Couldn't find the flat yesterday afternoon; put the tube back together and reinflated it, and it lasted all the way back to the lot. Can't say the same for the rear tire; it got punctured by a thorn on the dirt part of Hermanas Grade between Monte Vista and Coyote. First decided to walk the remaining 4 miles, then after not many steps decided to patch it. Made it the rest of the way without incident, well before dark, and did some digging with my new pick. It sure breaks the hard soil easier than the shovel!
Got an insight on that dream with the aliens. I saw some radium dials on the compasses at Wal-Mart yesterday. Something about that green glow triggers thoughts of extraterrestrials in my brain, I think. No idea why.
About 9PM last night I had the urge to go somewhere for a beer. Not back to Deming, but I decided I'd check out the town of Hermanas south of my lot. When I hit Hermanas Grade again, directly ahead was the well-lit area I'd been seeing from my lot, with some kind of balloon above it. Someone had told me it was the Border Patrol, but I couldn't believe it. I figured it had to be the town of Hermanas. As I approached, though, I was surprised to find no traffic on the road. None. Maybe two hours later I was right onto it. Sure enough, it was the goddamned Border Patrol. A bunch of buildings, lit up light a night ballgame, not a person in sight, not even at the gate. I stopped and fixed my flat right outside under their lights, and not a soul came out to investigate. Probably all inside somewhere drinking beer.
This bike is starting to annoy me. The tires keep going flat and I can't find the puncture. The rear may just be a bad patch, but the front is inexplicable. Without a bucket of water, I doubt I'll be able to find the holes. So today I bought two new tubes, both slime-filled, and one triple thickness. Anyway, back to last night. After getting my bike back together, I was disappointed to note that the pavement ended right after the Border Patrol outpost, and I couldn't see any lights at all up ahead. So reluctantly, I turned around to go back to Deming.
What a trip! I was running out of water, and had an untold number of miles to go. I didn't realize how far South I had come! It seemed interminably long even back to my starting point, let alone to Deming. I was in danger of serious dehydration. Then a miracle happened: up ahead was a bright light, and what looked to my blurry eyes to be a soda machine! Sure enough, as I approached I could make out "Dr. Pepper". But damn, I had no singles, and as far as I knew, only a few pennies in change. But when I got closer, I couldn't tell if I should even approach or not; it looked more like a house than a store, and there was a pickup truck parked almost directly in front of the machine. But I was desperate, and in any case why leave the light on the machine if you didn't want people using it? The price was 40 cents and, lo and behold, I had 5 dimes among the pennies in my pocket. I bought a Sprite and started guzzling the lovely water with all those little delightful poisons added.
Just then the dogs woke up. God Damn Dogs! Everywhere I go, these stupid, stupid animals barking at me. I crossed the street, drank the remainder, crumpled the can and put it in one of my cargo pockets, and started heading, revitalized, on to Deming. Not far ahead I found I was on the 13000 block, which meant about 15 miles to Mickey D's.
In spite of having to stop and refill one or both tires every couple of miles, the trip back was uneventful and I didn't run out of water until about a mile before town. When I got there about 4:30 I didn't want to wait for McDonald's to open; I went straight to the truck stop and drank down a quart of GatorAde, then had some coffee and a chocolate bar. Wow! What a celebration. Surviving stupid, half-baked ideas is getting to be a habit with me.
The people at the front door of Wal-Mart are starting to really annoy me. I could understand their wanting me to leave my rollaround luggage up front, but my shoulder bag? It's no bigger than many women's purses. Today they grudgingly let me enter with it after showing them the laptop inside, but said to make sure to come back out the same way so they could check it. OK, I thought, and so bought only my food there, taking my bigger purchases to K-Mart, $20 for the tire tubes. On the way out of Wal-Mart I asked the older lady if she wanted to check my bag, and she said "No, I trust you." Yeah, right. I take it as an insult to my intelligence that they would think I'd risk jail for whatever two-bit shit I could shoplift from their pissant store.
Anyway, maybe a few more days and I'm out of here. If I get the urge, I'll just hop on the next bus. Or start riding my bike West and not stop.
last updated 2013-01-10 20:21:10. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com