I am really not having luck with any form of combustible fuel related personal transportation lately. Originally, the ‘78 Pinto’s battery died, leaving me with the choice of buying a new battery and forgoing something else that seemed important at the time, or rely solely on the ‘81 Honda CB400E to get me around during the summer months. For some time I did manage to get about exclusively on the motorcycle, even after having used it to crack my collar bone June 9th.

I finally decide to get a battery for the Pinto, have a friend drive me to Checkers auto parts, and make the $60+ purchase. I clean off the connections at the end of the wires, and before staring the car, note that there is a definite lack of coolant in the radiator. I add some distilled water, check the oil and other fluids, and then start her up. After about 2-3 minutes of the car running I notice an airy noise coming from within the still opened hood. The radiator is leaking, but from the seal along the top. No game-winning touchdown for the Pinto, as ol’ María is placed on the disabled list until she can cool off without an outside aid or shutting down every too often.

To the CB400. About midsummer I noticed a trend in oil loss from the Honda, and made it more of a habit to check the oil levels very consistently. Well, this morning I had to add a bit more than is usually necessary for the refill. I drove to school to get a jump on preparations for this coming year’s classes, then to meetings to introduce us to our mentors for the year, and then to some education classes through Metro State in Denver.

On the way home, maybe a mile short of Table Mesa Rd. heading westward on 36, the engine loses power and just dies. I am forced to make an emergency stop on the side of the road and push the Honda to the nearest gas station. I note the oil levels look much lower than those that I had checked that same morning. With a combination of pushing, driving, and cursing complaints (all while thinking about Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance since I just finished it this Spring) I manage to get home in the short commuting time of about 2 hours where it usually takes 40 minutes.

Now I am not sure that either for of transportation will be reliable even for tomorrow, and I cannot figure out RTD’s routes well enough to entrust my school meetings to my bus-managing skills. I only had to take public transportation while in Madrid and most of that was on the straight forward metro.

I may have to ride in tomorrow on the bicycle. It would be fun, but I should log about 70 miles running this week… and the ride back is always straight into the wind… uphill…