I scheduled a motorcycle trip this week knowing the timing of both my outbound and return trips were going to coincide with heavy Los Angeles traffic. I had a premonition this could be bad. I knew I would be lane-splitting. I knew traffic would be heavy.

I left and ran into the LA traffic just as expected. I spent more than an hour lane-splitting and came through unscathed. My premonition was wrong. I celebrated by stopping at a convenience store and bought some fast food. I tend to not do this while traveling. I have eaten some bad food a few times before and it makes the trip much more difficult.

I completed the work I was here to do and then started back home. Soon enough I was in heavy traffic. I might have spent two hours lane-splitting. I had more confidence and less dread, though a few times I thought about just pulling off and waiting it out. But I persisted.

Once clear of the congestion, I stopped at a truck stop and got some fast food. But something wasn’t feeling right. By the time I got home I knew I had food poisoning. It was a miserable night. I was in a lot of distress all through the next day. But food poisoning typically passes through the digestive system in 24-hours. Soon I was feeling better.

I think I was so fixated on my dread of the traffic that I discarded all my other standard precautions. So, was my premonition self-fulfilling? Did my dread lead to my downfall? I think so. I wish I had focused more on serenity. I wish I had stuck with my typical precautions about being very careful regarding what I eat while traveling.

Well, I can learn from this experience.