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Stopped at: Mother Neff State Park, TX Miles today: 58 Total: 228
I biked till darkness and beyond last night and was able to get only a few hours of sleep before waking up before the dawn. The rear tire was solid and didn't lose any air during the night.
The bike shorts were left outside on the seat, and after I put them on in the darkness, I realized it was full of ants! Immediately, I took off the shorts while ants were biting my hands. They were waved off the shorts, but some of them were still tangled within the fabric. I decided to wear the alternative shorts. The shorts I've been wearing since the beginning were made of 90% cotton blend, and didn't dry quickly enough during sweaty marathon sections.
Today was going to be a half-day and I would only planned on riding 25 miles and stopping at Mother Neff State Park. I stayed on the dirt road parallel to the highway and eventually came across a section of homes. The people here don't gate their animals and so a handful of them started giving chase. I shouldn't have been too worried since they were probably only curious. If people don't lock up their animals, generally, it meant the animal were not dangerous. I don't carry along dog-spray like some cyclists, and probably would not have the heart to spray them if I did.
After there was enough daylight, I came upon a small church adjacent to a railroad track only a few miles from the field where I started. This would have been a much better place to stop since a tent could have been placed unconspicously in the grassy backyard where there was a spigot.
The tire did lose air during the morning ride. While trying to take the tire apart, the plastic tire lever on the bicycle tool broke. Not long ago, I considered it to be one great tool, but luckily I brought along another tire lever. Taking apart the rear tire, there was another puncture in it. Originally, I had thought maybe I didn't do a very good job repairing the first puncture. Why there was no apparent air lost last night was as mysterious as the crackling noise in a house at night.
After the repair, the dirt road led out to the highway, and I stopped at the first convenient store to buy a couple of Snickers bars to power me into Temple, Texas. There was a skinny man pulled up to the store and came in after me. He had that rough appearance to him as though he may have been a war veteran. I don't know why I thought he was a veteran, I just felt it.
As we were both heading out to leave, he asked where I was going, and I thoughtlessly blurted, "Colorado." At 5 days into the bicycle trip, I was somewhere near the center of Texas and still had quite a distance to ride. Was I really going to make it? Probably not. It seemed sad really to be this many days into the trip and biked just over 200 miles. I contemplated my dishonesty, but didn't correct myself. Like trying to sound intelligent, it was just one of those instincts when it was better to say nothing at all than to pretend to know something.
Then I asked if he knew about any bicycle stores in Temple since I needed new gloves, a new tube, and tire liners. He kindly offered a ride to the bicycle shop, but I had to decline because I didn't want to give up so easily on myself- I had to pedal the distance on my own when possible. Even so, the doubts still lingered from days ago if I had the capacity to continue much further.
Coming into town, I saw a man with a backpack walking a multi-bred dog. Immediately, I assumed he was a vegabond, and I offered one of a king-size Snickers bar. His appearance was in the hazy area between a local and traveller, but he was most likely a local afterall.
The veteran's hospital, which was part of the medical school, had a very nice grassy park- the nicest one on the trip so far. I rested there for a while enjoying a warming morning. Across the street was a Mexican restaurant with $2.99 breakfast special. Obviously, that would be the next stop in Temple. While siting at the park, for a moment, I felt like someone special, someone different in this city. But I really wasn't.
Not only was the breakfast $2.99, but it came with coffee. Of course, that alone would not be enough, and I ordered 2 greasy breakfast tacos along with the greasy breakfast. Some of the other patrons appeared to be well acquainted with this place. They had the same hard appearance as the man in the red truck and the guy walking the dog. They all had that appeal (if appeal is the right word) of veterans.
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The bicycle store was a couple of miles and I didn't have to get on the main streets to get there. Arriving at 9:00 am, there was another
hour to wait so I decided to head towards the downtown library with directions from a man trimming the grass in his yard. The downtown was inside
a rather large building, and I was concerned with the panniers and tent being stolen, so I opted not to check e-mail and browse the web.
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Downtown Temple is not all that scenic, but it is large enough to be considered a city rather than a town. The highlight of downtown has to be
the park next to the police station. There was really nothing for me here this morning except to use the
bathroom at the information center. When I looked into the mirror, the dark complexion reminded me of 2003 when I got
completely burnt like toast on the Pacific Crest Trail and didn't recognize myself in a mirror. I'll have to take the time to start applying suntan lotion at the beginning of each morning.
Using the residential route, I made it back to the bicycle store and the owner and an employee were already there working on bikes. When he callously greeted, "What can I do for you?" I had the feeling he thought I was some vagrant. I didn't drive up in a car, and the Bridgestone was parked along a wall where he couldn't see it, plus the fact I was dark, unshaven, and unkempt. Who's to say I may not have reacted in the same manner.
"Why are you touring?" He asked, and, "Just to be free," I answered.
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Thirty-five dollars later I left the store with 2 tire liners, an extra tube, a shrader value adaptor, another glueless patch kit, and a pair of new cycling
gloves. On one hand I felt like this was the parting day for my old torn gloves, but on the other hand, I was so excited about having tire liners! I should have
never left home without them. The previous set crumbled on me before leaving from years of sitting idle.
Getting out of Temple proved a little difficult. The highway sign I was following became a different highway and I had to get some instructions from a patron at a busy gas station. There were some portion of the road near the edge of the city with no shoulders and sidewalks.
Now it was back to business, and back to biking in the heat. I only made it about 5 miles past the city before stopping at a cemetery for shelter. At this point, I was just so excited about reaching Mother Neff State Park and taking tomorrow off.
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The Rand McNally glove compartment map wasn't all too precise on the exact location of the park. I stopped at roadside park across
from Iron Horse Park, where I stayed before a couple of years ago when driving to Las Vegas. At least, I knew for sure there was camping and shower there for
$8. While waiting at picnic area, an elderly man drove up in a white Chrevolet truck. He came up to me after a few minutes and sat for a moment and said, "I'm looking for
cans," as if he needed an excuse to be here. Or maybe he was a little embarrassed by someone aware of his scavenging. The cost of gas
nowadays would probably make it unlikely to make a profit, if any. I asked if I could assist him by giving him a dollar bill. He waved as he drove off. I know that dollar will
come back to me in some form or another.
When I reached the Iron Horse Park about 3 miles later, the park was there, but nothing like before. The shower building was gone and all was left was an halfway-covered outdoor toilet seat where campers can see the legs of whoever sat on the john. Only free primitive camping was left and a few people were here. I really didn't want to take a rest day where there was no running water. Now I had to bike back out to the highway, mostly uphill and past some dogs. The highlight of this long detour was a porno magazine on the side of the road, but the pages were stuck together due to humidity or light drizzle.
Eventually, I arrived at Mother Neff State Park through a gauntlet of relentlessly brutal heat. Today's biking was much furhter than I intended, especially with the left knee still sore. Camping was $10/day. I set my tent at the back of the tenting close to the river.
There were 2 stray dogs wandering the park. It was obvious they were in search of water as they followed me around. I lead them to a spigot and let them drink out of my hands- they soaked up the water like a sponge. I'm not sure why the other 2 campers at the park didn't help them. I suspect the dogs are local due to some homes nearby. I think the park road is actually a throughroad for the homes.
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