June in Texas

This week in Austin...

Road ride from Mellow Johnny's.

HB 1 Budget Battle in the Texas House. Legislators filed over 300 amendments and were in session well past midnight.

Texas Capitol dome in the late afternoon...

A little Sunday afternoon dirt worship in the greenbelt.

Bicycle Portraits

I love this.

Fall is here!

And I was ready for it to arrive. Summer was hot. Humid. And six months long. By mid-October, I was practically begging for a cold front to whoosh through Texas.

Wish granted.

The air is finally cool, and I get to trade in my summer dresses for leggings, scarves, and jackets. But even with the changing weather, one of the best things about Austin is that -- no matter the season -- there is always plenty to see and do. A quick digest from October and early November...


Mountain biking. Austin and the hill country are great places to ride some amazing trails.



ELECTION DAY. (Which, in retrospect, could have been renamed "Demogeddon" or "Democralypse" this year. I'll refrain from further commentary and point you here instead for all the details on the Texas midterm results.)

For the first time in my voting life, I was compelled to phone bank for the Democrats. This isn't California, folks, and winning back those blue seats was not something we could even come close to counting on.


A few photos from the Travis County Democratic Party HQ in Austin. I called 75 voters to remind them to vote, and to encourage them to vote for all the Dems on the ballot. People were super nice! Even a few conservatives pledged to vote for Bill White for Governor (sadly, he lost... and Texas is even redder than before).



And finally, the Gypsy Picnic! Austin is famous for serving food out of a trailer (there are over 1,000 such businesses in the city limits alone). So what better way to celebrate this food culture than by bringing together over 30 food trailers and serving up $3 sample sizes of all these dishes!

The lines were crazy long (and usually I can find many of these trailers are in my neighborhood), so I passed on this delicious fare and just browsed the event and enjoyed the live music... but rest assured you can find me at Gordoughs, Odd Duck Farm to Trailer, or Torchy's on a nice evening.



Happy Fall!

Welcome home.

I brought this baby home from the bike shop tonight. Isn't she gorgeous?

It's going to be a great fall.

What would make you give up your car?

Here's an important and fascinating discussion: What would make you give up your car?

I'll admit my perspective has changed a bit since I moved to Texas. But in seeking alternatives, the following things rank high on my list: safety, convenience, and, perhaps most importantly, time. If I could get to work by public transit or bicycle in a reasonable amount of time, I'd do it. But right now it breaks down like this...

Commute distance: 12 miles.
Time it takes to commute one-way...

By car: About 15 minutes in the morning, 35 in the evening.

By bike: About 1 hour (Uphill. And add another two miles to the distance).

By bus: Between 1 hour & 20 minutes and 2 hours (including one to three transfers to different bus lines.)

Keep in mind that my commute is along one of the most popular roads in Austin -- it's a major commuter route for many Austinites and those living in nearby suburbs. Even after a year of living here, I'm still amazed that there aren't any better alternatives.

I didn't own a car before I moved to Texas. BART, buses, Amtrak, ZipCar, and carpooling made getting around fairly quick and cheap. I could commute to work, go shopping, and hang out with friends without worrying about finding and paying for parking, or (after a night on the town) who would be the designated driver. Granted, I grew up a block from a subway station, but despite the downsides to public transit, it has always served me well.

Here, I've used public transit only once. I use my commuter bike on the weeknights and weekends to cruise around town, but never to get to work. It's SO EASY to drive a car here, it's what I generally do.

Click here to read the discussion. I think it's fascinating... and hopeful. I think we can design cities better, make cycling easier and "cooler," provide better access to efficient public transit, eliminate stigma, and ultimately convince folks to get out of their cars.

Motodiva

A little present to myself to celebrate fall. I picked these beauties up at Bicycle Sport Shop's Annual Garage Sale Event (40% off!).

The mountain bike I want is still backordered... but it's going to be a 29er!

Saturday 50-miler

Austin Cycle Camp had the hook-up this weekend with a great ride out of Blanco.

For a small fee, about 20 of us got shuttled out to the start, treated to solid ride support (SAG, snacks, ice cold water, the works!), lunch at Riley's BBQ, and a swim in the Blanco River afterward.

Heaven on earth.

It's been too long since I went on a long ride -- nice to spend some time in the saddle with friends.

Bonus! It was a delightfully cool 65 degrees when we rolled out this morning. Very unusual for Texas in August, but I'll take it!

Bikes & gear packed -- ready to depart Austin at 7am.

Open road in the beautiful hill country.

BBQ at Riley's. Delish.

Dirt worship weekend

I'm a roadie, but I love riding on dirt. So, I snagged one of these this weekend...


