I'm Feeling Like Shit, And I Don't Like It

Tuesday, June 26, 2007 - Day 5

Distance Traveled - 0 miles

So I didn't go north today. I was so exhausted after yesterday, I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to push it today. Then, on top of that, my good friend Edson called me and told me that his band Dusty Rhodes and the River Band were playing a free show in Hollywood. Well, I was pretty bummed that I hadn't had the chance to say goodbye to those guys before leaving, and I hadn't seen them play in a while, so I decided to stick around Venice for a day and go see D. Rhodes play.

Well, first item on my agenda after getting breakfast this morning was to lay on the beach and try to eliminate some of this farmer's tan I have accumulated over the past few days. It starts at my wrists and ends just below my shoulders. I thought I should try to even it out a bit. So I rode the one block to the beach and laid out and read a book for almost 3 hours in just my boxers. (Which I find it funny that some people think it's weird to just wear your boxers to the beach. I mean it's no less revealing than most swim suits, it just isn't designed for swimming. So I laid out for a good chunk of time, soaking up the rays, even though it was overcast for a large part of the time. Silly, silly me, forgets all about sunburns. I put some suntan lotion on my nose because it's already a bit burned, and a little on my arms as well. I didn't touch anything else. Smart.

So now my stomach and back are glowing red. They are in a bit of pain. On top of that, I drank quite a bit of water, but probably not enough. I didn't eat amazingly well. I don't think I can eat as fatty and unhealthy of food on my days of rest as I can on days when I ride. Then, before the show, Andrea and I had a bit of the Tainted peanut butter. I was on the very cautious side after last time. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with how I feel now. I'm sure it didn't help, though. Then at the show I had one beer, thinking that would be okay. That was dumb, and it cost me $7 for a Corona. I can get a 6-pack for that price. I'm an idiot. So now I'm back at Andrea's, feeling like shit. My stomach is burning, I'm hungry but don't feel like eating anything, I have a fever and the chills, and did I mention I feel like shit. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Hopefully I can sleep this off. I'm going to play it extra safe tomorrow, and not ride if I don't feel 100%. It's going to be a short day tomorrow, but I'll be camping, so no fucking around there. There's no warm bed, easy bathroom, convenient kitchen, or close-by drug or grocery store there.

It was great to see some friends today, though. I always love seeing the Dusty crew, and other friends were there as well. It's funny to have already had a big goodbye party and parting words with these people and then run into them a few days later. Everyone kept asking, "So when do you start?" Man, it has already begun. I'm not quite knee deep in it yet. I have returned to L.A. County after all, but I also have almost done 200 miles.

Well, I need to get my stupid ass to bed. I love how much of this journal so far is about some really dumb mistakes I've made. But hey, better to make those idiotic mistakes here, where I am still really close to friends, then to make them 800 miles down the line in personally unchartered lands. It's like when I sliced the end of my pinky off a few weeks ago. Some may see it as a horrible accident, but I see it is a great thing to have happened. Now I know just how sharp my knife is. It precisely glides through layers of flesh without so much as a hesitation. Luckily I did hit my finger pretty high up, so only a small chunk was extracted. And until I washed it off, I thought I only had a small cut. Three minutes later I had to sit down because I was about to faint. Those fingers, they're so unassuming at first, but they circulate a lot of blood.

So anyway, the best thing I can do is learn from these mistakes. I'm sure there will be more to come, just as long as they're not repeats, I'm okay with that. I will post some pictures tomorrow. For now, it's time to crash.

Peace

OTIS








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