The last leg of the journey from Nagsaki to Hiroshima; what a ride!
On August 20, we packed our van for the last time, fueled up with water and electrolytes, and planned our last 7/11 pit stop. Cyclists made the last push of 30 km to Hiroshima in the morning. Our welcome was filled with colorful signs and to celebrate, we tossed our organizers in the air.
As always, we had planned a tight schedule and had to rush
off to meet the Mayor of Hiroshima. We walked into the room, most of us still
wearing our grey bike tour shirts, and sat down in luxurious chairs with the
press as we waited. Our meeting was brief, but well arranged as several of the
cyclists were able to speak. Immediately after our meeting, we sprinted over to
Hiroshima University to meet with student activists. They shared several
presentations with us and vice versa. Our last agenda item was a planned dinner
in a park. When Karin, one of our organizers said, “It’s just up the mountain,”
our mouths dropped. I thought, “Um, we just
returned our bikes and now we’re going to hike up a mountain?!” Luckily, this
mountain was far smaller than the ones we cycled up.
I realize it’s only been a couple days since the bike tour
ended, but it already feels like a dream. The dream bubble of close
friendships, intellectual conversations, sleeping under the stars, street
actions to draw attention to our cause, and international cuisine made by
cyclists will stay close in my heart.
John Loretz speaking at the ICAn Conference.
Tomorrow begins the 20th World Congress and I am
truly looking forward to meeting more health professionals. I don’t think I am
ready to go back to the U.S. yet. I am fired up and want to keep up the
optimistic enthusiasm to make change in our world.
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