I'd say I'm not a softie. I don't fear pain, I don't stop until I achieve my goal(s), I don't let idiots rule me. My GF would say I tear up at commercials, every sappy moment on TV and I'm about as hard as a bowl of jelly. But you know, it's all about how you perceive yourself right? haha, anyhow the whole point of that was for this: Leaving California. This has been hands down the most difficult thing I've ever done. Danny is a brother to me, so imagine you get to see your bro only so often, and you hold him in super high esteem, and just about as soon as you're used to seeing and enjoying their company you have to get back to the real world and travel 2k miles home to treatments that leave you hanging by a thread for days and the coming bone marrow transplant that will leave you like a recovering sack of puke for close to a year. There are amazing things I get to get back to as well, the familiarity of my favorite gym, my darling GF whose eyes will be like Niagara Falls, riding around the city, CASTAWAYS!!! but leaving Cali has never been easy. I wish like so many other vacations, that it could be permanent.
So I'm riding away and I'm heading to Yosemite to take in some sights, when I'm all like, "Nah, I'm goin to Tahoe!". So I did an about-face and tore up to get rerouted. Google Maps was busy catching up when I realized I would go right by Danny's again. I almost lost it. All the emotions welled up like a geyser at Yellowstone, but unlike those geysers I kept it down. It was tough and by no means fun, but stuffed 'em. I had to get on a different expressway (680 from the 880) and the quickest way was to exit and hop over a bridge and get on the other way. The problem was that it was rush hour and the only way to get on was a left turn that was backed up through 2 intersections. So I sat in traffic. I didn't lane split and tried my best to just sit tight, nice right? WRONG! The red warning light for overheating buzzed to life and let me know just how it felt about traffic. I uttered some words unknown to most Catholic priests, and ran a red, swerved around a bus and dodged traffic on my way to the expressway. The light went off as I made it under a bridge that shielded the bike from the sun. I turned her off and put her on her kickstand. I had plenty of time to dwell on the implications, so I called my gf to chat, we talked about nothing but it was just good to hear her sweet voice. But after awhile I realized she was getting things in order for her brothers 30th b-day (which i missed thanks to the tires for my bike being late and holding me back) so I let her go. I'm super lucky to have such a thoughtful girl, I'll have to figure out something to get her. So after the bike was on, no light!
I'm cruising, switching between splitting lanes and being a part of traffic. Splitting lanes on occasion makes me wicked stressed, I keep thinking I'm getting pulled over and going to jail. Anyhow, the red light comes on again but this time I'm able to immediately pull over. As I do, I feel a dampness on my butt and lower back. 'Shit. I've been shot. I shouldn't be cutting these people off. Yeah, that or I just sat on the nozzle of my CamelBak and it's spewed 3L of water all over me....ya glittery drama queen.' - Thoughts from my brain. I open the side cover and see the coolant is there, bubbling and flowing right out. Great. Call dad. Well, it's as if the water's coming and Noah didn't finish the ark. BIG. DEAL. No, really, it is a big deal, but Danny left for Denver and while he would've let me break into his house while they figured out my bike at the dealership, I just couldn't stay another day. Not very logical, but I felt I've overstayed by a lot at this point. Anyhow, I agree with pop that somethings wrong, but I let the bike cool and take her down the road, this time I'm keeping about 20mph above traffic and there's a lot of bikers lane splitting. Most drivers get out of the way and it's pretty great. I get through the traffic in about an hour jamming to Krewella the whole time. Once I'm through traffic I get into cruise mode. No red light.
Eventually I pull over at a rest stop to relax and take care of my bodily functions. I let my dad know the bike's running well and he shouldn't be concerned. Danny texts me about Tahoe and about a town I should stop in. He goes on and on about how beautiful it is. So I set my destination up and head back out on the road. I have to say this about the drive into Tahoe, beautiful. The gently winding roads go through elegant forests and cool air turns frigid the further you go. While the sun sets behind mountains and dense forest, the temperature plummets. That's right red light, see ya! Soon after my fingers go numb, I realize it's probably a good time to get off the road. I find the town I was looking for and head into a pizza shop to warm up and find a hotel. I get a hot tea and a 10" deep dish pizza. Live and learn right? Nobody does pizza like Chicago. The worst pie you get in Chicago, beats the daylights out of this garbage that I'm currently in a love affair with. Contradictory? Well here's the thing, when your body is depleted of the big 3, you get them any way you can. So my body loved the nourishment, but my inner soul was watching in horror as I 'enjoyed' the terrible deep dish pie. I found lodging about 3 miles away, which sounds great but after finally getting warm, going outside wasn't the first thing I wanted to do. Well, I did, and got there in once piece. I missed the turn a few times and the desk lady was super nice. Gave me a discount and was too genuinely nice, it was like overload. I kept the bike under the awning and hit the sack.
The next morning I woke up and thought to myself, "Such a beautiful place, maybe I'll stay...". Then I whipped open the curtains to expose a giant wall. Nope, that discount was purely based on the fact that I was staying in the shitty room. After conversations with my lovely gf I went and stuffed my face with the buffet fare and hit the road. At some point I left my coveted white UA hat, and I'm so pissed about that. But oh well. I grab the long underwear because it's like 51 F out and I'm not in the mood to freeze. I hit the road. On the way out I have an awesome conversation with a dude from Mass. and he's in Tahoe for business.....noted. Reevaluate career decision making when home. Filed in the 'to do' folder. Once on the road, I take in the breath taking views.
I was going through the windy descents and crossing all sorts of lanes and getting honked at by the semi's. Well, these views were un-freaking-real. There weren't any places to pull off and I was just beside myself trying to ride, look and control myself. Difficult things to do you know! I finally found a pull off and got a nice panoramic pic for the kids. On I go! My mind kept coming back to how soon I'd be back and I'd get the chance to share some of this with kids. Thinking of keeping this charity idea going and ballooning it into something more and all encompassing among the fact that there's nothing in Chicago like this, well it kept me busy. How in the blue sky do I give those kids these awesome feelings I've got while traveling through this wonderland? Some of those kids will never get to see this, and I think that's redoubled my efforts to explore, and play into the next trip decision. At this point in my journey, I'm going on I-80 East to home, passing through Utah, Wyoming, etc. Beautiful countrysides and wonderful people. But what about the prepubescent teens going through this? I think to myself, if I was 15, potentially facing something terminal besides the "Make a Wish" thing, what would I want. The answer was simple. Vegas.
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