Day T1: Forced to Bike 100 Miles

February 5, 2023

Denton TX to Winstar Casino OK

What can I say, that was the longest preamble to a cycle tour I've ever written. The journey to get from the compound to the world was long and arduous but I'm finally here. And what better place to contrast all the previous madness than Texas which is about as anti-lockdown as I can possibly think of. That's why I came here in the first place. So here we go!

The band new Montague sitting in the Airbnb in Denton

The new bike most definitely needs a name. I'll come up with one soon. Little did I know that it would perform beautifully today and exceed all expectations for a monster of a day.

The plan was to hit two main destinations at the beginning, Dallas city itself as well as the world's largest casino (Winstar Resort). Denton happened to be midway between the two, hence this planning and why I was here. Meanwhile, my main bike route was planned for the south to Austin and so this initial foray was somewhat off route. But since it was the world's largest casino I absolutely had to take this opportunity and visit it despite the potential to lose a ton of money.

Along the way was Midway Church, which might be why it was called that, but it wasn't quite midway. Anyways, I figured if I was in Texas it would make sense to check out some churches and so I picked this one. It was another case of culture shock since I've never seen so many churches all at once in the place. Where I live in China it's not exactly like that. Another story for another time. I consider myself a person of faith, probably not the most holy given all the cuss words I use, and the fact I gamble and drink. But whatever, it is what it is.

Quite an experience, and another shock: more than 90% of people here were all white. I could blend in no problem but it was wild to see this.

The people greeting me at the church were astonished to see me pull up on a bike, as no doubt very few people do this around here. There were absolutely no bike racks to speak of, in fact I have seen none ever since landing in Texas. The guy directing traffic just told me to lock the bike to a pole. Meanwhile, some real cool black dude helped me in figuring this place out. Another woman complimented me that this was the best way to get a real good workout in. If only she knew what was going to happen next on my trip. Biking to the church, about 15 miles or 25 km was just the warmup.

On the way to where all the white people live. The culture shock here was extreme to say the least.

Shortly after the church I stopped for lunch and to figure out my next move. The casino was next. But the total distance from my Airbnb to the church, then the casino, then back was over 100 miles so it was not feasible to bike the whole thing. Folding the bike and taking an Uber at least once was going to be a necessity.

Unfortunately I wasted an hour at the Dairy Queen trying to figure this shit out. Here I was frantically using two phones, going back and forth with this app and that, and spinning around in circles. Meanwhile an older couple was just sitting there talking away in Texas drawl and enjoying a slow-paced conversation. The contrast couldn't have been any more stark. Moreover the weather was beautiful and I could be out enjoying it on a bike but instead I'm wasting all this time trying to get technology to work that is not compatible with my devices.

In the end I found a nearby store and purchased $65 on the gift card as Uber cash. I made sure to scratch the back correctly, as a failure to do so on an Airbnb card in Canada was a $100 mistake.

The gift card solution sort of worked, but there was a new problem: no available drivers in this area. Looks like my plan to shortcut some biking miles was now dead in the water. I could kaibosh the whole casino thing and bike back to the Airbnb, or actually keep going and bike to the casino. You can pretty much guess what I did.

The irritant ended up turning into an adventure as I just said to myself, let's forget this Uber crap and ride the bicycle.

Don't take my advice that's for sure, you'll end up in lockdown. Worst decision of my life. Now we could try and correct it.

The next part was going to be a little sketchy. My bike map was telling me to reroute way far off to cross the river separating Texas from Oklahoma. The more direct option would be to use the Interstate. I had no idea if this was legal or not but I was going to take the risk anyway. For most of the way along I35 you can bike the frontage road with basically no traffic at all. There is only a very short stretch of 1-2 miles across the river that I needed to ride the freeway. My thinking was that if someone called the police, what state trooper's jurisdiction would it fall under? Probably none wanted to take the responsibility so it was a calculated risk.

Once exiting the Interstate I pulled into the gas station and celebrated with an almond cappuccino and then just chilled out. This was a lovely oasis and a reward for having taken a risk and gotten away with it.

