Longhaulpaul's Chasing the Cure

In February, I received a call from Bridgestone, one of my sponsors.

They informed me they were having a press launch for the latest adventure tire designed for bikes like my Super Tenere and wanted to know if I could join them. Because I was one of the bigger personal consumer of adventure tires and they considered me a social media influencer, they wanted my opinion and thoughts on the redesigned Battlax A41.

 

The launch was taking place the same weekend as Daytona Bike Week, and I was also supposed to be at a patient conference in Boston. Hanging out with Yamaha and maybe getting them to present a new bike to me was a big deal I didn’t want to miss, and attending the patient speaker conference in Boston was important because it was the only time I get to hang out with other MS advocates who share their stories at patient events, just like me. I wanted to be at all three events, and eventually came up with a plan. I would spend a couple days in Daytona, ride back to Boston to attend the first two days of the conference and then head right to the airport to make the Bridgestone press launch. It took a while for it to sink in that the event was taking place in Ouarzazate, Morocco. I remember hearing something about Madrid, but not until I accepted the offer and started looking at a map did it hit me that I would actually be riding motorcycles in Africa!

If you have been following along my journey, you know I always ride my motorcycle to all of my events, no matter the distance from my house. My story of finding something in life that you love to do and to make it more important than your disease is very real for me, and long distance travel by motorcycle is my passion. I am almost a third of the way to my million mile goal. So, not only do I never use airplanes for transportation, I have never left this continent! 

 

This trip to Morocco was a big deal for me. The company was flying two dozen of the top motorcycle journalists from the US and Canada for a coupe of days to test out the new tires. One day etching the Sahara desert and one day through the rural towns and paved beauty of Ouarzazate. I was going to be rubbing helmets with magazine writers I had been following for years. It was a chance to tell my story and grow some interest in my journey. My only worries for this trip were getting confused in the airports because I was unfamiliar with how they work and not being able to keep up with the journalists during the rides.

 

 

 

 

My wife doesn’t ask for much. As I travel all over the country she continues to go to work, clean the house and do all the yard work; all while keeping an eye on my live tracker. Just about the only thing she asks me when I find myself at a famous location or national park, is to pick her up a rock from the area. Not a diamond, an actual stone. She has dozens of these stones from all over the country and Canada. She remembers where each stone came from and the trip it represented. Of course, Elin wanted me to fetch her a rock from Africa! 

Arriving in Morocco by charter plane was the first chance I got to chat with the others on the trip and I soon learned although these writers spend a lot of their time together going to events and launches, they seemed really excited to be in Morocco. I mentioned how my wife wanted a rock from Africa and they all assumed my trip was going to be very expensive! 

 

We were treated to a great meal, a presentation about the technical aspects of the new tires and an itinerary of the next couple of days. Day one was 200 miles of gravel and I chose to ride one of the Honda Africa Twins. It was a fun bike, lighter than my Super Tenere, especially considering all the added accessories I travel with! I was able to keep up with the crowd and was surprised at how well the tires handled the dirt roads at freeway speeds.

The scenery was incredible, the guides who led the group were FAST and fun and after a few hours we switched bikes and stopped to get a drink at a roadside cafe.

 

I met some kids on bicycles who were excited to see our motorcycles and I offered some of my Longhaulpaul wristbands to them. Thy say Chasing the Cure on one side and my social media tags on the inside.

I give them out at bike shows hoping riders will subscribe to my YouTube and Facebook pages. (Have You?) Each of the kids accepted the bands with a smile and a thumbs up. Three weeks after returning from Africa, I was ecstatic to receive a friend request on Facebook from one of my new friends! 

We actually met lots of kids along our rides each day and they were overly enthusiastic to throw out a high-five no matter how fast we were riding by them.

 

 

After another few hours riding we stopped for a photo shoot in the mountains and while waiting for my turn to be filmed, I was able to buy a few items from a man selling goods on a blanket in the middle of nowhere. A bird and a small jewelry box made of soapstone were items I knew my wife would like and would fit in one of my Aerostich Cousin Jeremy jacket pockets. I was shown a black rock, which when opened beamed beautiful purple crystals.

 I wasn’t going to buy it until someone reminded me I was supposed to buy my wife a rock from Africa. I dumped out a pocket full of ordinary Moroccan stones I had been collecting and replaced them with my new baseball-sized black beauty. 

 

 

 

Day two was riding sport touring bikes outfitted with Bridgestone’s new T31 tires on the streets. Once out of the small towns, we rode at should I say, a very brisk pace.

 

 

 

 

I was having digestion issues all day, not sure if it was something I ate or nerves from riding at the edge of my comfort zone on an unfamiliar bike for 200 miles. After we returned to the hotel I really felt something wasn’t right and the pain began radiating across my abdomen and lower back.

Ouarzazate was the back drop for many movies like the Mummy, Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator, so we shared our last meal was at the famous movie museum which was a short walk from our hotel.

My pain continued to intensify during dinner and I excused myself from the big rectangular table repeatedly. I actually was worried the setting not only looked like the last supper, it might just be for me.

At one point, the journalist next to me asked if I was feeling OK. I was silent, sweating and not touching my food. I tried not to draw attention to myself, everyone was laughing and enjoying the meal. When it finally dawned on me what was happening to me, the fear of trying to get emergency medical treatment in a different country was almost equal to the pain I was suppressing.

I could no longer sit, I had to stand, but was now holding pressure to my side in agony. I went to the men’s room for the fourth time, trying to figure out my options while not passing out. 

Of all the places in the world to have my next kidney stone, Africa was probably not the best choice. 

I missed most of dinner, but somehow made it back to the hotel. The pain was all to familiar, it definitely was a stone. I asked the desk clerk for aspirin, ibuprofen or Tylenol; anything for pain. I must have looked pretty bad because I was told they wanted me to see the doctor. All I could think of was Bridgestone being charged for some extreme medical consult or my ambulance ride. This was my first time at one of these press events and I didn’t want to be remembered as THAT guy.

Dr. Mustafa was the house doctor, and decided we needed to send a boy to the pharmacist to smoosh up some compounds to help my tummy. He thought I was constipated because I was telling him how I felt earlier in the day.  As I sat waiting for him to finish with another patient, my pain dissipated in a matter of a minute. I felt my forehead and it was no longer hot. I stood up and did not have the acute sharp pain. I thanked the doctor for his help, but said that I was feeling much better and would not need the prescription filled after all.

By the time I reached my room the pain in my back was completely gone. Not wanting to spoil my last night in Morocco, I decided to venture out to the hotel bar and have a few drinks with my new riding buddies. Some of them had noticed my condition at dinner and were equally amused and relieved to hear my story of how I had picked up a stone for myself in Africa!

-Longhaulpaul

Please make donations in recognition of my million mile journey Chasing the Cure HERE

 

YouTube Videos from my Africa Trip. Please subscribe to my Youtube channel!