Road maps? Check.
Gas? Check.
Oxygen tanks? Check.
When Brenda Cunningham and Bruce Eyre hit the road, they have to be extra careful putting together their travel checklist and itinerary.
Both of them have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), an obstructive disease of the airways that makes it difficult to breathe. Cunningham has been on oxygen for the past 17 years.
Packing Cunningham’s oxygen and the accessories that go with it in the trailer of Eyre’s 2005 Yamaha Venture can be tough, but the couple said it’s worth it because it allows them to explore the country.
In 2009, Cunningham and Eyre set out on their first major road trip to Canada’s East Coast and the northeastern United States. Earlier this summer, they ventured through more of the northern states.
Cunningham, who hadn’t travelled prior to these motorcycle excursions, said the trips have been “unbelievable.”
Bruce Eyre’s 2005 Yamaha Venture is packed with oxygen and other accessories Brenda Cunningham needs to stay well. Supplied photo
“For me, it was the most amazing trip,” Cunningham said, recalling their first trip. “Everything was new. Picture a child, when they’re first let into something. You know how wonderful it is. That’s what the first trip was like.”
With a culmination of nearly two months of long distance road trips now under her belt, Cunningham said she still enjoys taking in the sights and smells from the backseat of the touring bike. Looking at the “lush” greenery and the mountain scenery is her favourite part.
The planning and organization isn’t quite as much fun though.
En route, Cunningham and Eyre had to plan stops to pick up more oxygen, and every night they had to unload their jam-packed trailer. Every three hours, Cunningham also had to replace the oxygen tank she wears on her hip.
Cunningham said the tank she wears is “heavy, it’s awkward (and) it plays mind games with you, too.”
But Eyre said its all part of the travelling experience.
“(These are) the kind of things you have to contend with to plan your motorcycle trip,” he said.
Had they opted to travel by car, the hassles would have been fewer. But the two, who were involved in founding the Lung Disease Support Group Inc. in Sudbury and are still actively involved, wanted to show people that they don’t have to stop living because of their disease.
“We wanted to show them, we can get on a motorcycle, and we can go and do this,” Eyre said. “We can’t go and walk and do everything like we could do years ago, but we can certainly do it at a different pace.
You have to adjust what you can do. But we wanted to let them know, do what you always like to do, you do it slower, but still do it. You’ve got to live.”
Cunningham said they are slightly limited in what they can do, because both she and Eyre tire easily.
“With this disease, our holidays are riding holidays,” she said. “We see what we see from the back of the bike and the pictures we have taken.”
At places like Peggy’s Cove, N.S., Cunningham said they would have liked to get closer to the action, but were simply unable to.
“We didn’t have the lung capacity to go that far,” Eyre said. “We had to accept it.”
Despite all the extra planning, both Cunningham and Eyre said they love the feeling of hitting the open road.
“I truly do love it,” Cunningham said.
