Post date: Jun 3, 2016 6:02:37 AM
Where should I start? The bear that woke me up this morning? The rip in my tank bag? Or the fact that I'm sick?
When I made camp last night, some locals said that there had been reports of bears in the area. Perhaps that's why they were camped in a small cabin. All I have is my tent, and with proper precautions taken, everything should be ok. At least I thought.
After making camp, I set out to find a good place to lash up my bear hang. I snatched up a handful of fallen leaves and crumbled them in the air to determine wind direction. The last thing I want is to be downwind from my food and have a bear wander into my camp first - not good. I found a good branch up the hill about 75 yards and marked that task off the list.
Sometime later that night, I started to not feel so good. The only thing I had eaten to that point was Outback Steakhouse for dinner last night and Chic-fil-A the next afternoon. I took my friends out to eat before I left their house. My buddy commented that the extra sauce I requested looked a little darker in color than the original. I'm not certain if Outback was the culprit, but I couldn't tarry far from a commode. I struggled through the night and didn't sleep much.
I woke up at about 0500 and laid there for a moment with my eyes closed. I was struggling with this bowel thing and just wanted to rest. That moment of peace was quickly cut short by the sound of two long sniffs right by my head outside of my tent. It was a bear! I quickly sprang up out of my sleeping bag, grabbed my bear spray & sidearm, and with a blood-curdling yell managed to scare the bear off. Shew! That was too close.
Then, the bowel thing reared it's head again, so I got dressed, hopped on the bike, and rode to the facilities. Not 30 yards away from camp I saw the sniffer - a sizable black bear scampering off into the woods. I'm blowing this picnic basket Boo Boo.
I didn't make it but 20 minutes down the road when I came across a Panera. I ended up staying there for two hours because I couldn't stay off the toilet. The longer I stayed, the worse I felt. I popped in to the Wal-mart across the parking lot and bought some drugs. While in the store, I had to sit down in the pharmacy section and rest. At that moment, I decided that I couldn't carry on any longer.
I found a Marriott about 10 minutes down the road where I've been holed up since about 1000 this morning. I slept most of the day. I've been to the commode at least 20 times. Admittedly, it was so bad that I shit bed once. Sorry, Housekeeping.
To make a bad situation worse, while leaving Panera I noticed that the map pocket on my tank bag has a slice in it. This is where I keep my Samsung tablet dry and visible while riding. WTF?! How did that happen? Obviously, this protected location has been compromised. I need to figure out something to seal the slice. Maybe some packing tape will do it? I sure hope so because if not, I'm in trouble. We'll find out tomorrow.
So here I am in this hotel room where I've been all day long. Sick as hell. I've mustered up some energy to get something to eat and write this post. I should be in Manhattan right now, but things change.
My words of wisdom for today: Be flexible.