When I set off on the SFT 6 weeks ago, I had no idea what to expect during life on the road. I did not anticipate being taken in by strangers, relishing a simple chilled apple or running out of bike tubes. I definitely did not expect to spend days convalescing in a Super 8 in San Luis Obispo after having mouth surgery!

I noticed a small lump in my lip swelling over the past few weeks until yesterday it was large enough to require some medical attention. After a 4 hour wait the Urgent Care doctor gave me two choices: see an ENT in 5 days or get it over with immediately. I chose the immediate solution and now here I am, one day after surgery, looking (and sounding) more like a cartoon character than sweet Sara from the School Food Tour.

I was hoping to keep riding but my injured lip is prone to drooling and we sure can’t have drool on my trusty touring bike! Luckily I have some produce and raw milk from the San Luis Obispo Farmer’s Market in my hotel room. For the next few days I’ll be taking it easy, catching up on blogging and icing my face. I’ll spare you more photos, but just imagine a pouty lower lip and then quadruple the size and you’ll have a picture of what its like.

As the title suggests, this is just a minor setback and I anticipate a full recovery in time for my next scheduled stops in Santa Barbara, LA and San Diego later in the month.