Today Eleven riders rode out of Powell at the crack of dawn and headed south and mostly east. We rode 62 miles out to Johnstown and back. The roads were littered with riders as central ohio gets ready for Pelotonian next weekend. It was fun to share the road with so many like minded folks. Tomorrow, however won’t even compare. Tomorrow is going to be EPIC.
Tomorrow, you see, we’ll ride an 8 mile loop that won’t get us out of Powell proper. It won’t matter. You see, tomorrow we’ll ride with my friend Markleville (aka the VET). Markleville, you may remember, is lucky to be alive. Two years ago his immune system unexplainably turned on him, left him in a coma for 2 weeks and hospitals for months, and months, and months. A weaker man, according to his docs, would not have made it. Markle made it.
His therapists and docs told him that he was lucky to be alive and to count his blessings. They told him that a wheelchair would most likely be his the only two wheeler he would ever ride. A walker and a cane at best.
They didn’t know Markleville. Markleville is one of the strongest men I’ve ever met and his will matches his skill. So, tomorrow, nearly 2 years since his illness took him down, he’ll mount his Trek Madone and spin out for his first group ride with the other boys. He’s been out on his own and with me a few times. He can do this. He wants to ride with the old group, however, and be a part of the community that we enjoy.
Tomorrow, he will.
Our community just got better. Markleville is back. I can hardly wait to ride…
BUILT TO LEAD 