One other returning finalist remained in the competition. Kavya Shivashankar, 12, of Olathe, Kan., stayed alive by spelling the agricultural term "Krummholz."

For comic relief, there was Easun Arunachalam, who has a habit of treating every word as if it were the strangest thing he's ever heard. The 11-year-old from La Crescenta, Calif., blurted "What?" when presented with the chemical compound "benzophenone." After asking the usual spate of questions -- definition, word origin, alternate pronunciations -- Easun spelled the word flawlessly.

Then there was Jahnavi Iyer, who pondered the medical term "solidungulate" until she finally asked, "Could I have an easier word, please?" . . . The 14-year-old from Enola, Pa., took a guess, nailed every letter, and trotted back to her seat with arms raised in celebration.

We don't do fear. Over the last 105 years in the saddle, we've seen wars, conflicts, depression, recession, resistance, and revolutions. But every time, this country has come out stronger than before. We've watched a thousand hand-wringing pundits disappear in our rearview mirror. Chrome and asphalt put distance between you and whatever the world can throw at you. Freedom and wind outlast hard times. And the rumble of an engine drowns out all the spin on the evening news. If 105 years have proved one thing, it's that fear sucks, and it doesn't last long. So screw it. Let's ride.