A tale of heartwarmery

I'm still 36 miles away from 4000 miles. I haven't been on the bike in 10 days and instead I've been riding that roller coaster of emotions and unknowns since the injury: "When will I get to ride again?" "Will I need surgery?" "How long is the recovery?"

Everyone's been very supportive and empathetic... because every cyclist has that thought in the back of their heads: you never know when you'll sustain an injury that will keep you off the bike for a while. Knowing that I have bad knees I somewhat expected a doozy to hit me one day or another.

So, it's circulated amongst my cyclist friends that I 'needed' 36 miles: they brainstormed and Marko offered to tandem ride me around for the remaining 36 miles. It would 'count' if I was pedaling with one leg, right? A bakfiets or pedal-cab wouldn't count because I wouldn't be pedaling.

The offer alone means more than those 36 miles. Marko is one of the kindest, most generous souls I've had the honor of encountering.