. . . , flung himself upon his horse [bike] and rode madly off in all directions.” (From Gertrude the Governess by Stephen Leacock [1869-1944], of Canada.)

Joey here.

To date, on this Ride we’ve biked 126 miles (204 km). We’ve biked 11,913 miles (19,299 km) since April 2011 on all eleven Rides, to 39 states, DC, and Ontario.

Generous Ride supporters have donated almost $9,000 this year (and over $350,000 since 2011) to support Human Rights First. Your support keeps us rolling! Click here to donate.

Every donor of any amount will receive a souvenir Beatles postcard, signed by me and by Jeffrey, from the collection of the late Joel Glazier, a supporter of universal human rights and big fan of the Ride.

Please visit rideforhumanrights.org to make and see comments on our essays, and to sign up for an email each time we post on this blog.

As for “riding off madly”:

I don’t get distracted. My head is stuffed with polyester.

For meat-brained chauffeur Jeffrey, though, these pandemic-era NYC Rides are head-spinning.

Our normal Ride routine is simple. Bike all day, with stops to listen, talk, and take photos. Write, edit, and post an illustrated essay. Sleep. Repeat.

Newspaper columnists take days off. Not us. Never. We go go go. Focus. Focus. Seven days per week.

But when living at home, doing day Rides, it’s different.

Cooking.

Cleaning.

Deliveries for a guardianship agency.

Family and friends.

Watering and hauling for our building’s garden committee.

Et cetera. That’s why, when at home, we don’t Ride or post every day.

Soon we’ll continue this Ride’s deep dive into immigration history.

For now, here are glimpses of recent excursions.

Roosevelt Island and Long Island City, seen from the Koch Queensboro Bridge above the East River.

Astoria Islamic Center, with enlargements to show detail (including me on our bike).

We met Austrians (not Australians!) at Little Island Park on the Hudson River.

Katrin runs a metal fabrication factory. Hannah does cutting edge research and analysis of women in the workforce. They are emphatic: women’s rights are human rights. And vice versa.

Lightning striking New Jersey, seen from safety in Manhattan.

Birds Without Borders: we zoomed in on this flight down the Hudson.

A new NYC bike lane, seen over our fairing. Illegal motor vehicles and daydreaming pedestrians: Keep Out!

These snapshots are your assurance that, even when you don’t see us, we’re still on the road for human rights.

We’ll write again soon.