Day 44,
It
was about noon when I woke up in a field next to a gas
station in Salina, Kansas. I had layed down there that morning
after a 30 hour riding spree for a quick nap. I wanted to go back to sleep but
the bugs and the heat made it impossible. I decided to get
back on the road.
It wasn’t long before I saw Rodger’s bike on the side of the road parked
in front of a police car. I pulled over in
front of him to see what was going on. Right about the time that I
noticed the gapping hole in the side of his engine block...
...he said “I threw a rod
man.” He stepped out of the police car and told
me the whole story. He was going about
80 miles per hour when it happened, but managed to get over to the side of the
road without causing an accident. He
stepped off the bike, saw the damage, and described it as being “like a shot to
the heart”. This was awful. It was not like all of the previous bike
troubles we had…this was not fixable. We
both knew it. We began strapping down as
much of Rodger’s loose gear as we could onto the little space that I had
available on my bike. The rest he shoved
inside of his full body “coverall” suit.
It filled out the suit completely so that it took the shape of a large
man, only without hands, feet, or head.
He threw the suit over his shoulder and carried it to the trunk of the car. We were silent as we watched a tow truck haul his bike off.
The police would drop him
off at the bus station and leave him there to figure things out. He told me that he had 60 dollars left to his
name. He reasoned that he could buy a
bicycle for less than that price and just peddle back. I wished him luck and we shook
hands. I got back on my bike and headed on.