Thank you Madhatter.
The trip was a funny trip. Originally, I was headed down to Big Bend last month Something came up at the last minute and I had to cancel the trip. Rescheduled and tried again, but just a dozen or so miles from home I got an odd flat on the front. It took me six of those sticky rope tire plugs just to get home. I’ve never had a flat tire on this bike until this trip.
Anyway, got new tires on the bike and I was planning for another date for the trip. Had to reschedule again. Weather forecast for last week was looking good and I was able to get my schedule reshuffled again so I decided on Thursday or Friday that I would head down there on Monday. Made a couple of campsite reservations and then got everything packed and set up over the weekend. Monday morning rolls around and I hop on the bike to take off. Turn the key and push the start button. Just a little moan. What the heck? Dead battery? Where did that come from? Started right up just fine the day before.
Cursed a little bit, started pulling things apart and then calling around to see who had a battery in stock. Got online and changed my two campground reservations, delaying them by a day. Found a battery in a neighboring town. Got everything put back together and it was about 11 AM. What the heck, it’s a late start, but I’m going today anyway. Go back online and change my campsite reservations yet again. I’m not choosing sites. I’m just taking the luck of the draw at this point.
Ride to Marathon then down into Big Bend. Bike feels great. New tires performing well. Roll into camp and notice that there is a Norden in the site next to me. I’m munching on some sausage and having some water and after a little while really nice guy comes over and says he’s from Buda. I tell him that when I bought my bike used from a dealer that they told me the previous owner lived in Buda. His eyes lit up and he looked at the bike again. “That’s Madhatters bike! He’s a friend of mine…” Then the stories started flowing!
What are the odds? Such a crazy coincidence that our paths would cross on that one day after multiple attempts and restarts and date changes that he and I would end up in campsites right next to each other, destined to meet.
The next morning I took off to ride River Road and Black Gap Road. Picked up a couple of sticks in the front tire along the way. Hit pavement and rode over to the Santa Elena Canyon parking lot and started plugging the tire. Plugs were only holding air for about 40 miles limped into Terlingua and checked around to see if anyone would patch it or sold tires. No luck. Made it up to Alpine where I spent the night and plugged it again decided I would just head home if the tire would hold air long enough for me to get there. It wouldn’t. Made it to Del Rio, and it was getting worse, called the bike shops in Del Rio, and none of them had a tire that would fit. So I went to Home Depot and rented a Penske truck. (the guy at the rental desk kept calling the 16 foot truck a 16 inch truck, LOL!) Got the bike loaded and started driving home. Made it to Hondo where I had to pull over because the truck had a flat front tire!!!!!!! That’s a whole other story…
I don’t think I’ve ever experienced so many hurdles and challenges and weird coincidences as I did on this trip! One of the highlights was definitely meeting Ken and having him recognize Betty. He was telling me stories and we were laughing as donkeys started braying and chasing javelina through the campground. It was all a little bit surreal.
Needless to say, the trip did not go as planned, but it was still a good trip. It was nice to make the connection with Ken and in a roundabout way with you. Betty has treated me well and I try to treat her well too. If I’m in Buda, I’ll look you up. I’m not planning a trip over there, but the way things have been going lately you never know!!
