The U.S. should have a national holiday in my honor. On several occasions I have led a large group of cyclists over long distances, become lost, and then tried to convince the others that I was right where I expected to be. I am the Christopher Columbus of bicycling.
The United States celebrated a national holiday this past week that honored Christopher Columbus. By honored, I mean we pretty much ignored the holiday.
Many of us older folks were taught that Columbus discovered North America in 1492. The fact that millions of people were already living in North America didn’t diminish his legacy. Neither did the fact that Columbus landed in Bermuda thinking it was India, saw Cuba and thought it was China, and made a trip to Hispaniola convinced it was Japan. He had no clue that there was a giant landmass and another ocean between Spain and Asia.
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