Exercizeing Futility (Silver City)

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She seemed to have been wearing the same bright blue mumu for the last few days. She was always jovial, which is a becoming traight for anyone weighing in at well over 200 pounds. ¨Did you get that basket case back together?¨
¨Yup, but I´m taking her apart again.¨ I replied.
¨wel, honey, it sounds like an exercize in futility to me¨ she said, presuming it a pearl of wisdom, I´m sure.
¨Well, at least I´m getting some exercize¨
She just giggled and waddled on. I guess she didn´t get the joke.

I´d been in Silver City for two days and had set out to leave that morning. Since Tucson all I´d done was find problems with the bike. That day, when I picked her up from Copper Country Motorcycles (the first ever motorcycle shop run by saints) I decided to fix the creaking sound my gas tank was making. I had to do something to forget what happened that morning. I dutifully had removed the side covers, seat and tank and found the culprit: a zip-tie had broke and my throttle cables were rubbing aginst the tank. I replaced the broken zip tie and another one that was ready to go. Just then the above exchange took place. It cheered me up.
And that morning? I got up a little later than planned, grabbed burritos with Chuck and set out for Tucson to recieve the mail that sarah had sent, send home some of my own and head for the border. I kept thinking ¨Eff it, I just need to get to Mexico.¨ I was just about to cross the Continental Divide when I heard a Kah-krwhoomp- VROOOOOM. I swear to got, I just smiled as I coasted up to the sign: ¨Continental Devide - 6256ft.¨I knew I´d just lost my drive chain without even looking down. I coasted past the sing and down the hill a ways. Small victories.
¨No problem, I thought, Chuck´s got a truck and a bike trailer. This is the best possible place this could have happened¨ And it was. Except that I had left my cell phone at chuck´s. Better than making it to Tucson before realizing it, I suppose. Still, that was litttle comfort after I´d been thumbing and motioning for a phone on the side of the road to the twentieth vehicle that had passed in at least as many minutes. Eventually someone stopped and I borrowed their phone. Chuck´s was off. They gave me a ride into town and I strolled up to his campsite all cavalier, dangling my chain ¨and you thought you were rid of me...¨

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