East Coast Greenway-Bike Durham Fundraiser Ride

Marc Maximov is organizing this fundraiser.

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About Me

In December 2020, I fulfilled a longtime dream by undertaking a bike trip across the country. A week into the trip, on a lonely highway in the Arizona desert, I was hit by a wheel that detached from a horse trailer. The bike was destroyed, and I suffered a compound open fracture of the femur and tibia and nearly bled to death on the asphalt. I was airlifted to a hospital in Phoenix, where emergency surgery left me with two titanium rods in my leg. Since that horrific morning, I've been on a long, painful road to recovery.

I spent a couple of weeks in a rehab hospital, where I graduated from a wheelchair to crutches. I left the crutches behind in September 2021, and in mid-February I got back on a bike for the first time in over a year. I don't own a car, so being able to bike around Durham again was a real milestone. And while my right leg is still only about half-strength, my left leg can pick up the slack, so I've quickly regained the ability to go longer distances. So far, to my great delight, I've pedaled as far as 50 miles at a go without too much trouble.

About the Ride

Now I've set an ambitious goal: The two-day, 125-mile New York to Philly fundraising ride put on by the East Coast Greenway Alliance in May. If I can complete this ride, at least one dimension of my physical recovery will be complete. I'm ready for the challenge!

I'm grateful to the East Coast Greenway Alliance (based in Durham!) for putting on this ride. Their project of creating a throughline of safe routes (far from errant horse-trailer wheels) on the East Coast helps spread the joy of bike touring, an amazingly rewarding way to travel. I aspire to bike the full greenway one day, so cruising the New Jersey segment will be a nice preview.

About the Fundraiser

The funds I raise will be split between the ECGA and Bike Durham, the advocacy group whose board I currently chair. Bike Durham was recently named Advocacy Organization of the Year by the League of American Bicyclists, and our momentum is palpable. We advocate equally for pedestrian and transit improvements, so that everyone in Durham can get where they're going safely and with minimal cost to the planet and their pocketbooks.

Donations to Bike Durham will be matched by an anonymous donor, so that share of the total will be doubled. Thank you very much for helping our cause, and for inspiring me on my comeback ride!