Buses, bikes and thanks

Thoughts while enjoying a very quiet evening at home…

• Took the bus most of the way home tonight, then jogged the remaining few miles. I brought an MP3 player and headphones along to listen to on the bus. So I figured I’d leave them on while running. I never run with headphones and today reminded me of why. They altered the running experience to the point that it was almost completely unfamiliar. I didn’t have a full sense of what was going on around me. I wasn’t dialed in to my breathing, stride or much else going on with my body. All in all, the music was just a big distraction. I’ll stick with running the old fashioned way.

• A young man was killed while riding his bicycle to work this morning. He was riding northbound on I29/35 just south of Front Street when a semi-tractor trailer hit him. Early indications are that the cyclist was riding where he shouldn't and the driver couldn't have avoided the accident.

Posters to the KC Star’s comments section of the story will inevitably hide behind anonymity to spew hate about how this is another example of why bikes shouldn’t be on the road. Wrong. This is an example of two things. First, some bicyclists ride where they shouldn’t. Cycling on the interstate is illegal. Not only that, but it was 4:30 a.m., dark and raining. Second, Kansas City hasn’t done many favors for people who don’t drive cars. I’m guessing anyone riding a bide on the interstate at any time of day isn’t doing it by choice. He simply had to get from one side of the river to the other and that bridge was his only way. Despite that, the Missouri Department of Transportation designed the currently under construction Christopher S. Bond Bridge without a pedestrian/bicycle lane. Brilliant.

• Our church, St. Pius X in Mission, always pays tribute to veterans on Memorial Day weekend. And Father Ken Kelly always makes a particular comment when recognizing veterans of World War II: “Thank you for saving our lives.” Each year, when he makes that comment, I think of people like my grandfather, who served his country in the war and in the Battle of the Bulge. Could they have possibly known then what their service and sacrifice would mean to us and to the world?

Simply put, if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here now enjoying a very quiet evening in Lenexa, Kansas.