Sick On The Road
Getting sick on a motorcycle trip is the worst.
There’s not much that puts more of a crimp in a vacation than getting sick. That was certainly the case with me on this recent aborted (for me) RMMRC California ride.
Getting sick on a motorcycle trip has got to be worse than so many other forms of travel. If you’re in a car with a couple other people you can just crash in the back seat and be miserable. Or if you’re on an airplane you can just be miserable while you fly. There’s nothing expected of you. Heck, I got sick on an airplane once and passed out. That would be a disaster on a motorcycle. You could die.
On a motorcycle you are the sole party responsible for operating the vehicle and if, for example, you get nauseous out in the middle of nowhere good luck getting stopped in time so you don’t puke in your helmet. And then you’re sick but you can’t exactly just choose to stay where you are–you have to get to somewhere.
So right from the start of this trip I was not feeling great but managed to keep going. It was only the morning of the third day when it hit me hard and I had to go back to the motel. Being sick away from home and all alone is nobody’s idea of fun. But I really want to give credit to the managers of the Snuggle Inn in Loa, Utah, for being as hospitable as anyone could possibly be. They offered me their car to drive to a nearby clinic and even offered to drive me there if need be, plus they were very solicitous of me and my needs every time I ventured out of my room. That mattered a lot! I will always be thankful to them for all they did.
Of course, terminating a trip in the middle of the trip has its own issues. I had to cancel all my motel reservations for the remainder of the trip or else I would have been charged for them. As for the motel for the third night, I just had to eat that because it was too late to cancel. But for the rest I got on the phone and made a bunch of calls.
All went well there except for one place. I reached someone at the desk and told the guy what I wanted to do and he asked me to call back after 3 p.m. because their computer was down at the moment. So after three I called and all I got was a recording saying they were not able to answer the phone now and no, you cannot leave a message. Call back later. I called back several times and got the same recording.
This reservation was not for several days yet so there was no rush, but once I got home a couple days later it was drawing much nearer so I called again. This time I got a fellow who sounded like the same guy I originally talked to but this time he told me I would need to cancel my reservation through Expedia. I’ve encountered this before and as has been the case before I explained to him that I did not book my stay through Expedia, I booked it directly through the desk by phone.
He said I should call Comfort Inn corporate or something and I said why should I do that? Why can’t you do it right now? He said call back at 2:30. I was angry. I shouted at him asking why I should call back at 2:30 when I had him on the phone right now?!! He canceled it. Jerk. He sounded Pakistani or something and I just suspect his rating and/or pay is tied to how much cash he brings in and a cancellation means less cash coming in, so he tries to foist the cancellation off on some other poor soul. Who gives a damn about the customer?
So yeah, being sick on the road is a bummer in more ways than one. But when it happens you just have to deal with it the best you can. I hope I don’t have to deal with that again any time soon.
Biker Quote for Today
“I saw Jesus so many times I started using him as a braking marker.” – Kenny Roberts
