Fargo and Away

When I awoke on Sunday in the hotel, my eye was burning and clearly infected, my sinuses painful and clogged, and I could tell that sleep had not restored much energy. In fact, a had felt feverish over night and had to get up several times.

I picked up my phone and saw a text from Kai:

“Heading out. Rained all night. Today is the big one. Have a good rest today and hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Just the thought of getting back out on the trail was exhausting, and I made my decision. I texted, Kai back, “I am done. I really wish I wasn’t but I can’t ride like this. So sorry to leave you riding solo.”

Having made my decision, I began to focus on getting back home instead of getting back on the bike. I booked my flight home for Tuesday. I made my way to a local urgent care and left with antibiotics. I returned some now unneeded supplies to REI, and picked up some street clothes while I was there. Then, I headed back to my room, and mostly just lay on the bed binge watching Netflix on my phone. I

t was raining in Jackson and though there were many things I would’ve liked to have seen or done, I wasn’t feeling up to it, especially with the lousy weather. I couldn’t even bring myself to go to the bar attached to the hotel to listen to live music.

I was worried about Kai being out alone in the mountains in the weather. Then, he called. The weather and the trail were miserable he said. Snow. Mud. Steep climbs. Bears. No services. And the wind was picking up. He had to make a choice to keep going or exit the trail and head to the nearest town, 15 miles away. I was relieved when he decided that was what he was going to do.

The next 24 hours I focused on getting packed up. I had to deal with my bike to get it ready to ship home, and the shops I called couldn’t help on short notice. I needed luggage to replace the one I had left behind at the beginning of the trip, thinking I would not need it again.

Kai phoned to say he had made it to Dubois and was taking a shuttle to Jackson Monday morning. He had a flight booked for Monday night. It was great to see him again.

Kai found a place that could box our bikes up same day, which was a huge relief, and a big savings since I could check the bike on my flight instead of paying to ship it. And the hotel we had stayed at the first night of the trip had held onto the pieces of luggage we had left behind.

It was as if all the signs were telling us we had made the right decision to abandon the trip and head home.

Now, Tuesday, I am home, a bit weary, but happy.

The trip did not go anywhere near as planned, but we got some good stories out of it. And, I think we learned a bit about dealing with things out of our control. Most importantly, we survived to ride another day.

Thanks for reading.