bicycle-based, local BLM activists! help me help you!

When I was a kid, my not-yet diagnosed Crohn's stunted my growth. In a family of giants I topped out at 5' 7" by my second year of college. And I was pretty scrawny and wiry. My sister, only a year older than me, was six feet tall by the time she was in high school. I dreamed of being as big and strong as she was. I dreamed of being as big as the rugby players and rowers at my college, as strong and agile as the Masters women who mopped the floor with my sorry ass at cyclocross and short-track races.

I have always had such Walter Mitty dreams.

And now, I watch as thousands take to the streets in protest against The Way Things Are, and I wish in my heart of hearts I could join them.

What's stopping me? All the stuff that is part of being in this body, which in turn puts me at serious risk of getting COVID in a crowd, even masked.

(Hey Spoonies -- how many of you are facing the same quandary? How are you dealing with it? How many of you are choosing to take the risks anyway/ How many are finding other ways to make a difference?)

I know it's crazy to see protesting at the barricades as the n'est-plus-ultre of radical activism; but for those of us who've been given ample pause -- by family members and friends, by doctors -- well, DAMN. I'm finding it especially difficult to be Walter Mitty this week.

So, if you personally know someone who's been putting themselves out there each night -- doing first aid, jail/bail support, legal observation or whatever else, and they need bicycle repair or replacement as a result of their activism (read that as broadly as you want), PLEASE send me a PM or email me. It's the only thing I can think of for this broke, radical bike punk to offer that has any use right now.

After you and I talk then we can sort out introductions and I can take it from there. Contact me first.

Thanks, Portland bikey friends!