Last night I was eight miles into my 21-mile bike commute home when my chain broke. My two companions and I did not have a chain tool so I went through my phone calling co-workers who I knew would be passing by the exit where we were located on their drive home. I finally secured a ride and instead of requesting the ride from our location on the north end of Rose Canyon, I asked to be picked up in Pacific Beach on the south side of the canyon. To make use of this time, Steven and I ended up tying our belts together and attaching one end to the head tube of my bike and the other to Airey’s seat post. Please note (see picture): Airey rides a single-speed bike. It’s not a fixed-gear because it has a freewheel but to tow my 215-pounds of flesh, bicycle and backpack behind a single-speed bike is no easy feat—for a mortal.

Airey wins the “Beast of the Day Award” (which I just made up) for selflessly rising to the challenge and expertly leading the tow through the darkness of Rose Canyon. We were 100 percent focused on task as to prevent a crash. My front wheel was less than three feet from his rear wheel with our primitive tow-system. If you’re ever in need of a tow, call Airey’s Tow Service to bail you out (or carry a chain tool).

Last Friday, I took the “red-eye” from San Diego to Newark, New Jersey--arriving at 6:15 a.m. on Saturday. My brother and his wife were waiting for me, coffee in-hand, for the drive to our home town Northfield, Massachusetts. My mother was expecting Steve and Michele for breakfast and had no idea I was with them. This surprise, two months in the making, was originally designed to surprise my father for his 60th birthday. Realizing that he would be in Boston until Saturday night for a meeting, we kept my mom out of the loop to make it a dual-surprise.

It worked perfectly. Steve and Michele dropped me down the street and they continued on home, greeted my mom and then I rang the front doorbell. When the door opened, my mom froze—taking five seconds to process the situation. Tears of joy and excitement and hugs soon followed along with a group hug with Steve and Michele who were the brains of the operation.

We all caught up over a huge breakfast and planned out the day’s events, including the big birthday surprise for that evening. Steve and I measured, trimmed and set-up our 8-foot Christmas tree in the front room, stacked wood in the basement for the wood stove and went for a 5-mile run while my mom and Michele prepared the decorations and the meal.

Our run was long over-due. If you all remember from May/June, Steve and I were supposed to run the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon together. He ended up running it alone, with Michele and I cheering him along, because I turned up lame with an over-use injury. So Steve and I ran through our old town together, enduring the 30-degree temps and covering 5 miles in 37 minutes. We followed up the run with a three-set series of hanging leg lifts, medicine ball push ups and bicep curls.

My Dad arrived home that evening to his whole family waiting for him. The look on his face was priceless. The entire experience was the making for a Visa commercial. It couldn’t have gone any better. Our celebration that evening was one that we will cherish forever.