~~~
Day’?s Verse:
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (context)
~~~

This blog is for and about Ian. You read about me riding long miles each weekend, and maybe you think I’m doing this amazing thing. But what you don’t realize is that without Ian’s constant support, I would have failed long ago. He provides physical and emotional nourishment that keeps me going, without which I would probably just keel over and die.

While I’m off riding my bike, he goes to the grocery store, takes out the garbage, does other chores (and, yes, plays WoW—but six hours is a long time to spend all by yourself) and waits for me to call if I have a problem.

He acts as my own personal OnStar system when I get lost; if I’m confused about a turn, I call him, he checks Google Maps, and directs me right.

When I get home covered in sweat and grit, he has a tall glass of icy orange juice waiting for me. He makes me big sandwiches to eat in my bath as I recover from my long rides.

He keeps the house running when I neglect it for weeks on end.

He patiently spends nearly all day every weekend by himself while I’m off exploring rural Massachusetts for five or six hours at a time.

He never complains that I spend more time with my bike than with him.

He drives to meet me when my route ends far from home, and he has icy water waiting for me too.

He plans out elaborate routes according to my specifications (“Route 119 was too busy; I’d rather avoid that,” or “I don’t want to go up too many hills today,” or “I’d like to go through Rhode Island and Connecticut in one ride”), then laboriously prints the maps turn by turn, highlighting my route across the sometimes prodigiously thick packets. I consult these maps frequently, sometimes almost constantly; without them I’d never find my way. Those routes in my last post? Ian made them. A list of turns just doesn’t cut it for someone as prone to lostness as I am.

In short, without Ian I’d literally be lost, hungry, and miserable. Instead, I rarely go astray, I quickly get fed nutritious recovery food, and I get to share my experiences with an interested person. So thank you, Ian, for really making my long training rides doable. I couldn’t do any of it without you.

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Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
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