After a particularly uncomfortable redeye, I've got a few hours to
kill until my Sao Paulo - Rio flight. I eventually go narcoleptic
with yogic twists on the airport chairs so thoroughly that I nearly
miss the damn thing. Arrival in Rio is a rude awakening: both tires
on my bike, which I had thoroughly and expensively repaired just for
this trip, are so seriously bent that they hit the brakes on every
rotation. A quick attempt to get some cold cash compensation is in
vain, but I am fortunate enough to have brought my bike multitool and
get them in acceptable condition. The highway ride is more than
harrowing: it's a thoroughly bad idea. I'm breathtakingly close to
collisions that really would have hurt with several buses. Once in
the city, I actually skim off some smaller car that I think was a cab.
But the latter incident is only after my ~15-mile ride gets
shortened: a set of highway "cops" pick me and my bike up. We don't
speak each other's languages, but they do take me to local roads near
Copacabana with no more of a toll than listening to some Portugese
that was probably them telling me how stupid I was to be biking on
that road. Even if there wasn't a language barrier, I wouldn't
argue:)
After a hostel hunt is a meal that's near nirvana: a churrascaria.
It's a buffet, but there are also dudes bringing around lots of big
cuts of succulent meats. In this one meal, I probably kill more
animals than I saved in 2 years of vegetarianism. Even with a beer,
I'm only out $17.50 Brazilian reais (<$9 USD). I just might have to
get really fat on this trip.
The night's finding samba music, tasting new beers, and attempting to
plan out an itinerary. Looks like I might try more than a lot of
biking, but that's dependent on my knee staying in 1 piece, my bike's
tires no longer resembling the arrows on mountain road signs, and
finding non-highway roads that get me where I'm trying to go. In
other words, I don't quite have a game plan yet:)