FUCK 2020!!!

 

 Nobody is going to have fond memories of 2020. It was a horrible year for a number of reasons. The main reason of course was the pandemic. Although we knew about Covid-19 last January nobody really understood how bad it was until March when the case and death count rose dramatically and it was officially declared a pandemic. As of today John Hopkins website shows that over 1.8 million people have died world wide with over 342,000 in the US alone. That is a lot of tragic stories of fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and friends dying an untimely death. And unfortunately it is not over as the case and hospitalizations are at an all time high and we are setting new records almost daily.

There is some good news as there are now a couple of vaccines available that should help stop the pandemic but it may be a few months before enough people are vaccinated to see a drop in cases and deaths. This means the first few months of 2021 are going to be a continuation of 2020 but at least there is hope that 2021 will be a year of improvement and healing. 

The pandemic was not the only thing that made 2020 a bad year. There were months of civil unrest because of the inequality in our country as highlighted by the death of George Floyd, Breonna Talyor and too many others. On top of that there were horrible wild fires in the west that burned millions of acres and thousands of home. There was a record number of hurricanes this year. Its like nature is angry at us. And there were of course Murder Hornets invading the US. 

On a personal note I lost my mother in January which was a sad start to the year. As the pandemic set it I was anxious of course but I was already working remote so it wasn't as big a change for me as for other people. My wife and I have taken a very cautious approach to the pandemic and have limited our contact to a very small circle of friends and family and this has kept us safe and disease free but has meant no vacations or family gatherings (Although to be honest I don't miss certain members of my family that much). 

I do know a few friends who got Covid but luckily none has had a bad case so I have yet to be directly impacted in any big way by the pandemic. My heart does go out the people who lost loved ones and are struggling because or lost wages or jobs. I know things will get better soon but it is a very painful time for a lot of people that is going to leave scars that we will all need to help heal (especially the nurses and doctors that are on the front lines of this). 

I am thankful during this year that I had the insane bike posse as it helped keep me sane. It was just good to get out and do something almost normal. In the beginning of the pandemic we stopped riding together but as we got more information about the virus and how it spread we found ways to safely ride together like most other bike groups. 

Because of the pandemic we didn't do any bike trips this year but we did go to a few places in NJ that we haven't been in a while and is something we will continue next year. We also got together on Zoom meetings like most other people. Initially it was to check in with each other and talk about the pandemic and how to safely ride together. We kept it going most of the year to keep some type of social interaction going. This year has been the most fucked up year of my life but I'm glad I had my bike and a few friends to make this year a little more bearable.