Bob Bitchin lodged against the frame, locking the rear wheel up. I borrowed Billy Jack’s bike and headed back into town to try and get a hack saw to cut the chain loose so we could tow the bike into the next large town. No matter how I argued, no one would let me use a saw. I even offered one guy $20 just to rent one, but to no avail. They were real sweet. Back at my busted scoot, we flagged down a passing pickup truck, and the guy said he would give us a ride into Fort Stockton for just $25 and a tank of gas. Did you know there are pickup trucks with 40-gallon gas tanks? Well, there are. We found out the hard way. We found a friendly biker in Fort Stockton, Rick, who helped us get a chain from Odessa, Texas, and it only cost us $130. The small towns in Texas definitely like to see stuck bikers, and then stick it to them. After a two-day wait for the chain, we found the wrong master link had been sent with it. So, being your normal dumb bikers, we jerry-rigged it so we could get on down the road. And down the road we went. It was December 30th, and we figured on making it back to California in time to celebrate New Years at home with some other dumb bikers we know. But Texas was not ready to kick us free yet. It seemed like a conspiracy to keep us from making it. Near Van Horn, still in Texas, the Mickey Mouse master link gave out. It was almost midnight, and the temperature was back around 20 degrees. Just to add to our fun, the wind decided to kick up, gusting to about 60 miles an hour. This made for much fun when 15
Biker, 2022 for PDF 10_19_21 - MKC.indd 15
4/19/22 6:07 PM
