July 9, 2024

Home, and I Brought a Friend

About 15:30, I pulled into my driveway. On Sunday, I rode about 630 miles, from Austin to Meridian, MS, just west of the Georgia state line. I covered the 330 remaining miles yesterday. While not the best riding, at least I know I can cover distances, if I need to on the bike. The BMW R 1200 GS was flawless on this trip, after s bit of trouble with the gas cap. Taking my time is obviously nicer, but I’m pretty proud of myself.

It finally got me.

Take it one step further: I had full-blown COVID since waking up Saturday morning. I had managed to avoid it for over four years, but it finally caught up with me—with all of us. Autumn probably gave it to me, and she likely got it from one of the boys, probably Henry. He was sick before they came to Texas. And Max always has some kind of funk. Autumn confirmed she was positive when they arrived home from Texas on Sunday morning after she couldn’t smell Max’s diaper. By that time, I had had a night of febrile sleep, shaky and cold-hot, had gotten up about 05:30, and was on the road by 07:15. I was feeling fine except for a sore throat and was enjoying the ride, northeast through Texas. I stopped about 11:00 for a soda and to check in when I got the news. I guess I could have gotten a test at a CVS, but I figured I was committed to this ride and didn’t bother. Some more ibuprofen, and I was off.

I still had my ability to smell, as occasionally I would ride through a wall of vapors from hell: like the ditches were lined with offal and entrails fermenting in the relentless Texas sun. These would just sneak up on me and make me want to retch, like I passed an invisible abattoir. WTF, Texas? Is your state rotting from within?

I made it to I-20 east by noon, and spent the rest of the day’s ride on the highway. Boring, but efficient. I was in Meridian by 17:30. I still felt OK, so I sought out dinner and watched the. last episode of The Boys again before calling it a night. I felt like ass the next morning; I had gunk in my lungs, but after being awake for a bit, I was ready to tackle the rest of the journey. A stop for Motrin in Selma, AL, at about 11:00, then another in Montgomery for coffee, were my longest pauses. I crossed into Georgia about 13:00. The last 40-or-so miles were the worst, but I have this theory about that: when I know I’m close to stopping, by body begins to anticipate it and starts to show its fatigue. This happens on most trips as I approach home.

It was after being home for an hour or so, post-shower, that I began to feel like I was really sick. That’s over-selling it: as far as illnesses go, this one is mild. My flu last February was much worse. Still, I was beat and was in bed fairly early.

Thus concludes my 2024 epic trip. In all, pretty successful. Now, I need a couple of days off, and I can get to work.