went riding with thomas yesterday. it was pretty effing rad. beautiful weather, sun was shining. great day for a ride.

and stella was great. she's running rather well. maybe better than she did before she 'sploded.

things are pretty happy right now. happy springtime!

i think this is the end of the road, kids.

school starts on tuesday, and i'm still in sacramento. i've been holding on to the idea that i can still make it back. while that may be a possibility, it's looking less and less likely.

yesterday i finally got the last of the parts i was waiting for. i spent the evening putting everything back together.

i even macgyvered the wrist pin from my old piston to work in the new one...

and then i broke a piston ring.

saturday night, labor day weekend. i need to be in utah on tuesday and i broke a part that i won't be able to replace until tuesday at the earliest.

i think i must have used up my lifetime allotment of luck.

so what do you do? i mean, things have sucked before, but this is the first time that i don't have an answer.

i think i'll have to head back to utah. leave stella in sacramento to fend for herself.

i don't like to quit, but i don't think i have much choice.

someone on stellaspeed suggested that i limp home with just one piston ring. there are two, after all... my only worry is the run through nevada. 100 miles between towns. desert in the middle of the summer. that wouldn't be a good ride even with a healthy scooter. i don't know if i want to risk it.

but now i've been presented with an alternative. this is one of those life defining choices. 'what flavor of ice cream' pales in comparison.

if you admit that you've bitten off more than you can chew, buy a plane ticket and head back to utah, turn to page 42. if you stubbornly finish up the repair and risk riding it home, turn to page 60.

not because the end result would be any different. both pages in the choose your own adventure that is my life end with me and stella safely back in utah. eventually.

the reason this choice is important is that it defines my moral fiber.

do i throw in the towel? do i admit defeat? i mean, 5500 miles is an admirable run. but is it enough? i'm only 700 miles from the end. and a lousy piston ring is keeping me from it.

the high school gym coach answer would be 'never accept defeat'.

but is it more rational to accept that sometimes things are simply beyond my control? i know that they are.

i just never like admitting that any given situation is one of those times.

this blog's a bit more technical than most... so you don't have to read it if you don't want to.

all the dirty details after the jump.

for those who haven't yet heard, i hate stella.

well, not really. but i am a bit irritated with her at the moment.

i was cruising from hollywood to san francisco the other night when she exploded.

i guess 'exploded' isn't quite the right word. it looks like she overheated and sprayed molten bits of aluminum all over her insides. the piston doesn't move anymore. it's seized pretty good. the kick start doesn't move. there are little beads of aluminum in the spark plug.

she is a sad, sad stella.

and she's stuck at a gas station in pismo beach.

this has not been my week. or month. or whatever.

ever since my ipod died... and now my external hard drive makes evil noises and doesn't read. and stella. whatever am i going to do with you?

more on this later, once i figure out how to get her to sacramento and get her taken apart. do a biopsy, see what the damage is.

the best part is that i can't really afford any of this right now.

poop.