Velocipede Verses #13: The Lucky 13s
I'm an avid cyclist who has ridden 30,000+ miles over the past seven years. I enjoy sharing the little I know with interested others.
The Lucky 13s
In January 2009, I received military orders to Hawaii. Specifically, I received orders to go work for an old favorite boss as the Director of Air, Space and Information Operations for 13th Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, Pacific Command, Hickam Air Force Base, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. I was stationed there from January 2009–July 2011. While my family and I were there, we lived on base in a nice home on the channel that led into Pearl Harbor, and I rode my bike daily to and from work. I also went for longer rides on the weekends, rising early and heading to beautiful places all over the island. It’s no secret that the weather on Oahu is perfect for just about everything: most days it’s not too hot, and if it gets to be close to 60 degrees everyone thinks it’s freezing cold. For a guy from South Dakota, 60 degrees sounds like perfect baseball weather…anyway, after I’d lived on the island for some number of months riding my bike(s) on Saturdays, it came to pass that I was joined in my passion routinely by friends and coworkers from 13th Air Force. Many of us were Colonels in the Service, but our group grew over time to include folks of all ranks and shapes and sizes. Those were really good days of riding together as a team; many among us still talk fondly about them to this day.
We called ourselves the Lucky 13s...
It started out as just me
On the island of Oahu
Weekly getaways
On the mornings of non-working days
From Pearl Harbor-Hickam
To Waikiki
Every Saturday I’d be
Up by five
On the road by six
My weekly fix
My passion a patch
I wore on my sleeve
My time all alone
On the bike
With no stress and no phone
My friends and subordinates
They all well knew
My sunrise ride
Predictable as the tide
Meet the sun
By eight be done
Then family fun
I Want to Ride My Bicycle...
And for many fine months this went on
Uninterrupted
Then one day a friend
A coworker
Colleague of mine
Asked to ride with me:
Mind if I go along next time?
When that he said
I thought in my head
This is me time
My only free time
I must be alone!
With others along
I won’t hear the drone
Of my wheels
On asphalt
And lubed chain over crank teeth
And sprocket
More humanly presence
Well, my world
It would rock it
And the stress
Of work talk
Just would not do
So I answered
With a question:
Will it only be you?
What I mean to say, I guess
I said to him then
Is if I say yes
Will you then bring more friends?
I’m asking for me
I believe’s what he said
And I acquiesced
Nodded my head
And never regretted it
It was for a time just two amigos
Then three very close amigos

DOM, Box and REL—the three amigos—on a sandy beach, northwest Oahu during one of our many, many outings...
© 2020 greg cain
And we’d go and we’d go
A trio on two-wheeled steeds
And work was far away
And not on our minds
One second of the time
In fact, sometimes the ride
Found its way
Into the workaday
Not just in water cooler talk
But we’d walk the walk
Ride at lunch
Eat at our desk
Like a brunch
Over keyboards and notepads
It wasn’t so bad
Indeed, it was great
Then the conversation grew
And everyone knew
About the Lucky 13s
And our collective dream
To ride all the way ‘round Oahu
In a day
A Saturday
An excursion
An immersion
Of body and mind
Into wheels going round and round
Not a lot of other sound
For 110 miles
All the while
Grinning and bearing it
Wearing it, too, like a badge
Of honor when complete
And when we meet
That sixth day of the week
I can’t speak
Nearly welled
Emotions swelled
At the numbers who joined us
Wanna be part of the team
The Lucky 13s
And off we went
I was so glad
Things changed
Forever rearranged
The arrangement
And on any given Saturday
We main three went
And others would join
Here and there
At times
Leaving promptly at six
And hitting Waikiki
Or Mount Tantalus
To challenge us
On occasion
Kind of raising
Our own different bit of hell
In heaven
On earth

We even had our own "gang sign" in the Lucky 13s...it was prominent in many of our group pictures over the years
© 2020 greg cain
The place many call Paradise
And it is for those who ride
Perfect year round
When you can hear that sound
Of wheels going round and round
And well-lubed chain over crank teeth
And sprocket
As you rock it
And roll it
Along
With the Lucky 13s
We rode as a team
Living the dream
Wishing it would never end…

