8 weeks and counting down
I know I said in the last dispatch that I would do a rundown of some gear, make a nice list for y’all, but I’m not going to do that this time. I’ve got eight weeks to go until it’s go time, and I have to start making real preparations, so I’m going to talk about that a bit. Open items on my todo list.
First item on my todo list I got done this last Monday: get clearance from the doc to do this at all. I have a kidney disease that has progressed enough that I’ve begun the process of getting a transplant. While the surgery itself only takes a couple hours, the preparations start at least 18 months out. In cases like mine where they know what’s coming, the protocol now is to start the workups as early as possible, and try to avoid as much time on dialysis as possible. Dialysis keeps you alive, but the long term side effects are not great. I also have at least one volunteer to give me one, which is enough. A couple other people have offered, too, which completely floored me every time it happened.
All that is to say, my kidneys are good enough to get me through this trip; my eGFR is either 19 or 21, depending on which calculation is used, and won’t be much lower in two months. All my other numbers are sort of hovering above the line where they’re bad enough to worry about too; it seems I’ve been granted a little more time, which is what I’d hoped for. I’m starting to feel tired more quickly, probably due to reduced hemoglobin and red blood cell counts, but that’s also above the line where I need to worry.
The good news is the transplant center has pretty good numbers, about a 93% success rate overall. That’s a pretty good chance that this time next year I’ll feel better than I have in years, but on the off chance that I don’t, well, that’s one of the reasons for this trip. We do what we can with the days we have, and have to be satisfied with it, at the end.
Other than that, there’s a ton of physical prep. I’m still working on the luggage rack. I finished the welding earlier today, and while the welds are not pretty, they’ll hold for the loads I’m carrying. Basically all that’s left is to paint them and loctite all the bolts that hold them to the bike, so they don’t vibrate loose. Also I need to order loctite.
I need to sew two big saddlebags to fit the racks. One is going to be a somewhat odd shape to fit around the muffler, and will probably hold my motorcycle tool kit. The kit will be pretty basic, enough tools to do an oil change or fix a flat, no more. I need to make that list, and probably buy a few things that I have in shop-tool form but not roadside-tool form. I have high-viz yellow fabric for the saddlebags, and I might sew a bunch of patches on them. since the idea is that the bags that go into these are already waterproof, the extra seam/needle holes won’t matter. Maybe, if I have time.
I’ve got to figure out shipping the bike to Minnesota. The friend I was going to have hold onto it can’t, for a good reason, so I need to see if there’s a company that will hold it at a depot for me and let me pick it up on a Saturday. Failing that, I may have to fly in on a Thursday evening or a redeye (yuck) that Friday to pick it up. Also I need to find out if I can leave a saddlebag tied to the bike with my camping gear; it would be nice not to have to haul everything on the plane (also I can’t take camp stove fuel on an airplane, so I’d have to find an REI somewhere).
I also need to order my airbag vest. This is a garment that has a system that detects a crash while it’s happening and inflates an airbag around the rider’s torso and neck. They’re required in a lot of races now, and they significantly decrease chances of injury (fractures specifically) in the case of a crash. I just can’t decide which one to get. So: decide and buy, that’s two things I need to do.
I’ll probably go over the itinerary again and switch up at least a few of the days. I’d like to have two in Yellowstone, maybe? It’s legitimately huge, could be a whole two week trip by itself, but I don’t think that’s in the cards this time. Might do a side trip to see the Grand Tetons, they’re kind of right there, but also I might just need a rest day. That would be day 8 or 9. I might skip both parks and see them another trip, and have a nice rest day in Bozeman, and then have an extra day when I get home.
Also, my plan for what computer to use has kind fallen through. I was going to use the Pocket Reform that came in the mail last week, but a little experimentation has led me to believe that it isn’t really suitable as my only computing device; it’s just too alpha (early, buggy). It’s a delightful object and I’m excited to use it for stuff, just not this trip where I’m in the middle of nowhere and need to bang out 1000 words and process many photos every day. Probably will just take my stupid big laptop that I love. Unless I get a good idea between now and then that’s cheaper than an iPad Pro.
Finally, last but not least, I need to go on one or two little camping trips, get a couple 200 mile days in, make sure everything works and I don’t want to die 150 miles in. That would be bad, but it’s also a thing I’d like to discover 150 miles from home, not 2600.
That’s it! Next time, that list. I promise. And hopefully I will have gotten enough of this done that I can relax a bit between now and then.
If you read this far, down here at the end, why not forward this to a friend that likes either motorcycles or Quixotic journeys or photos? I promise for two weeks in September that’s all there will be.