Day T4: Better Vibes

The stay at that Airbnb was sublime, it will be hard to beat that. Given all of yesterday's hardships I slept like a log and vibe was very peaceful and safe. The Airbnb was located in a farm area and it was basically an entirely separate attached villa. The hosts kept up immaculate attention to detail and they had all the comforts you could possibly want.

Leaving that place was going to be quite difficult, but I started packing and left by 10:30am as I had to get cracking for a noon fitness class. As you would expect there is a late cancel penalty so this was motivation to get going. It was about a 12 mile ride from the Airbnb to the outskirts of Waco on the other side of town. This meant I would have to traverse the city and I was not looking forward to it.

When I posted this on facebook, friends started freaking out and told me to watch my back.

I've never heard anything good about Waco Texas and today I would be seeing it with my own eyes. The first impression I got was this place is extremely unfriendly towards bikes, and I barely saw any infrastructure let alone other cyclists. Unfortunately it has been like this the entire trip. Traffic started building and I got genuinely scared based on how people were driving.

There were more than a few close calls, in particular a potential repeat of what I have heard other cyclists post about quite frequently where drivers make turns without stopping and cut you off. What often happens is these cyclists claim the "right of way" and end up getting seriously injured. Having spent most of my cycling career in Asian countries I knew the drill: there are no rules of the road and you can't trust any drivers as they are out to kill you. I applied the same reasoning in Waco and when I saw this idiot pull a left turn in front of me, I knew exactly what was going to happen. I stopped and let him turn so I wouldn't get clipped, but then he stopped in the middle of the road and soon everyone else was honking at this moron.

It was a welcome relief to pull off the streets and take a break at my fitness class.

The class was amazing as it always is, but it couldn't top yesterday. The vibes were a bit more standoffish at this studio, but enough people were nice including the manager so I got a good session out of it. Once again I'm "that guy from Vegas" and will just roll with it.

Next it was time to hang out at Starbucks and recover a bit from the intense class. The barista was extremely nice to me, and the service here was amazing, almost as good as Thailand. I'll take that as a win. While sitting down, a shady black guy spoke softly to me and offered me some moonshine. I politely declined because this is a cycle tour after all, and that is an outrageously strong drink. The goal is to make it alive in one piece, and I would not survive the streets of Waco if I took him up on this. I later looked it up online and of course it's illegal too.

This was horrible. It was the only way to get out of town and I dared not ride on the road with the speed of the cars and such narrow space. Instead it was this nasty sidewalk that disappeared.

The GPS routed me on a closed road, I suppose because they were doing roadworks at the freeway crossing up ahead. I wasn't sure what to do but then decided to abort the plan to bike through. That was all a waste of effort and the mud got all over the bike and my clothes.

I had to reroute on more traffic-clogged roads and was wondering when this city would end. Waco was an eyesore. All the houses were old, the people were looking at me like I was a space alien, and there was a real sense of hickishness to this place. It wouldn't seem unreasonable if these people never traveled to California, let alone somewhere else in the world. Sad, really, because there's no reason why they can't leave this place or come and go freely.

Things did get better once the GPS routed me on the service road beside the Interstate. The weather also started clearing up and the sunshine returned. The road got wider and cleaner too so I breathed a sigh of relief that I had gotten out of the worst.

It wasn't long before I found a Laos restaurant and had to stop in.

The manager was really cool and he and I got chatting right away. I told him that I tour the world on a bike and have been to Thailand countless times as well as his own country Laos. How I miss those places. We started talking about philosophy and the benefits of global travel and how it opens your eyes. We then talked about the passing of our family members and he came up with some really wise words. He said basically to let it go, as death is part of life. Not only do people pass away, but so does the universe eventually including black holes after millions of years. I was intrigued because I hadn't heard of this in any of my physics courses, but maybe he is right. I will look it up.

With the amazing lunch and insightful conversation fueling me up, it was time to continue onwards.

It close to the destination in Temple where I spotted another Starbucks and had to make the effort to stop in. It was really nasty trying to get the bike here due to the complex interchanges involved, and of course everything was designed for cars. But it was totally worth the effort. The server was really nice and pleasant, he made for a nice chat.

Contrast all that with gas stations. For some reason I have gotten really snarky service and cold vibes like they look at me like I'm from outer space or something. Plus there is nowhere to sit down or chill inside with a coffee like in other countries. It definitely makes me rethink the strategy of biking beside the interstate (even though it's safe) and taking advantage of these gas stations for pit stops. The strategy works beautifully in Thailand and other such counties but not here. There is no price advantage either, as things are much more expensive for example drinks and snacks. For whatever reason it may be better to reroute on the smaller roads and just stock up on food at the beginning.

Through a bit more GPS routing, I found my Airbnb and it was quite the delight. This has certainly been the best part of the Texas touring, the nice stays at the end of the ride. This one was another gem.

Today's ride: 85 km (53 miles)
Total: 1,193 km (741 miles)

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