I Am Willie Nelson

After much waiting around and watching the sun shine (and feeling the heat of 105 degrees today), I think the bike problems are fixed. It went like this -

This morning I called the shop that had looked at it yesterday. Joe, the mechanic, answered and I explained that the bike ran well for about 130 miles, but was now dead and waiting on the side of the road in Ten Sleep. He said he felt really bad that I'd broken down again. He said there was a bike shop in Worland, the next town west of Ten Sleep. But the owner of the motel I was staying at in Worland (you may recall from my earlier post, that there were two motels in Ten Sleep, one was booked up and the other was out of business) told me that the bike shop had gone out of business.

So Joe said he would check a few things and call me back. I called my insurance company to arrange for a tow when Joe called back. He said his father, Terry (the shop owner) would come out with parts that they would strip off Joe's bike (he and his father both ride Suzuki Boulevard C90's just like mine). I said that would be more than I could ask of them.

There was a little confusion about when Terry would arrive in Ten Sleep, but I knew I'd have to arrange a ride from Worland to Ten Sleep to meet up with Terry. I asked at the front desk and the manger got one of the maids to call her son and give me a lift into Ten Sleep (for which I threw him a couple of dollars). I waited in Ten Sleep for a couple of hours, feeling a little directionless (and a bit homeless). I guess it must have shown on my face because the waitress at the restaurant stopped by my table and asked, with concern, "is everything alright with you, sir?" To which I explained that it was just that my bike was broken down and I was waiting for a mechanic, but right then I was feeling a long way from home ... but that I'd be OK.

By Noon, I still hadn't heard from Joe or Terry and I was beginning to worry they weren't coming for me today. So I called the shop and Joe said his father had left around 10:30 and was supposed to have called me to let me know he was on his way. Joe said he would find out where Terry was and call me back. At 12:30 I hadn't heard back from Joe, so I called again and was told Joe was busy with a customer and that he would call me back when he was finished.

10 minutes later Terry pulled into the gas station in Ten Sleep. I was glad to see him. He smiled and said, "So how do you like the west?" I laughed and said I was getting to see it about 150 miles at a time. As it turned out Terry had decided it was best to trailer the bike back to the shop and work on it there. That sounded fine to me. It put me back east about 150 miles, but I'd rather know that whatever parts or tools we'd need to get the job done would be there. There's nothing worse than starting a job and half-way through realizing you don't have something you need to finish. You end up putting the thing back together and dragging it back to the shop anyway.

So we put the bike on the trailer and drove back to Gillette, WY. We got to the shop about 3:00 pm and Joe, Terry and their guy Chris started tearing the bike down. As the shop was only open until 1 pm on Saturdays I thought this was another extraordinary example of the dedication these guys had to getting me back on the road. They ended up working on it until about 6 pm. I also had them put on a new set of tires because I figured I'd have to replace them at some point on this trip and I might as well do it now with these guys, then try to find another shop while on the road (and the new tires make a noticeable difference in the way the bike handles turns).

I have to say, though they didn't get it exactly right the first time, they went out of their way to make it right today. Driving over 4 hours roundtrip to come get the bike (without charging me for the tow), taking parts off their own bikes (Joe won't be riding his bike again, until he gets a new Stater Assembly from Suzuki - in about a week), and in the end Terry gave me his cell phone number if I had any other problems. That's what I call damn good service.

So I'm confident that the bike will make it through the rest of the trip now. For tonight, I'm staying in Gillette. Tomorrow I'll ride to Cody, WY, just outside Yellowstone NP. The weather looks good (other than the heat). After Yellowstone I'm headed north again to Montana and Glacier NP, then later in the week I'll be in Spokane, WA with my good friends Dana and Carmen. It will be very nice to see friends again.

Last thing - when I got a ride from Ten Sleep to Worland yesterday with my man Willard, I had put my favorite riding gloves, a bandana and a bottle of water in a leather bag on the back of his bike. Of course, I didn't remember I'd done that until about an hour later when I was thirsty and looking for that bottle of ... DAMN, MY GLOVES, MY FAVORITE GLOVES ... I was pissed, but let it go because what the hell else can you do. They're just a pair of gloves. I can buy another pair.

Well don't you know that, this morning, just as I was climbing into the car of the kid who was giving me a ride back to Ten Sleep, Willard rolled into the parking lot with a big grin and his face. And I said to him I know why you are here, you came back to give me my favorite gloves, and he smiled and laughed and nodded his head. He is definitely a good old boy of the best kind.

Learning Patience

So today went a lot like yesterday. After I left the bike shop, I drove some 130 miles, shut her off at a gas station in Ten Sleep, WY. and she wouldn't start again. I had shut her down at least twice, once to get some lunch and again to gas up a little while later. She kicked right over both times with no problem. But the third time, she wouldn't.

Now, this could have been worse because I happened to be up a mountain, in between towns, 20 minutes earlier. I stopped to take a few photos, but left her running for 4 or 5 minutes while I snapped some shots and rolled out again. I was a little leery of shutting her down in the middle of nowhere again.

I only shut her down when I was at a gas station with a motel across the street. Unfortunately, the motel was booked solid and there isn't another one in Ten Sleep, WY. But another biker had pulled into the station and he and I tried to push start the bike. We tried three or four times with no luck. Willard (my biker friend) offered me a ride to the next town which is larger and has more motels.

I got myself one of the last few rooms in Worland, WY. Fortunately, there's internet and cell phone service here, so I feel connected to the world, even though, at the same time, I feel very far away from it. It seems I'm destined to remain in Wyoming for at least the weekend. I can get another tow in the morning and try to get this problem resolved, but most bike shops close early on Saturday and are closed Sunday. So here I am.

Now - for the good news. I've been carrying about 5 books with me since I left NYC, and have been thinking of shipping them home because they are a lot to carry around (one of them is even a hardcover book). I had packed them in case I ran into a few days of rain and decided to hole up somewhere ... like here.

So it isn't the weather that stopped my, but something I didn't expect. But what's the difference? I'm here and I can't ride. Once I get the bike fixed I'll be back on the road and I'll finish out the trip. Until then, my traveling library will come in handy.

Though it's not how I thought this trip would go, I'm still glad to be out here. I've had some absolutely fabulous days of riding, and I'll have more ahead of me. For now, I'm learning to be patient, which is a lesson I obviously need (or at least that's the lesson being taught this weekend, so I might as well pay attention).

Last thing - when I first got to Wyoming, I noticed the color of the earth was different, the soil is darker than anywhere else I've been ... it looks like burnt toast. I don't know why. But it is interesting.

I'll post again tomorrow when I know more.