“Come to me…and I will give you rest”

Vermont Avenue and South Jenkins Street (between Duke Street and Wheeler Avenue) are two of the smoothest stretches of asphalt in the West End of Alexandria. I skated there this morning on my refurbished inline skates; I put new wheels on the skates last Saturday. As an inline skater, I look for surfaces that are smooth and hard, but with just enough friction to give my rubber wheels the chance to bite into the surface and make easy turns.

In today’s New York Times, writer George Vecsey describes his love of bicycling and some of the very rough surfaces that competitive cyclists must ride. The Paris-Roubaix race in France features a very bumpy stretch of road made of cobblestones. According to one cyclist, “The best I could do would be to describe it like this — they plowed a dirt road, flew over it with a helicopter, and then just dropped a bunch of rocks out of the helicopter! That’s Paris-Roubaix. It’s that bad; it’s ridiculous.”

We all face struggles in life, some more difficult that others. The cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix are a self-imposed struggle for competitive cyclists. Other rough patches are less welcome. Gliding on my skates along Vermont Avenue in the West End, these words of Jesus came to mind: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

-- Pat Jones