Not surprisingly, there was nowhere to park the bicycle and I could see a security guard at the front entrance eyeing me with suspicion, after all they pretty much hate bicycles in most places in the world. Here was no exception. Before he could make a move or do anything, I went around the back out of his sight and locked the bike to a pole. China at least has to be useful for learning some tricks like this. They hate bikes there just as much. It's all about a status thing.

This border casino was not the world's largest and really not part of my plan so I wasn't expecting anything. I threw in $20 and picked a random slot to see what would happen.

The wise thing to do at that point would be to bounce but I found another slot machine and won another $20, then I really bounced. Next stop was going to be Winstar Resort about 2 miles up the road.

It truly was the world's largest casino and I spent several hours exploring the place. Unfortunately it was also slam packed which meant that the slot machines were going to be tight. Sure enough I lost over $40 there and finally decided to cut my losses and get out of there. I was still $80 in profit and figured this was more than good enough.

After eating a meal and just going for one beer, I decided to bounce. I folded the bike outside and tried to call an Uber. Huge problem. Again, no available drivers. Not even here. I then tried calling a taxi and was going to use my winnings to pay for it. No taxi drivers either. Damnit! I considered staying at the casino but then realized I had left my valuables on purpose back in the Airbnb because I was expecting to be able to get an Uber at least part of the way.

The only option was going to be a bike back in the dark some 40 miles away (over 60km) mostly on the Interstate frontage road, which did not appeal at all. But what else could I do?

I ended up biking back in the dark, and stopped off a few times at gas stations closer to towns while continuing to keep trying either taxi or Uber drivers. Same problem: no drivers available. This was becoming insane, but I had to act calm and think of the best solution. Just slow the pace down and conserve energy while biking. At this rate I would get home at 2am.

Just past Gainesville a trooper pulled up behind me with the flashing lights. I stopped and got off the bike. He explained that several people had made calls and said it was hard for me to be seen despite how it was legal to be riding on the frontage road. I explained to the cop that I really didn't want to be doing this and it was never planned, but it was impossible to get an Uber back to Denton as I had tried multiple times. By now my phone had also run out of power. I told him I wasn't from here and the ID could prove it.

He offered to drive me to the nearest city that was still within his jurisdiction. Most likely he was restricted to whatever country this was. I was quite appreciative of the offer, and he really liked how the bike folded up. He laughed when I told him, "You probably don't see too many of these." His buddy had to do the usual pat down and search etc... out of a formality to see if I didn't have any weapons.

In the car we chatted and he asked about how they teach math in Canada. I said I don't really follow the curriculum and I teach the kids methods that actually make their lives easier. I figured not to say anything about living in China or about enduring the brutal lockdown, although in hindsight that would have made a pretty wicked story and added entertainment to his shift. Now I kind of wish I told the story.

He explained that they still teach his son the old fashioned long division method. I basically said that method is outdated which he agreed with. I was also astonished that a 13 year old would still be doing this kind of basic math when back in China we're already teaching them advanced algebra at that age. The takeaway I got is twofold. First, if western countries could get their shit together with math education, they could compete globally with and be a force to be reckoned with. Secondly, if China could get rid of the communist party and embrace western style democracy, then they would absolutely be the number one country in the world. The reality is none of those two things will happen.

The cop went on to explain that his kid spends 9 periods a day in school until late in the afternoon, which is exactly what we have in China. They also have a no homework policy and do exactly what China does also in this regard. In both countries, they apparently spend all this time in "study hall" playing on their phones when they could be spending less time in school altogether and making more productive use out of fewer periods.

Honestly I can't believe this. The education systems need better reform.

The ride and chat, unfortunately was too short. The cop really didn't give a shit that I was biking in the dark, he just didn't want to be bothered with calls and he wanted me out of his jurisdiction. That happened at the county line. He wished me good luck and off I went.

Finally after numerous obstacles I reached the saving grace of the Love's gas station that was my exit off the interstate and a 24 hour service bonanza of drinks and treats. From there the riding was quiet and smooth on nice roads where I safely made it back in one piece.

All told it was over 100 miles of biking on the first day.

Today's ride: 160 km (99 miles)
Total: 954 km (592 miles)

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