10/11/06 18:01:36 PDT
GRANT'S TOMB IS LIKE KRYPTONITE TO GOTHAM CITY'S BICYCLE THIEVES



During a recent working holiday in New York City, your humble velo-scriveners were able to re-visit the boroughs on bicycle, mostly during lunch hour rides. Alas, we neglected to bring a lock and chain for the daily rides out of mid-town, thru Hell's Kitchen, around Central Park and down 5th Avenue, thus necessitating we stay on or very near the bici burro at all times.



Among our many quirks is a penchant for visiting Civil War sites on our bikes. Although NYC erupted in riots once conscription was enacted by Lincoln in hopes of ending the War Between the States (it seems that the ex-pat Irish were not all that thrilled about the idea of emancipation for the slaves, as competition for menial jobs were tough enough as it was without flooding the labor pool), there are not that many monuments that would sate our desire for Civil War-centric stuff. Excepting, maybe, Grant's Tomb, the eponymous resting place of the commander of the Army of the Potomac and the man responsible for the re-joining of these United States as well as the freeing of all black Americans, Ulysses S. (aka "Unconditional Surrender") Grant...



So, off we went on our bike to such an important monument and symbol, from our toney digs at the Waldorf Astoria, through the sinuous loop of Central Park, uptown into Harlem, where we zig-zagged across 122nd street towards Grant's resting place adjacent to the Hudson River, and mere blocks from Columbia University.

Upon our arrival at those sacred and hallowed grounds, we climbed the steps towards the entrance of the tomb and were faced with a dilemma... what to do about the bike? I mean, after all, we are in New York City and we don't have any means of securing our steed and pre-empting any potential pilfering....

We needn't have worried. Besides a park ranger, we were the only people on the grounds. We went inside the monument, and almost an hour marvelled at the tomb and the caskets of Grant and his wife, looked at glass displays of firearms, basked in the shadows of the domed ceiling and its fresco of Robert E. Lee surrendering to Grant at Appomattox and just got behind the sound of silence. Grant's Tomb is the quietest and most serene, contemplative place in New York City. It is like the Andromeda Strain has hit Grant's Tomb or something.



Yes, we came to realize that the last place college students, bicycle thieves, or uptown residents are going to be seen at is a national monument. Something that honors the valor of our ancestors is like kryptonite to bicycle thieves. You don't have to bother schlepping around a lock for your bike...


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OVER THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY

ANTIETAM, JOHN BROWN'S BODY & THE ROAD TO HARPERS FERRY



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