By Don Stubbings, Director of SCL Associates
Cycling has always been part of my life, from riding with my friends as a child or riding to my first job as a dishwasher, and over the last several years riding endurance distances in an event called “Gravel Racing.” One of my go-to riding areas is the Weston Bluffs Trail and then on to some of the Platte County farm roads, with many evenings ending with the sun setting over the Missouri River.
On Labor Day, I was scrolling through social media and came across my friend, Sara, who needed a riding partner for the day to get in riding miles as part of a fundraiser. I am always up for a ride, especially the Weston Bluffs Trail area.
We started off in Beverly, Missouri, at the trailhead, through Weston, and then cycled through rolling hills of Platte County turning around at the historic Salem Christian Church.
During our ride, the conversation turned to the fundraiser Sara was part of: “Feeding America.” September is Feeding America’s Hunger Action Month. For each mile Sara logged she had friends and family pledge $1.75 per person per mile!
As we rode our way back through the farmland, crops of corn and soybeans, as well as free-range cattle, all were on full display. Returning to the Bluff Trail, the information signs along the trail remind me of the adventures of Lewis and Clark and the Missouri River that also provided an avenue for agriculture shipping of the grains and crops that were and remain important to feeding the world today. The trail also provides space to recognize these fertile lands are the ancient ancestral lands of the Osage, Kaw (Kansa), and Otoe-Missouria. The plaque that recognizes their land is in an area facing to the west into Kansas, overlooking the mighty Missouri River.
As we closed out the morning, we completed twenty miles. Over two days, riding forty-five miles, Sara raised $378.75 to combat hunger with Feeding America!
At the start of the day, I was out riding with a friend, and at the end of the ride, I learned that I was riding for a cause guided by the Vincentian spirit that can show up when you least expect it, even on a dusty road in Weston Missouri!
Peace,
Don
For More Information:
For more about The Feeding America Fundraiser
Feeding America
For more about the Weston Bluffs Trail
Weston Bluffs Trail
For more about the Indigenous Lands around Weston, Missouri
Indigenous History
