Message from Tim

Tim sent this to me while he was on his way home. I will pick him up at the Spokane airport late in the evening today. As I write this, Tim's flight from Dubai has landed in LA. Just one more flight from LA to Spokane—Priscilla

From Tim:

I am currently flying home on a 36 hour air tour from Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, to Spokane.  I have a lovely business class ticket on Emirates as a painful posterior is the issue sending me home.

I completed 2800 miles from Egypt through Malawi feeling strong and comfortable in the saddle.  On March 18th after a gorgeous 85 mile day with 5800 feet of climbing I developed some discomfort.  The next day I made it 35 miles before calling it quits.

I had somehow developed a deep tissue abscess that medical staff determined would not heal without minor surgery and time.  

I spent about a week painfully bouncing along in the luggage truck conflicted with one foot headed home and the other still hopeful of riding.  The daily challenges of camping and keeping oneself clean (a relative term) are less tolerable without the adventure of the ride.  Not having the common experience of the day's ride and very challenging cellular connectivity in Malawi messes with your mind.  As we approached a March 28th rest day in Lusaka, Zambia and getting back on a bike was still weeks away, Priscilla booked me a flight home.  With both feet now headed the same direction, others noticed a more upbeat Tim as I packed for travel home.  

I of course would have loved to complete the tour.  As is, I had a great 2800 miles exploring a new part of the world and met an amazing group of strong riders from many countries.  I return home for a low drama reason but don’t have the extended hospitalizations that went with our tour's more interesting fails.