A Shining Day

Falmouth is about 72 miles from Boston as the crow flies. It is worth every mile.

We, the two Bikes Not Bombs volunteers, had accepted a mission. Get up early on a Saturday, make our down to Jamaica Plain in Boston ('HQ'), pick up a truck, drive to Falmouth to be on time, meet the folks, collect the donations, flatten the bicycles, load them up and drive them all back home. This was a new frontier for the organization—the furthest away from headquarters a bike drive had ever been done: 145 miles round trip. We had to cross a bridge, onto an island no less! Hopefully, the old truck would not be too traumatized by all of this, and be able make the trip in one piece.

We were groggy in the morning, but still managed to grab our bikes and put them on a Subaru, which we then left parked at HQ after moving the bikes into the back of the truck. Two more bicycles should not have made a difference. This was a first year bike drive and experience told us that we would generally get about 30-40 bikes in a first year. Hmm. 

To say that 'Falmouth is a beautiful town' is a gross understatement. Falmouth is an absolutely gorgeous town. On this sunny warm day, this gorgeous town was in the process of waking up in a very good mood. We beat back our grogginess with a stack of buttermilk pancakes washed down with coffee at on Main, enjoyed at an outdoor table, and then on to the Church parking lot.

We were greeted by an enthused team wearing bright yellow t-shirts, as well as by Steve, the Pastor, a fit-looking cyclist himself. Linda was the coordinator and had several friends along to help. They had set up with a table with a sign-in sheet, brochures, information and donations jar, and other supplies. All set to go. Soon, several others joined as volunteers to help process the bikes.

This was a good thing. Promptly at 10am, the bikes started streaming in. We had collected at least twenty before the first half hour was up. We set up several flattening stations and showed folks the procedure. The sun shone, and the bikes poured in, and the volunteers worked. Linda, and Barbara, and Bob, Patty and Roy were already there. Later, Leonard came, and Steve. Terry and Miguel had both stopped by to contribute  bicycles; they ended up grabbing wrenches and starting in on the flattening operation. Linda had provided water and soda and fruit, delicious homemade ginger cookies. The 'bicycle communion' had begun to work its magic and we were in its groove.

And the bikes kept pouring in. At some point, I looked at my watch and it was 1pm: another hour to go. I looked over at the stacks of flattened bicycles on side of the truck, and over at those under the trees waiting to be flattened, and realized for the first time what we might have a bit of a problem. There were too many bikes! The truck's capacity was considered to be about 80. We were already closing fast on a hundred. HQ had given me an estimate of about 30—40 bikes for a "first year" bike drive. Nobody, however, had told this to the good people of Falmouth. Voracious local newspaper consumers, all the folks who'd come in had seen the article. We are also on what is very likely the prettiest bikeway in New England, if not perhaps the country. Bikes are part of the landscape. 

The bikes kept coming in right up until 2pm. When we stopped, we had collected about 110 bicycles in total. We loaded the truck carefully in a chain operation, and got most of them on. It was tricky to pull the gate down. We called HQ. They had to send somebody with another truck. At this point, Leonard and Patty volunteered to put the rest of the bicycles and parts onto their trailer and meet this truck at Plymouth to split the distance. This was very sweet of them, well beyond the call of duty.

Epilogue

When was all packed up, the 'two volunteers' from 'up north' grabbed their own bicycles and set out for their own bit of Shining Sea. Wow! I had been meaning to try out this bikeway for years (ever since my first cycling foray onto the Cape back in 1996). Though I only saw part of it this time, it lived up to every expectation, helped along by an absolutely perfect day. We pedaled down to Woods Hole and enjoyed one of the best clam chowders ever sampled at , recommended by the Friends. The only hard part was getting up again from the sunny bench after eating and relaxing for an hour.

Arriving back at the truck at about 6pm, we were met by a car pulling into the empty parking lot: a station wagon. A couple jumped out, their faces glowing. They had two bicycles in the back to donate, but were a wee bit late because they had just driven directly from Arizona—without having been home first! Unfortunately, we just could not take their bicycles. I had had to poke a spoke or two out of place just to get our own bikes back into the truck, and was actually a bit worried about what would happen later when I opened the gate. But I did so much want to 'take' their story. The last leg of the trip had been non-stop from Cleveland: a 3,100 mile trip in total. Hopefully, they will be able to bring the bikes to donate at another event soon. Given the strength of their spirit, coming up to greater Boston doesn't seem like such a stretch. I gave them a brochure about the June 3rd Bike-a-thon, promising that someone would accept their bicycles if they came.

A big "Thanks" to all the folks in Falmouth who gave bicycles and money, to Pastor Steve and the Church, to all the Friends, to Steve B. at BnB (no list of adjectives suffices), to Falmouth Patch for getting us such a huge turnout, and especially to Patty and Leonard for being superheroes with that extra huge trip up to Plymouth at the end. Last but certainly not least, we would like to thank Linda for being the organizer and the driving force. You guys rock!