Biking for a Book

I was surfing on the web and came across a video featuring Michio Kaku. He's a physicist and futurist who happened to be discussing civilizations. He's a good speaker, so I looked him up on Wikipedia to find out some more and there was a list of his books. A sudden impulse came over me. I had to get one of his books! I grabbed a few things, jumped on my bike, and rode up to Half Price Books. If luck was on my side they'd have a book there at ... gee, half price!


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It wasn't the best ride: head wind, uphill, and lunch-hour traffic. And it's hot at 1 o'clock in central Texas. Traveling south on Mays Street, however, seemed the fastest route, so I took it. I did stop once, after the first "hill" just past the intersection of Mays and Main Street. No, there wasn't a breeze, but it felt good to just sit there under a tree. A few people stared at me as they drove by.

One thing I don't like about Round Rock is the lack of bike racks. Half Price Books is part of the Renaissance Square, like a mini-mall. I had to lock up my bike on a handicap post. The public library has one, and it's great because there are so many places to walk to downtown. Just the other day, I was at the library and decided to have a beer, so I walked over to Junior's. They had a good selection: Guiness, Fat Tire, Fireman's #4, Blue Moon, and a few more. But anyway, I was three miles south of the library at Half Price.

I was sweating profusely and I slowly paced outside to try to cool down. The funny thing about sweat is that it dries faster outside. In the building it just gets cold on my shirt and stays there. Not a good feeling. Well, long story short, I browsed the science section hoping to spot Kaku's book. It was not there.

It was no great loss. Back on the bike and crossing over for the trip back, at least I knew I'd have a tail wind going downhill. I was able to keep up with 30-mile-an-hour traffic! That was a blast. There is a spot on the road though that has Herpes Simplex 13: two globs of warty cement jut out and if you hit them, you could hit the pavement and lose a body part.

The library had Kaku on CDs, and I also picked up The Dancing Wu Li Masters, An Overview of the New Physics -- in cassette! I'll have to dig up my boom box to play these.

Next to the library is a corner store, P & A Snack Center. I had to get a Snickers candy bar and a Gatorade. Glad they're there.

Hot day to be riding.