It was late in the afternoon when I finished reassembling the bike so I arranged to stay another night at the motel in Lubbock. I planned to get up fairly early the next morning for a fresh start and decided a good meal was in order. So I walked a few doors down to a national chain restaurant and ordered a turkey and dressing dinner. This proved to be a BIG MISTAKE.
I didn't sleep very well that night. My stomach churned and I felt like throwing up several times. The next morning I wasn't really hungry but had a bagel and coffee. Then I packed the bike and began the ride into New Mexico.
My muscles ached and I had a headache all day. In addition, there were high wind gusts that made riding difficult. At one point I was riding directly into the wind and the bike would only go 55 mph with the throttle wide open.
There were very few places to pull off and rest out of the intense sun on
the route I took through New Mexico to Colorado.
I stopped for lunch in the early afternoon at Sante Fe and ordered a small hamburger. I ate about half of it as I simply had no appetite and my stomach felt queasy.
My headache worsened so I stopped around 3 PM in Espanola, NM and got a room. I went straight to bed and slept for almost five hours. When I awoke I drank a Gatorade and went back to bed.
I felt a little better the next morning and had a pastry and coffee for breakfast. Then I journeyed northward into Colorado.
I stopped for lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Pagosa Springs, CO. My stomach felt very queasy so I ordered a bland chicken noodle dinner. I could only choke down a few bites so after a half hour I resumed riding to Durango.
Scene from a few miles outside Durango.
I got a room in Durango, initially assuming I would only be there one night. That evening I got very sick and had to get up about every half hour. By morning I felt extremely weak and dehydrated. Eating was out of the question as I found the mere thought of food to be very repulsive.
It took about every bit of strength I could muster but I knew I had to get to the emergency room. Once there I had several tests run and was given a prescription to combat nausea and discharged with doctor's orders to follow.
As I was in no condition to ride I stayed in the same room for several additional days, mostly resting and trying to force myself to eat. I had not been this sick in quite a few years. Food poisoning is nothing to take lightly.
On one of the better days I decided to ride the Durango Silverton Railroad. I rationalized that I could either sit in the room or sit on the train, so I chose the train. The morning went fairly well but by afternoon I was feeling quite sick. Still, I saw some beautiful scenery and did enjoy it.
With every day that passed I saw the trip itinerary become further jeopardized and the schedule slipping away. When I finally felt well enough to ride again it was obvious that I would have to ride extremely hard for several days with no further problems to even have a chance of connecting with the ferry to Alaska. It was with great reluctance that I decided to let it go.
I considered visiting the Grand Canyon but saw several news clips showing severe wildfires and temperatures in the triple digits about a hundred miles south of there. It would probably be better to visit another time.
So I decided to return home to regroup and examine my options for best utilization of the time remaining.