Revolutionary Road

When I call the Thursday evening club bike ride “revolutionary,” it doesn’t refer to the turning wheels.  Along the eight mile route to the start I take a right in Bedford, alongside “battle road.”   So named for the route of the battle of Lexington and Concord, and the place where the British caught – and released - Paul Revere. 

Shortly after the start of the ride, a large placard in front of a colonial era house proclaims “save Thoreau’s birthplace.”  So that’s where he came from?   Soon, just beyond Sleepy Hollow cemetery, where Thoreau – and Emerson – ended up, we pass the Old North Bridge on Monument Street, where the “shot heard round the world” among others left holes in houses that to this day are proudly preserved.

Toward the end of the 28 mile ride we come across Orchard House, the home of Louisa May Alcott and her sisters, the “Little Women.”  Next door is the house that Nathaniel Hawthorne named The Wayside when he lived there.  No, its not the House of Seven Gables, nor is it haunted by the ghost of Hester Prynne; that’s in Salem, another ride for another day.

We arrive back at the end of the ride at Hanscom Air Force base, when the thought occurs to me that the patriots may have enjoyed having an F-15 or an Apache helicopter on their side.  The eight miles home passes through neighborhoods that didn't exist and over eight lane highways that were unimaginable in 1775.  Its getting dark, I'm ready for dinner and a rest.  Some things never change.