Kamloops June 19,2012

How do I say this without coming across as a complete wimp?

Things have not gone well for the last 2 days of this trip.  My cough is to the point where I am unable to ride.  Every time I try to take a deep breath I end up trying to cough up my liver.  It has been very disappointing and frustrating.   This morning I was prepared to ride from Merritt to Kamloops along the old Princeton-Kamloops highway.  This is a very scenic ride and not too difficult except for a long hill at the end.  Telen was looking at me over breakfast (which I could not eat) as I was trying to explain my plan to her interrupted by long coughing jags that left me gasping.   My cough has gone from a poor seal imitation to an authentic-sounding walrus imitation.  She did not say anything at first – just looked at me in that quiet, puzzled way that she has and shaking her head as if I was suggesting driving the car to Mars.  Then she quietly suggested that perhaps I was having a psychotic episode and that riding under these conditions was a symptom of schizophrenia and she was going to have me committed.

Without my bike.

So, we drove.

Tomorrow is scheduled as a rest day here.   By this time I thought I would have needed it.   Rest from what?  I feel like such a failure.  However, we will stick to the plan and perhaps by two days from now I will be in better shape to tackle the ride to Salmon Arm.  Telen prescribed some antibiotics for me and told me not to be so hard on myself.   I will take the antibiotics but I cannot guarantee the latter.

She does have common sense.  Something I think I got short-changed on.   I do have the Rogers Pass and the Kicking Horse pass to deal with in a few days and I will need my lungs to be in shape for it. 

It still feels as if I am wimping out.

Telen writes:

I am very proud of Rand’s strong commitment to cycle but one needs to have strong lungs and normal digestion to cycle up all these hills and passes.  He is darn stubborn and would not listen to my advice until I mildly threaten divorce.  His coughs are so loud and incessant that people nearby seem startled, avoiding us.  I have a cold too but not as bad as his.  We will have a good time, just in a different…and this is what I keep telling Rand.  Tonight, we are meeting my niece Tiffany for dinner.