Longhaulpaul's Chasing the Cure

Heat Waves

Part 2 of Highway to Health; my June Wheels Out West Tour for Multiple Sclerosis.

(Part 1 here)

 

We left off having arrived at Coldfoot, Alaska, 60 miles north of the Arctic Circle. My next talk was five days and 4000 miles away in Vegas. I didn’t have much time or space on the bike for souvenirs. With the help of gravity, I headed south.

 

 

Riding through Jasper National Park in Alberta Canada by accident two days later was probably the biggest surprise jackpot of my entire trip.

 

 

I was merely following the GPS prompts for the quickest route back to the States, and WOW! Mountains with snow, glaciers, wildlife, and it was truly breathtaking. I stopped and took quite a few photos. My only regret was the same as it always was; that Elin, my wife was not me. And as always, I jotted down the location and promised myself I must return to this very spot with her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Alcan Highway and Haul Road destroyed another rear tire, and I knew I would not make it to California where I had shipped another set. I had my friend Scott Mingo make a few calls to see if he could locate a tire in the vicinity of where I would be in Idaho that afternoon.

He not only located a shop that had the tire, but one that was willing to mount and balance it while I waited. Without me knowing, my friend had also paid for the tire! Hey Scott, did I mention I’m looking for a company to repave my driveway?

 

 

 

I spent a night in Idaho Falls courtesy of Core Temperature Controls president John Sims and took a tour of the Klim headquarters.

 

 

We discussed my experiences with the cooling system and ideas for future improvements. They were genuinely interested in my suggestions and experience reagarding riding gear and equipment. The crew from Klim gave me a tour and had me check out their line of hi-tech protective motorcycle gear. I was treated to a big fat steak and some magic berry potion drink.

I’m pretty demanding on my riding gear, and believe if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

5:00 am came early and I headed off for Vegas; still wearing my trusty and beloved Aerostich Roadcrafter.

The temperature in Canada and Alaska was mostly in the 40’s and 50’s, but as I returned to the lower 48, it began to rise. I made my way to Vegas, and rode through as high as 117 degree heat. It was so hot I could not keep my hands on the bike’s handgrips, even with gloves on!

 

 

 

 

 

So hot, the tar was melting under my feet in traffic!

 

 

And cars were spontaniously combusting.

 

 

My personal cooling system, the CTC-100 had been strapped to the side of the bike for the entire ride so far, waiting for the call to duty. When I turned it on for the first time, it yelled and screamed to a stop. 8000 miles of dirt, mud, gravel and bugs had packed themselves into the unit and jammed the cooling fan. It broke.

 

 

I was left with trying to cool myself down the old fashion way, switching my dash temperature gauge from Fahrenheit to Celsius. My brain didn’t fall for the trick this time, it was just too damn hot.

Lucky for me, someone was riding alone, keeping me safe.

 

 

After my talk in Vegas, I was really looking forward to visiting one of the famous casinos, but between the heat and fatigue, I never made it the 1/4 mile walk from my hotel to the strip.

 

 

My body gave up, MS struck hard and rendered me powerless. I was sad and felt defeated for the first time since leaving New Hampshire. I had managed to ride a motorcycle across the country and to the edge of the continent, but at that moment, my body was utterly useless. I did not have the ability to make it down the street. MS, like many other illnesses can rob people from enjoying even the simple things in life. Depression is common in people with chronic illness, and I can understand why.

I am, however, one of the lucky ones. These rare feelings that often overwhelm people do not stay with me long. Retreating back to my room, I cranked the A/C as cold as it would blow, stripped naked and swallowed every loving spoonful of an overpriced tub of Ben and Jerry’s Karamel Sutra I had charged to my room. Vegas plan ‘B’ was screw MS and heart disease; and I got to gamble after all.

I the drapes wide open.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right?

 

I left at 4:00 am under the cloak of anonominity and after it had cooled down to 86 degrees. I followed a route that bypassed Death Valley by riding through the canyons to Los Angeles. My safety relied on my ability to stay hydrated and cool as much as possible. I packed ice into the pockets of my Aerostich riding suit, drank like a fish and found interesting signs along the way to keep me amused like a giant ice cream come in the middle of the desert and multiple icy road signs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cool distractions worked for most of the morning, but by the time I reached Beverly Hills, I was smack dab in the middle of another heat induced pseudo MS attack. Leg weakness, mild confusion, fatigue and inability to speak legibly. I could not understand where the valet wanted me to park my bike, even though the garage was just around the back of the building. He repeated it four times, but I just nodded, unpacked my bags, check in, and went to my room. I didn’t think they would tow my bike, and frankly by this point, I didn’t care if I ever saw it again.

 

 

I laid down for 20 minutes, took a cold shower and regained most of my heat induced deficits before returning to the front of the hotel an hour later. I explained about MS and that I was not trying to be rude earlier, I just could not move my bike another foot because of the heat. By now, my encrusted bike had become a Hollywood celebrity, drawing a small crowd of hotel staff, guests and live bugs feasting on the dead ones. A couple wanted to take their picture with me, people took my brochures and were amazed to hear that I had travelled to the Arctic Circle and Alaska just a few days earlier.

 

 

It was a humbling realization moment for me as well. Despite being challenged by having a progressive disease that can strike at any given moment, I had indeed just accomplish something absolutely amazing.

 

For the first time since leaving home, it also occurred to me that it was because of my MS, that I was experiencing the trip of a lifetime.

That’s a level of cool that will never be affected by temperature.

 

– Longhaulpaul

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