Commentary by Wayne Lee
I went to the No Kings rally in Medford last Saturday, not so much for politics but the spectacle. I went to the one last summer and was thoroughly entertained by the clever signs, the costumes, the musicians and singers. It was one big festival of people of all ages, ethnicities, religions in a wondrous display of First Amendment rights.
This year’s event was even bigger. Last year they chose E. McAndrew Av. for their event as people lined the streets for the mile or two. This year they chose Biddle Rd. and the streets on both sides were filled with people for miles. It occurred to me that this was the prime example of a reverse parade. Instead of standing on the sidelines and watching the parade pass by, the sidelines were the parade as spectators such as myself traveled down the street to see everything they had to offer, and it was a lot.
The thing that struck me was the diversity of the crowd in both age, race, religion and, most importantly, their sense of humor. Most of the signs were clever. One woman had a sign that said, “This sign can’t hold all the reasons why I’m here.” Another just said, “I skipped my nap to be here.”
I chatted with strangers, took photos and just took in the spectacle. Unfortunately, I wasn’t watching the battery level on Da Beast drop to the point where I should be concerned. After a stop for something to eat, I hit the bike trail where I noticed a significant slowdown even at full throttle. On a 10-point scale, the battery was down to one and dying fast. I ended up having to pedal the final 10 miles home myself.
Pedaling that big monster is no easy task and I was already tired from such a busy afternoon. But I had to get home, and pedal power was my only alternative. Uphills were torture but I fortunately had a slight wind to my back. Even so, there were times my legs were so exhausted, I had to get off and just walk, using the bike for leverage until my legs felt useful again.
At this point I should mention that my left leg was severely injured in a motorcycle accident when I was 18. I was riding downtown between 25 and 30 mph when a lady made a left turn in front of me and I went flying over her hood. (She said she didn’t see me because the sun was in her eyes.) I spent a month in the hospital, lost the tendon in the front of my left knee and had a steel rod inserted in my femur from my hip to my damaged knee.
This ended my career as a long-distance runner because the missing tendon caused my left leg not to be there when I took the next stride forward and went crashing to the ground. That’s when I discovered bicycling. I didn’t have to lift my left leg. It automatically came up when I pushed down with the right leg. I now had a new way to get my exercise, and I’ve been an avid cyclist ever since. But age is catching up with me and I can’t outride it. I still have my old Trek 2000 road bike from yesteryear, but I’m past those days of pedaling anywhere from 100 to 150 per week like I used to.
Riding on a warm, sunny day is still my greatest passion and adventures still await.
