Riding my motorcycle is generally a good form of mental therapy. I find that it requires a level of attention that induces a degree of mindfulness, inducing the closest to a Zen like state that my over-active mind can achieve. So I jumped at the chance when the opportunity came in 2023 for me to get out on my bike for a ‘proper’ road trip for the first time in several years.

The plan

Riding had taken a back seat for a few years by 2023. First there was the COVID pandemic, then our move to the Kootenays, and finally Irene’s cancer diagnosis. Two wheel therapy was limited to a couple of smaller two or three hour rides here and there: my attention was definitely elsewhere, and rightfully so.

But an opportunity eventually arose. Irene’s treatments were going reasonably well, and her friend Julia was coming to visit for a week or so. Irene suggested I could get out for a road trip during that week, and I decided a motorcycle ride to the Lower Mainland would fit the bill. I could visit my family around the Chilliwack area and get my bike in for service at the dealer there, and maybe even connect up with some riding buddies.

My ride was to start on June 17th, and Julia arrived as planned a few days before, to my surprise having just finished a sea cruise. Julia was pretty ill with cold or flu like respiratory complaints when she arrived which she indicated had developed within the previous 24 hours. She went to the local urgent care before I left and they said she probably had the flu and sent her home. Irene and I talked and initially I was going to cancel my trip, but we convinced ourselves that it was okay for me to set out.

The ride

The trip from Castlegar to Chilliwack is a fairly easy day ride, 520 km and maybe 7 hours of riding / driving with a couple of brief stops. But I decided to split it up, stopping at about the midway point in Osoyoos. It had been a while since I’d ridden more than a couple hundred kilometres at a stretch, so taking it easy seemed wise.

The ride to Osoyoos was pretty uneventful and felt great. I had a nice room booked at the Holiday Inn there and, although I felt a little tickle in my throat by the time I arrived, I was looking forward to the rest of my ride.

The plague

I’m writing this a year after the fact so my memory is a bit hazy. As I recall it, I was terribly sick that night in Osoyoos with a fever and vomiting. I stayed an extra night there in the hope that I could get feeling better, and considered turning around. By this point Irene was ill as well, but again we convinced each other to proceed with our plans. I continued on to Chilliwack on the 19th, masking up whenever I was in contact with anyone. I checked in to the Comfort Inn that night and was out like a light,

My symptoms continued the following day, although I was well enough on the 20th to ride my bike to Mountainview HD for my service appointment. I also had the energy to make it across the road from the hotel to get flu meds and a COVID test kit. I was getting pretty suspicious at this point that it was COVID that I was experiencing. Concurrent with all of this, Irene spent a day in the hospital feeling very ill. She recovered very quickly, though, unlike both Julia and I who remain sick for days and weeks to follow.

The COVID test I took was positive- well, at least I can say I have had that now. Irene got her test results back- COVID as well. Julia was never tested. My entire time in Chilliwack, from June 19th to 22, was spent in my hotel room recovering and maintaining isolation. There were no nice visits with family and no get-togethers with riding friends. My ride home was good although I wasn’t in the best of shape to enjoy it.

Interestingly I also lost my sense of smell for a couple of weeks, although I did eventually get it back. COVID is an interesting infection.

Lessons learned

The main thing I learned is that anyone who visits immediately after an ocean cruise should probably spend at a week or so in isolation first. But even when we all do our best to take care of each other things don’t always work out as expected. I also probably should have cancelled my road trip before I started, but that is easy to say in retrospect. I had been looking forward to getting out on my bike for a while, and opportunities didn’t come along often.

I had another chance to turn back when I was sick in Osoyoos. But at that point the logic Irene and I shared was that I had already gone half way, and since my symptoms didn’t match Julia’s it could be something unrelated. The good news, though, is that I didn’t push myself as I might have in the past. I gave myself an extra day in Osoyoos, and I cancelled all of my visiting plans. Hunkering down in a hotel for several days being sick is a waste, sure: but I didn’t spread the germs to all my friends and family.

It was a motorcycle ride, and I didn’t make things as bad as I might have. I’ll count that as a win.