{"id":939,"date":"2016-10-24T06:13:56","date_gmt":"2016-10-24T12:13:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jwstworldbicycletour.com\/?p=939"},"modified":"2016-10-24T06:13:56","modified_gmt":"2016-10-24T12:13:56","slug":"october-23-lubbock-tx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jwstworldbicycletour.com\/?p=939","title":{"rendered":"October 23, Lubbock, TX"},"content":{"rendered":"
I really needed the day off in Plainview; I think I must be getting some kind of a cold. I have been really tired lately. Because of this, I opted to spend my second Plainview evening in a hotel. Sitting in a McDonald’s Resturant, I Googled “Cheap Hotels” and typed in Lamar. The cheapest hotel in Lamar came up at $45*. The asterisk after the 45 must mean $11.50, because I ended up paying $56.50 for the room. I don’t know why they don’t just give you the real price on these sites. I also don’t know why I keep trying to find the cheapest hotel.<\/div>\n
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\"More

More cotton fields<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Have you ever noticed how two normal words can go together to make a very unpleasant-sounding phrase? For example, the words “cheap” and “hotel.” No real impact individually, but together they create a very negative picture.<\/div>\n
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Another example are the words “bed” and “bug.”<\/div>\n
After spending a couple of hours in the hotel, I noticed a very suspicious-looking insect crawling near the baseboard. Ever since a friend of mine got attacked by bed bugs, and another friend took them home with him, I’ve learned to look for these. I confirmed with photos on the internet–these were the real deal. I didn’t actually see any on the bed, but you can’t take any chances with these critters.<\/div>\n
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\"Bed

Bed bug (badly focused)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Fortunately, I had not unpacked anything from my bike. The bedbugs would have to climb up a tire, and shimmy out on a spoke, in order to find my gear. I did, however, set my backpack full of clothing on the bed–not good. So, I took the backpack and its contents and placed it into a sealed bag. When I got to\u00a0my destination that evening, the backpack and everything in\u00a0it went into a washer, and then a drier on high heat. In order to protect myself from the bugs in the hotel room, I slept in my tent. The tent is made of a fine synthetic mesh with no open seams and no place for an inset to hide. After these precautions, I am 100% certain that the critters have not joined me on my journey.<\/div>\n
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\"Pitching

Pitching a tent in my hotel room<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Another scary two-word combo is made from the words “saddle” and “sore.” Yep–my two very long days resulted in a small pressure sore where I contact the bike. A phone call to my friend Drew Clark–an endurance cyclist–netted me some good advice and the sore is now nearly gone. Sorry, no photos.<\/div>\n
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The ride to Lubbock was a bit tiring, since I had a mild headwind the entire 53 miles. But it was fun to see the TTU campus again. The entire neighborhood where I lived for three years is gone (good riddance!) and has been replaced by some very upscale housing. The old hangout, Spankys, is still there!<\/div>\n
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\"Spankys\"

Spankys<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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My Warmshowers host in Lubbock, Pete, treated me to a nice glass of scotch–the oldest I have ever tried. It really was a remarkable drink!<\/div>\n
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\"40

40 year old scotch<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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That same evening, I met\u00a0with Tom and Monica Gibson. Tom is one of the professors that I had when at TTU, and is still teaching there. This evening, I hung out with Charley Myles, who falls in the same category. It was really great to see both of these guys! Tomorrow, I head to the university to get some planning done, and to give a seminar at 5:30. Then, Tuesday morning, I will head to Abilene.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I really needed the day off in Plainview; I think I must be getting some kind of a cold. I have been really tired lately. Because of this, I opted to spend my second Plainview evening in a hotel. Sitting in a McDonald’s Resturant, I Googled “Cheap Hotels” and typed in Lamar. The cheapest hotel
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