Today is Patriots’ Day in Massachusetts, a day commemorating the battles of Lexington and Concord. Refreshing your American History, Lex and Concord were the skirmishes that touched off the Revolutionary War. Incidentally, Maine celebrates Patriots’ Day because it used to be part of Massachusetts, but I have no idea why Wisconsin does.

Most of Boston celebrates Patriots’ Day by (drunkenly) cheering on runners of the Boston Marathon and (drunkenly) watching the 11 AM Red Sox game. This year, my friend Aaron decided he wanted to celebrate it a little differently so on Saturday he organized the 1st Annual Paul Revere’s Ride, a bike ride, following as closely as possible the route of Paul Revere’s midnight ride. Revere, you’ll remember, rode from Charlestown to Lexington to warn militias along the route that ‘regulars’ from the British Army were on the march. After 3 serious hills, the ride took us to the site where Revere was captured about 15 miles from Charlestown (though he was then released and made it to Concord to warn the arsenal which allowed the militias to win the day).

I ride to work everyday, but there’s a big difference between the 4.5 miles each way and the 31 total miles of the Paul Revere Ride. I was hurting afterward and spent the rest of the day in a haze of exhaustion. In any case, much fun was had by all (except one unfortunate fellow who blew a tube) and I’m already looking forward to next year.

(PS The comments in Universal Hub post from last year’s Patriots’ Day are really worth a read for everything that’s great about Massachusetts and the internet.)