The question of the day: what did I do with the day?
Honestly, there are some days out here that defeat the purpose of a bike-touring journal. Days like today, in which no bike touring happens and almost no real events of circumstance happen.
Scratch that. I would actually be touring is something of circumstance hadn’t happened. I woke up around 12:30 a.m. last night vomiting up a little pile of water. Unwelcome but not unexpected after having a monumental vomit 48 hours earlier. I wasn’t too discouraged until my body began shedding fluids out of, well, other orifices.
Diarrhea, vomiting, headache and muscle ache. I could have anything from swine flu to food poisoning. Maybe dehydration or heat prostration? I wouldn’t like to think so, as I have to make a 90-mile jump tomorrow through some of the hottest and lowest desert in America to get to the next pocket of civilization.
I was rushing in and out of the bathroom constantly until 1 p.m., which instantly killed my chances of making that jump by sunset today. My warmshowers host convinced me to stay another night, so I made use of the time by napping and sipping on water.
Towards the end of the day, the diarrhea finally passed and a downright ravenous hunger jumped up at me from nowhere. I unhooked every last bit of extra weight from the bicycle, and mounted it into town. With a cacophonous whoosh of wind yelling in my ears and my closed sinuses broadcasting a Darth Vader pant throughout my head, I squinted underneath the fire-red sunset and ached my way into town. An hour later I was napping face-down on a gas station table, filled with Quiznos and broccoli soup. A half-hour after that I was curled up in the fetal position on top of a poofy Starbucks chair, biding the time while my stomach painfully threw a fit about having to digest food.
What did I do today? I spent most of it doubled-over and hurting on a naked mattress, feeling like Martin Sheen in the intro of Apocalypse Now. For hours upon hours, I was riding a cascading spiral of hope and doubt as the pain either got worse and better.
I biked zero miles– eighty-five miles less than yesterday and ninety miles less than I plan to bike tomorrow. I took Ibuprofen and couple of Mexican Amoxicillins. I drank water with Emergen-C powder and refrained from dairy products and fatty solids. This stuff will probably be hell on my system today, but hopefully will go into effect tonight and kill off the sickness tomorrow. Then I’ll be able to do stuff again.
You could have salmonella. E-mail Kerlyn, and ask her about it. Then look it up on the web.
Aww Mom, I don’t have Salmonella. I also didn’t get lyme disease or a brown recluse bite. But thanks for worrying about me!
Kerlyn would not diagnose you without examination you, she is to professional for that. She could only tell you when it is time to see a doctor.
bromanyo, at what point are you going to the dr?
good question, Zoe`
Please do not take liberties with these symptoms. See a doctor as soon as you can.
How are you feeling George?
Gee George, I hope you get better real so so you can continue enjoying your trip. Take care and do see a doc.
PS—we miss you at Viking!
Miss you too, babe. I got real better– no need to see a doctor. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Time to get pedaling!
How are your insides doing now G? Food poisoning would come with high fever, and the bad one takes several days to grow. If you have a persistent fever you need to go to a doc in the box for a strong antibiotic that you take for five or seven days to kill the last little bastard.
Don’t just take a couple of amoxicillin, please. Did you eat questionable meat?
Insides are fine. I’m super-close to my destination and am more than ready to finally make it there! I didn’t eat any questionable meat, but now that I have to question it, I suppose all of the meat I’ve been eating lately would’ve been questionable.
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