time on my hands, so I figured I would catch a quick ride, and commune with nature. 

Going through part of Saint Louis is the Saint Vincent Greenway.  Essentially, it is a trail that runs north and south from the top part of Saint Louis (where I live) down to Forest Park.  The trail itself is pretty nice, with a little bit of urban riding and a little bit of more scenic riding.  It actualy is a really fun ride up north because you get to go though a park with a lot of twists and turns. 

I was having myself a grand time, about 3 miles into my planned 10-12 mile ride, when tragedy struck.  As I was rolling down toward a right hand bend, I caught a patch of black ice and crashed Sulu.  Honestly, I spent about 2 minutes just sitting and in shock, not entirely sure of what happened.  Thankfully, I didn't hit my head (although I was wearing a helmet) so the worst of the damage was a skinned knee and both my wrists.  Sulu was in relatively good shape too.  His handlebars are a little dinged but the gears are all in tack and his chain didn't sustain any damage.  It was a huge blessing that something worse didn't happen.  After I checked all my vital organs, I got back up and headed home, pretty sure that my ride was done for the day. 

Yesterday was the first day that I'd riden since then.  It was a quick trip to the bank but today will be a trip down to the Cathedral Bascillica to see Stan "The Man" Musial before he is finally laid to rest. 

Many, if not all, of you know that I am a HUGE Cardinals fan.  I was born a Cardinals fan, thanks to my wonderful father, "Papa" John Leong.  I know the lore of the team, the history, and the emotion that comes along with fandom.  I have experienced the highest of highs (2006 and 2011 World Series championships) and the lowest of lows (2004 World Series loss and Pujols leaving).  One thing that every Cardinals fan knows is that Stan Musial is the greatest Cardinal to ever play the game, and probably will forever hold that title. 

What stands out the most to me about Stan's legacy is not just that he was an AMAZING baseball player (3,630 hits, 24 all-star games, .331 lifetime batting average, etc.).  What stands out to me is that every article about Stan goes beyond him as a baseball player and talks about how AMAZING of a person he was.  Stan was the kind of guy who was genuinely loved by all and genuinely loved everyone in return. 

So, that was this week, or at least these past 7 days.  I'm not sure which hurt more.  The crash definitely hurt my body but losing Stan certainly hurts my heart. 

Stats:
Places traveled: The ATM and the Cathedral
Distance traveled: 2 miles round trip to the ATM, 14 miles round trip to the Cathedral ($1.36)
Meters: None

Total: $1.36
Grand Total: $318.11
Left to Save: $264.92

Happy Biking!

~Adam