The Lucky 13s in front of the HICKAM AFB sign near the Officer's Club and adjacent to the Pearl Harbor channel entry
© 2020 greg cain










© 2020 greg cain
Comments
greg cain (author) from Idaho, USA on October 07, 2020:
Sha - brotherhood is right on. It was indeed. Sadly, most of that crew live over on the east coast up in the DC, Virginia, Maryland area. We had a brief reunion two years ago when I went out to Salisbury, MD and rode in the Seagull Century with them. We keep in touch, but the magic of those days is mostly just a really great memory for now.
I see they’ve fixed the notification piece now, though it is too late for me to go back in time and publish this again. I found out after I hit publish that notices weren’t working because I’ve been following the comments on your HubPages 3.0 article daily. And so it goes...hey, thanks for seeking me out and checking in. Hope you’re having a great week. It’s been an interesting one, even by 2020 standards! Haha!
Shauna L Bowling from Central Florida on October 07, 2020:
Box, this is my favorite Velocipede episode. I love the story and the setting. What started out as a lone joy ride ended up as a brotherhood. I'm sure you and your comrades have many wonderful memories to share. Do any of the Lucky 13 live near you now?
Our email notifications haven't been working since Saturday. Since I know you post quite often, I came to your page to see what you've been up to. So glad I did!
greg cain (author) from Idaho, USA on October 07, 2020:
Anupam - Oh! Your comment made me want to get up and go early myself this morning: the music of the wind, the being free from all unwanted thoughts, or at least feeling like you can move away from them as fast as you want...I love all of that very much, too. I would say for me the key to my 100 KM rides—and I do one or two of them a month, I'd say—is to leave the house early in the AM. Where I live it does not get nearly so hot to melt me away, so the 100 KM rides are only horrible if the weather is a blizzard or rainstorm.
Thanks for taking time out to read the work, Anupam. I do appreciate it. Hope you have a wonderful day.
greg cain (author) from Idaho, USA on October 07, 2020:
Linda - yes, they were and they are! Great group of guys. We did some really good and important work while we were in Hawaii, but the best, most lasting memories from our time there are those of days spent in the saddle riding alongside the Lucky 13 comrades.
Anupam Mitu from MUMBAI on October 06, 2020:
Wow, loved this poem. Excellently composed and I could related that with myself when I used to be a regular cyclist.
I too had a few great rides with my cyclist friends and those are the best of my memories.
I have gone for many 20 and 50km rides but just 3 100 km ride and 1 almost 200 km ride. but they were horrible, since then only I stopped cycling, it looked suicidal to me cycling in intense heat and that too on slopy road.
But the truth is I love cycling, I love the wind slapping my face and the road moving along with me. I love the music of the wind and accompany that with my whistles. I just feel like in some heavenly world free from all unwanted thoughts and wish to live that moment of cycling.
Linda Crampton from British Columbia, Canada on October 06, 2020:
Your poem contains a lovely story of friendship. The Lucky 13s sounds like a great group.
greg cain (author) from Idaho, USA on October 06, 2020:
Hey ReadMikeNow, it’s also an early English word for bicycle. I was not sure of the origin but I do know it was used for any two-wheeled contraption in the early days of bikes. Thanks for dropping by to give this work a look.
Readmikenow on October 06, 2020:
Interesting article. Velocipede is the Ukrainian word for bicycle. Are you Ukrainian?
greg cain (author) from Idaho, USA on October 06, 2020:
Yes, Peggy! That’s exactly right. I think there was a time I thought nothing could best my alone time or the grandeur of solitude. These rides with the L13s proved me wrong, of course. Thanks for the words and for giving it a look. Much appreciated. Hope you have a wonderful week.
Peggy Woods from Houston, Texas on October 06, 2020:
It sounds like your solitary ride turned into one of comradery and fun for many. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.