...and headed north to the Bicycle Sport Shop store on Parmer Lane for their MTB skills clinic. I pedaled all over the lawn with 35 other cyclists, playing bicycle limbo (how low can you go while riding your bike?), navigating an obstacle course (cones, logs, rocks, teeter-totters), and racing "slow" (last person to cross the finish line--without getting off your bike or touching the ground--wins). Then we rode behind the store into a park where we got to practice descending and plunge into and ride across a GIANT sand pit. Talk about skills -- that is a great one to master!

Afterward, with a couple that I met at the clinic, I headed over to Walnut Creek, an amazing gem of a park in North Austin. Over 13 miles of looping, twisting trails with sweet drops and descents, and short quick climbs. Lots of shade, a beautiful creek, and plenty of technical spots to practice skills (or walk your bike).

The aftermath:


Very dirty and very sweaty. In the best of ways.

P.S. I'm wearing my RoadID. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to have ID on them at any time.

P.P.S. The bike fun never stops: Bicycle Sport Shop and Alamo Drafthouse are hosting a screening of Bicycle Dreams (featuring the Race Across America event) on Tuesday night. Awesome.

Midnight rider

Friday night.

I found myself standing beneath a moonlight tower.

165 feet tall.
Over a hundred years old.
Manufactured by Fort Wayne Electric Company.

Six bright lamps shining down on Zilker Park and 100 cyclists.

AWESOME.

Welcome to the 2nd Juan Pelota Moonlight Tower Constellation Tour. The goal? Ride all around Austin to view the 15 remaining moonlight towers, a citywide lighting system from back in the day (think 1890s).

I love this idea. Both that Austin is the only city left in the world to operate such a lighting system, but also that I could play follow-the-leader on my bike to see them all.

The ride was a perfection cross-section of the cycling community. I will admit I was expecting the group to be dominated by hipsters on fixies, but it was far more diverse: triathletes in sleeveless jerseys, roadies in full spandex, one parent-child pair, cruisers, BMXers, a recumber rider, single-speeders, commuters, MTBers, and more.

We rolled out at 8:15pm, and by the time we'd crossed Lamar Blvd, through Bouldin Creek, and into Travis Heights to the second moonlight tower, I think we'd lost a quarter of the group. Still, we pressed on, across the Congress Avenue bridge (over Town Lake and past some amused folks waiting for the bats to fly), through downtown, and into East Austin.


Contrary to popular belief, the east side of town isn't that sketchy. But just as I'd be wary to be caught in certain areas of Oakland, CA alone at night, there were moments when I was glad to be pedaling alongside 50 other cyclists, rather than by myself.

We stopped to regroup several times; each time the pack got smaller and smaller. I think the lack of maps and the steep little hills that pepper the Austin landscape took a toll on the weaker riders. We hammered up Chicon to MLK, over Manor, through UT, and up to 42nd. That's the northernmost tower.

After that the group blew apart. I counted 12 towers (there are 15) and decided I didn't mind heading back to Mellow Johnny's Juan Pelota cafe for some (free) beer.

We sat, drank, reveled, and mused that this was probably the best way to spend a Friday night. The end.

Cycling Central

My four-day weekend will be full of cycling, and rightly so.

I spent this morning at Lance Armstrong's place (Juan Pelota Ranch) in Dripping Springs, TX (just outside of Austin).



I keep having wonderful moments when I realize that Texas, this new state of mine, is just gorgeous! The Texas hill country's rolling hills are an amazing backdrop for this race, with its rugged and rocky limestone hills, scrubby trees and brush, and huge blue skies.

I've been learning very quickly why people adore Austin; I am beginning to appreciate more and more why these same folks also love the hill country.

Lance is one of those folks -- he's got a huge ranch and it's an amazing venue for the Mellow Classic. Two full days of racing, with two UCI Pro races, a bike expo, local vendors, beer (very important), and good times with Central Texas cyclists.

(No Lance sightings today, by the way. I'm pretty sure he's in France getting ready for TdF. But he's around... my friend got the "cycling nod" from him the other day when he saw him out on a ride.)

I should mention that it was hot today. A scorcher. I visiting the Nuun vendor booth about ten times to refill my bottle (and I wasn't even racing!).

If you look in the slideshow above, you'll see a shot of a bunch of spectators on the big hill, all sitting in the only logical place: the shade.

I skipped the pro men's race to go get cool and get home. I reserved some sweet equipment for Monday's CapTexTri: a wetsuit, Specialized TT helmet, and Zipp 404s. Oh sweet cycling gods... I love those Zipps.


Isn't she gorgeous?