Day 16 The Arrival

Day 0 - ... and the crowd began to gather. - Toronto to London (Gatwick), UK

I don't know how to explain it, or why it would be true, so il'l just say it plainly:  I tend to like people that I meet with Parkinson's Disease.  

Perhaps it is because many have lost or blunted their sharp edges - combativeness, hair triggers, Type personalities. Instead, I see people who are trying harder than the rest to keep their sh-t together while performing formerly ordinary tasks.  I see it when they seruptitiously strain to quiet a flickering hand so that it doesn't distract from the conversation. Or hands stuffed deeply into pockets, or stand with their back against the wall, or any other accomodation that they have made just to help keep the conversation more comfortable.  If hard work is a virtue, they are virtuous.

I got to meet a number of people with lives affected by PD today.  First off, I finally got to shake the hand of Rune, a strong Norwegian that I have been training with virtually for about 1/2 a year.  In the same vein, it was a pleasure to meet Declan first hand and thank him for all the effort to deliver a loaner bike to me. Or the people that kept streaming in over the course of the day; Eric, Rune 2, John and Jon, Eros and Andy (and a delightful woman whose name I could not commit to memory.)

I now have my loaner bike, and it is a beaut.  We will get to test it earl
y tomorrow, as we ride the 45 km to meet up with most of our team, with the remainder connecting the day after that.  Apparently, we will encounter a very steep hill en route.  Our first test.

Tomorrow, I see England, I see France, I see ... a long road ahead. But first, hopefully, a timezone nullifying sleep.