Like roughly half our nation who voted for Hillary, I've been bouncing around in a mix of shock, anger, disappointment and fear since the election results came out. And I'm left with a question that many of us with a progressive viewpoint are asking. Now what?

In his concession speech, Tim Kaine gave me the clarity and direction I was seeking - the shortest sentence of his short speech hit me like a lightning bolt.

"The work remains."

When you see a team of bikers riding in a line, one close behind the other, there's good reason. The riders in the back are drafting off of the rider in the front. It's harder for the lead rider - they have to expend way more energy in that position - but the riders behind can move at the same speed while expending significantly less energy. Studies have shown that this drafting line, called a peloton, increases the team's overall speed while allowing them to reduce overall effort by as much as 40%. It gives the team stamina and speed.

Throughout the race, the team members rotate through the roles while never interrupting their pace. When the front rider gets tired and can't lead anymore, they fall back and the next rider in line cranks up their effort and the rest of the line drafts behind their new leader, saving energy, racing forward with less effort, waiting to lead. Every rider serves in the lead position at some point.

Each team develops their own specific practices, but peloton racing always requires focus, communication and collaboration. To get the drafting benefit, the riders must stay very close together, with the wheels of the bikes only a few inches apart. Because all riders are focused on the bike ahead, they lose awareness of what's around them. When another team or a car is coming from behind, the rider in the rear notices it first and yells up the line that they are being overtaken. The bikers pass the call up the line. Before the lead rider falls back, they yell out to the biker just behind, and that rider yells out that they are ready to move up into the lead. The other bikers yell out a personal salute or thanks to the lead as they fall back down the line.

Hillary Clinton is a brilliant, tireless and dedicated leader who did a remarkable thing by any measure. She was this country’s first female nominee for President, and she achieved more popular votes than her rival. She powerfully led our cause, our thinking and our progress for decades. And now she's dropping back from that front position. Let her. Tell her we are ready to take the lead position for a while. It's time for her to draft off a new lead rider. Honor as she falls back.

She’s not done. She's still in the race with us. That’s who she is.

It's time for us to thank her and the others who brought us this far by moving up and leading the line. One of us, some of us, all of us must crank up our effort. It's going to take close communication and focus. We're going to have to call out to our team when we're tired and need to fall back. We're going to have to watch our wheels and collaborate and work closely together. This is a very real case where we are stronger together. And we must not interrupt our pace or be overtaken again from behind, because . . .

Three days ago, a fellow American of middle-eastern descent was told by another rider on a train in San Francisco that President Trump was going to deport him.

Two days ago, a kid spray painted “whites only” on the wall of a girl's bathroom in the high school in Roselle, IL.

Today, in Clay County, West Virginia, County Director Pamela Taylor published a post on Twitter about First Lady Michelle Obama saying “It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I’m tired of seeing an ape in heels”. The mayor of Clay, WV, Beverly Whaling responded to the post with a Tweet saying “Just made my day Pam.”

The work remains.