The Unicycle Story

I’m headed to Reno for a wedding at the invite of a
girlfriend who had moved to San Francisco to get away from
me-It is probably July or August.
I planned to hitchhike but the day before leaving slipped in
some dog poop, while hanging up laundry & twisted my knee
again.
So, I leave Denver in the Landcruiser.
I get to Gunnison, gas & beer up and keep on moving.
A few miles out I get to thinking food might be in order and
pulled over to think this out.
While sitting there, I see this character from Tom Robbins
struggling up the mountain on a unicycle- just another
pilgrim looking for the elephant, I figure if he’s passed
out on the roadside on the way back I’ll offer water.
So I head back towards Gunnison to this great place
overlooking the reservoir, owned by a guy who in a previous
life was a lion hunter and not only were the burgers beefalo
and the beer cold, but the pictures were worth the price of
admission.
So I’m drinking beer, nursing my busted & infected lip
[that’s when I started wearing a mustache], killing the hot
part of the day- the Landcruiser had no top- and getting a
lecture from the proprietor on the merits of Standard
Poodles and Airedales as Lion fighting dogs.
I look out the big tinted windows and see the unicyclist
struggling up the driveway.
I point him out to the owner, who says shit, shit, shit and
starts rummaging around under the bar. I tell him don’t
worry [maybe he’s looking for the little sap] I’ll stand the
kid to lunch- he’s not big enough to eat much.
The kid comes in, asks for a glass of water and gives us his
rap about how he’s going to be the first person to unicycle
from Oakland to NYC. We feed him-it seems he was a
vegetarian and let him vent- unicycling is lonely work.
And then the owner tells the kid he has some bad news, pulls
out a scrap book w/ Daily News pictures of another kid last
year who had unicycled from LA to NYC.
Have to give the kid credit- he could take a punch.
He did a quick rope-a-dope on the bar & bounced back.
I offered to let him catch a ride to Reno or Salt Lake [the
LDS were big on food give away]
However, he said he would keep on keeping on.

Coming next…..
Basque Bars & Shade Tree Mechanics in Battle Mountain, Utah.

$ 5,000 Jackpot @ the Nickel Slots.
Secret Asian Man comes home from Japan.