It's Official - I'm Nuts...

[MikeO]

20th May

So I’ve been feeling crap. And I decided to take a few days off. And the Adv needed new tyres. And front discs & pads. And I needed to do my laundry.

If you put all these requirements into a computer, it will point you at Room 134 of the Motel 6 at Watsonville and suggest you stay there for a few days. I’m easily led, so here I am…

I did the laundry first, interspersed with a lot of sleeping.

Laundry TICK

Then I went to see a doctor – I eventually found a ‘Doc in a Box’ walk-in surgery, about a mile away. I had an hour’s consult with the very efficient & pleasant Dr dePana, during which time we discussed ailing parents, homesickness, the break-up of relationships, deadlines, ‘celebrity’, sleep patterns, routine, lack of routine, caffeine, alcohol, stress, depression, what a lucky bastard I was, how much he’d like to do what I’m doing and exhaustion.

Apparently I’m exhausted. The treatment is a mix of a lot of things. Riding less and meeting more people; switching to de-caff; avoiding regular alcohol; getting a minimum period of sleep per day; saying ‘no’ when I feel too tired to do something; take some happy pills; calling home regularly*; eating more fruit & veg; drinking more (non alcoholic )…

*The doc reckons that my lack of structured social support (in layman’s terms – friends & family) is a major factor in my exhaustion...

He’s also concerned about the stiffness I have in my finger joints in the morning. This is a problem I’ve had in the past when I’ve been in a high stress situation (I posted on it on UKGSer, thinking it was connected to the vibration of the Big Pig – it wasn’t – it was a result of a trapped nerve in my neck, caused by bad posture, in turn caused by a stress ’hunch’). He asks me to go to a lab and have a blood test to ensure I don’t have arthritis. This is the only piece of advice I decide to ignore. I argue the toss for a bit (the RAF medics did all this and drew a blank 2 yrs ago – I’m not wasting money on something I know will be negative).

Dr dePena is very cooperative and, kindly, charges me the minimum consult fee - $91. The prescription stuff he writes for me costs a further $60ish – really makes you appreciate the NHS…

Medical TICK

So I ride my bike up to Santa Clara and get the tyres I ordered yesterday fitted. I remove the wheels (easy as the panniers are empty) and I get the pair of tyres mounted & balanced for $266 – which is about $100 less than BMW Santa Cruz was going to charge. I must say the guy behind the counter was a bit offhand, though the youngster who did the fitting was a nice bloke. As an added bonus, I apparently miss meeting Fish, who had arranged an appointment to meet me at the tyre fitter – an appointment which only he knew about…

Tyres TICK


I ride back to Watsonville (I had to take a picture of this bumper sticker )

and find an Email saying that my brake discs are in unexpectedly early and offering to fit them today, rather than tomorrow afternoon I drop the Adv off and have a mooch around the service department.

They have just assembled a red 1200GS – unlike the UK version, this one has a charcoal fuel canister – on the 1200 it’s behind the left footrest…

…this 1200 has had an unfortunate accident whilst in the crate…

BMW Santa Cruz look after Police bikes…

…I’ve seen the CHiPs on the freeway today – they really do ride about in pairs, alongside one another – they also wear short sleeved shirts

Police riders aren’t immune to SMIDSY (for the benefit of our colonial viewers – Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You) – This guy was on a call when a woman talking on a cell-phone and driving a Suburban Assault Vehicle pulled directly into his path…

He broke an ankle & a few ribs.

I pay my $595 bill – not a cheap day today, then ride down to the jet-wash to finish the job off…

Brakes TICK

I’m going to spend tomorrow doing….nothing. Maybe I’ll go & see Shrek II or Troy, maybe not. I’ll see how the happy pills are affecting me and start travelling again on Saturday.

I’d just like to close by saying how much I appreciate the concern for my welfare expressed by so many people on both sides of the Atlantic. I have been very touched by all your messages and best wishes. It matters - thank you.

 

[MikeO]

20th May

I wake feeling great. I ring home and have a good chat to Paul & Mandy, sorting out some personal admin and, as I'm talking, Pierce turns up on his R1100RS to take me for a shortened version of the route I wimped out on the other day.

I fire the Adv up and we're on the road for noon, pausing for a few minutes at a scruffy little Mexican cantina to eat a few tacos, laced with a chili sauce which will remain with me for several days...

It's a beautiful day, warm and dry with little wind. Pierce leads me up through a series of tiny little back roads which were re-surfaced sometime in the late eighteenth century. We stop for a breather at the top...

...Pierce points out a local danger to me...

...Poison Oak. If you touch this stuff, whatever part of your body has come into contact with it will, effectively, be out of action for about 3 weeks. I won't go into the lurid details that Pierce did, but, take it from me, you don't want to touch this stuff...

We carry on, weaving in and out of the potholes and overtaking the occasional cars we encounter...

...riding down some beautiful, sun dappled lanes which cling to the sides of steep wooded valleys...

We eventually reach the 'Summit' of Summit Road, a favourite spot for the local squids, who weren't much in evidence. Just after we arrived, Costas turned up on his MV Brutale...

He's a Greek, living in California, and waited 3 years for delivery of the bike, which looks like it was in the showroom this morning, but in fact has over 4k miles on the clock...

He's a really nice guy - and his bike is beautiful - if you're under 5'10" and 150lbs .

Pierce & I take a long, lazy and very pleasant ride down towards Santa Cruz, at which point we go our seperate ways (I have stuff to do at the hotel and am not really up for a beer - listening to my doctor, you see ).

I arrive at the hotel at about 1730 after a thoroughly pleasant day out - cheers Pierce

 

[MikeO]

Hooked a live one!...

23rd May

Today I’d arranged to meet Fish, the head moderator and Piscean in chief of ADVRider. To arrange such a meeting is no easy procedure. Indeed , we had to exchange a total of 14 Private Messages and one telephone call to exactly pin down the time (1400) and place (the Boulder Creek Brewery & Café). However, when I arrived at the appointed Rendezvous, I saw Fish approaching from the other direction…

Fish has spent much time trying to preserve his youthful appearance. There’s not a grey hair on his head…

We sit and eat traditional American food (cheeseburgers – though, being California, Fish’s has avocado in it ) and bullshit for an hour or so, before we have to go our separate ways – Fish because he has to look after his wife, who is at home with a sore throat, me because I’m bored…

On the way back to my hotel, I notice a local artist is selling his wares, carved from driftwood, at the side of the road…

…whereas the artwork is of excellent quality, I can’t imagine where anyone would put them…

I can see far more business acumen in another store I pass…

I’ll be packing up tomorrow morning and heading south, down the Pacific Coast Highway for a bit – the rest has done me good – as has meeting Fish today – he’s good people – just don’t let him know that