So last night, here I was, exhausted, comfortably sitting on a balcony overlooking the beach. Enjoying the sunset and sharing a picture on Facebook. When I noticed that it hurt to swallow.
A pain above my Adam's apple.
Before I left I had started getting some pains in my neck and I suspected it was from a tooth that had chipped while I was in the Netherlands. It was a back molar with a large filling and the whole side of the tooth had fallen off.
I have an appointment with my dentist set for the end of July. I thought, since I had not felt pain, I was ok to wait a couple months to see the dentist about it. Just before I left I tried to get in, but it was near the 4th of July and my dentist was off for the week. I went to the walk in clinic and asked for antibiotics to combate the infection if I needed it on this trip. I got some and I am carrying them with me. I don't want to take them.
We all have heard about the damage to the gut bacteria that can be caused by antibiotics. My gut has been functioning well and I don't want to mess with it, thank you very much!
I don't know if you are like this, but a strange pain and I start to think of what it could be. I am pretty sure it is the tooth, but still. Once you have something happen like cancer or heart or any serious diagnosis it makes you realized that you are not immortal. Bad stuff CAN happen even to us.
I took two Tylenol and went to bed hoping this morning the pain would be gone. The good news is, it only hurts when I swallow. The bad news is the pain is still there on top of an over-all tiredness.
I went too long yesterday, I think. I am feeling not my normal positive self. It has been 5 days in a row of biking. As I bike I think of Dan Sheridan. He is right now biking across the country with a group. Into the wind and over mountains, in the cold and in the heat. 80 and 100 miles a day. They go 5 and 6 days before they get a day off the bike. I am a wimp.
FORTUNATELY, my friend and fellow Sister on the Fly, Robyn, checked around for Sisters in the area that might be able to let me crash for a day or two. A Sister on the Fly in Holiday, FL contacted me and offered me a bed on her porch! Yeah! And I had met her and her mom at the Sister's on the Fly event I attended in late June! I am so grateful and glad to have a place to crash and folks with whom I can converse.
It was a slow hot ride, but I am close to her place now, in the Tarpon Springs Library. I have bought a bottle of wine and some pretzels and hummus. Ellen tells me she is having a friend over and they are all going out for fish and I am welcome to come along. YEAH!
I am looking at where to go next. I know I have wanted to ride to Polk City from Inverness. Doing the Withlacoochee and the Van Fleet Trail in one day. It doesn't excite me today. I will chat with others and see. Maybe tomorrow I will have my energy back.
*******
Ellen had offered to come get me and bring me to her house. I will bike it, I insisted I would ride it. A part of the ride was on Alternate 19. For those of you who have never driven on 19 and Alternate 19, they are highly congested roads. There is so much water around and they are the only through roads going north and south along the West coast in this area. The big problem for bikers and walkers is they did not plan for pedestrians and bikes. Fortunately on one side of Alt. 19 just north of the Sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs, they did include a sidewalk across the bridge. On the south-bound side. I was heading North. I rode against traffic so I could see it coming and pull off the road when it appeared the vehicle was big or the driver wasn't paying attention. Most bicycle-vehicle accidents happen when the biker is struck from behind by an in-attentive or impaired driver.
I made it to Ellen's, Met her little dog, "Little Bit" and her big affectionate cat, "Stinky". I arrived in time to avoid most of the rain. What a wonderful oasis.
I am feeling like a need at least one day to rest and re-group.
A pain above my Adam's apple.
Before I left I had started getting some pains in my neck and I suspected it was from a tooth that had chipped while I was in the Netherlands. It was a back molar with a large filling and the whole side of the tooth had fallen off.
I have an appointment with my dentist set for the end of July. I thought, since I had not felt pain, I was ok to wait a couple months to see the dentist about it. Just before I left I tried to get in, but it was near the 4th of July and my dentist was off for the week. I went to the walk in clinic and asked for antibiotics to combate the infection if I needed it on this trip. I got some and I am carrying them with me. I don't want to take them.
We all have heard about the damage to the gut bacteria that can be caused by antibiotics. My gut has been functioning well and I don't want to mess with it, thank you very much!
I don't know if you are like this, but a strange pain and I start to think of what it could be. I am pretty sure it is the tooth, but still. Once you have something happen like cancer or heart or any serious diagnosis it makes you realized that you are not immortal. Bad stuff CAN happen even to us.
I took two Tylenol and went to bed hoping this morning the pain would be gone. The good news is, it only hurts when I swallow. The bad news is the pain is still there on top of an over-all tiredness.
I went too long yesterday, I think. I am feeling not my normal positive self. It has been 5 days in a row of biking. As I bike I think of Dan Sheridan. He is right now biking across the country with a group. Into the wind and over mountains, in the cold and in the heat. 80 and 100 miles a day. They go 5 and 6 days before they get a day off the bike. I am a wimp.
FORTUNATELY, my friend and fellow Sister on the Fly, Robyn, checked around for Sisters in the area that might be able to let me crash for a day or two. A Sister on the Fly in Holiday, FL contacted me and offered me a bed on her porch! Yeah! And I had met her and her mom at the Sister's on the Fly event I attended in late June! I am so grateful and glad to have a place to crash and folks with whom I can converse.
It was a slow hot ride, but I am close to her place now, in the Tarpon Springs Library. I have bought a bottle of wine and some pretzels and hummus. Ellen tells me she is having a friend over and they are all going out for fish and I am welcome to come along. YEAH!
I am looking at where to go next. I know I have wanted to ride to Polk City from Inverness. Doing the Withlacoochee and the Van Fleet Trail in one day. It doesn't excite me today. I will chat with others and see. Maybe tomorrow I will have my energy back.
*******
Ellen had offered to come get me and bring me to her house. I will bike it, I insisted I would ride it. A part of the ride was on Alternate 19. For those of you who have never driven on 19 and Alternate 19, they are highly congested roads. There is so much water around and they are the only through roads going north and south along the West coast in this area. The big problem for bikers and walkers is they did not plan for pedestrians and bikes. Fortunately on one side of Alt. 19 just north of the Sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs, they did include a sidewalk across the bridge. On the south-bound side. I was heading North. I rode against traffic so I could see it coming and pull off the road when it appeared the vehicle was big or the driver wasn't paying attention. Most bicycle-vehicle accidents happen when the biker is struck from behind by an in-attentive or impaired driver.
I made it to Ellen's, Met her little dog, "Little Bit" and her big affectionate cat, "Stinky". I arrived in time to avoid most of the rain. What a wonderful oasis.
I am feeling like a need at least one day to rest and re-group.
You are one brave gal. Hope you get over whatever it is that is the cause of your pain.
ReplyDeleteYou have a host of friends wherever you go. Speaks well of you. I miss you.
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel better. One wonderful thing about Florida is there are a ton of people, even trikers, who will want to meet and take care of you. Great adventure!
ReplyDeleteThanks for peeking in on this Trip, Sylvia. What is an adventure without a challenge to over-come. You know the best times are those after a struggle.
DeleteI am looking forward to seeing the pictures on your next adventure with your new equipment. Good thing you got them right away so you have the whole summer to learn how to operate them. Seem like there is a bit of a learning curve.
For those of you reading this who don't know "Travels by Trike", go to the website. www.travelsbytrike.com Sylvia travels all over with her trike. This past winter she was touring in Columbia. I think more of central America is in her plans for this coming winter. And she has lots of instructional videos where she talks about equipment, packing, and more.