Day 13 of 30 days of riding.
Wednesday Morning Ride In Austin
Tag: The Daily Post
Day 12 of 30 Days of Biking
We met a Cape Cod friend for lunch in Downtown Austin. Dan was going to rent a bike and ride with me but the severe thunder storm squashed that. Brandon and I went to retrieve his bike from the police evidence warehouse and there was no damage. He has no idea what happened but the general feeling is that he got bumped from the side and not really hit.
By 5 PM, the weather had cleared enough for me to get a ride in and fulfill my 30 days of biking commitment. Lady Bird Johnson lake has a dog park with a statue of Stevie Ray Vaughan. The lake was alive with rowing tryouts and I hear that if you don’t make the team it’s called a “crew cut.” I kind of just road around aimlessly. Soccer games, runners, dog walkers and a huge animal rescue no kill shelter were my companions on this ride.
It was bike rush hour on my return ride back to Brandon’s place and I decided to follow the commuters who looked like they were taking an alternate, less busy route that looked like the right direction. It’s wasn’t but it also wasn’t that far off. I happened to come upon a great little food truck lot and naturally stopped for dinner. I intended to eat only half of my huge falafel wrap and bring the rest to Brandon, but it’s doesn’t take a genius to figure out how much of it I saved. If per chance you are not a genius the answer is none. Anyhow, it ended up being a pretty good day of riding a bike.
My 30 days of biking commitment is continuing in Austin TX. Austin is a very bike friendly city in spite of what happened to Brandon. His hit and run incident was close to midnight. He is recuperating nicely but still has his attitude.
We have been doing lots of shopping for food and cleaning supplies. Yesterday was spent mostly cleaning the kitchen and living room. We had to borrow a vacuum from his neighbor and I spent a lot of time cleaning the brushes of a quarter inch of hair wrapped around the spindle. Today was a deep cleaning of the bathroom. Brandon told me that he hasn’t been cleaning because he is moving out in six weeks. Really?
Today was a 15 mile spin around Austin city streets. I rode to the University of Texas and the LBJ library. Tomorrow I’ll be riding to the Austin City Limits venue and the Botanical Gardens. Because of the incident. Brandon tires easily and I take off around noon time while he relaxes. In the past we would do these rides together and that’s what we both miss doing this time around.
Changing Locations To Continue the 30 Days of Biking Challenge
A 7 AM flight out of Boston tomorrow to help Brandon in Austin, who was the victim of a hit and run while riding his bike home from the Driveway Race Thursday night. I’m getting picked up at the airport and our first stop is a bike shop to rent a bike for the week so I can continue the quest of 30 days of biking.
I managed to get a short ride in today and stopped for a photo shoot of the Unitarian building. The quality of the architecture is phenomenal, and was done by imported Italian stone cutters by the town benefactor who built the place in honor of his mother.
Lots Happening Today
I was really pushing to get to my hair dresser for an 8 AM appointment. When I approached the last traffic light a block from the salon the cop cars began arriving. Town cops, state police, and unmarked police cars. They crossed my path and stopped just a few yards from where I was waiting for the light to change. When I looked I saw a kid running across the street being chased by two cops. I rode to the side street in time to see the kid on the ground with two cops hovering over him. (photo on the right above) It was five till eight and I had a decision to make. Needless to say, I was late for my hair cut. These two kids chose a house that had camera surveillance. The owner was at work and his phone alerted him to movement in his house. He logged in and saw the two burglars and the rest is history. The homeowners video is HERE
It was also day 8 of my 30 days of biking commitment. Not much to say about that except as usual I took some photos. The big news however is a phone call I got from Thailand on WhatsApp, an application that lets you text or make calls over the internet to anyone in the world who is both on the internet and has WhatApp.
#3 son Brandon’s lady Janea, told me that they found him on the side of the road unconscious after being hit by a car. He was returning from the Crit races in Austin. He is going to be OK in time, but is a hurt’n puppy now. Broken collar and severe concussion. The world has certainly gotten smaller with me getting a call from Thailand telling me about something that happened in Austin.
Racing the Rain
I wanted to get a ride in simply to satisfy my 30 days of biking commitment. I figured to be racing the rain and on the way home after the coffee shop and market stop, the wind really began to whip up it’s fury. I knew the rains were imminent as soon as the wind died down. Well….It’s two hours later and still no rain. I’m taking the dogs for a long walk and if the rain has still not arrived, I’m gong for a bike ride to the city for lunch. Mind you, I ride in the rain. I don’t like it, but I do. Wish me luck.
Day 5 of 30 Days of Biking
I had to return my new camera that had a major issue. One of the Geeks at best buy made sure that it was a defective camera and not operator error. I was hoping it was only a setting that I screwed up, but the screen was defective. Because I got the display model, replacing it would cost me around a hundred twenty five more. I found one that is better suited to my use and to my surprise, Best Buy discounted it 10% for my troubles so it cost me less than $100 for a really good camera.
I’m on Day 5 of the 30 days of biking challenge and because of the weather, a challenge is an understatement. It was cold and windy most of the day. However, things had changed for the better around 3 PM which made it an easy choice to ride to Yoga class. I got to try out the new camera and am liking it a lot.
30 Days Of Biking Day 2. Provincetown, MA
It rained all day and was getting late. I needed to get out and ride to fulfill my obligation to 30 days of biking. Once I decided to go for it, the rain lightened and eventually stopped. I did get caught in a couple of meaningless light showers which was no big deal. Provincetown is a highly rated biking area with a good mix of trails, lightly traveled roads and challenging hills.
P-town dunes from John Sullivan on Vimeo.
Novara Randonee Touring Bike.
Touring season is approaching and I took the steel bike for a longish ride to the town of Wareham Ma. The Novara has been in my stable since 2008 when I did my first tour of the Erie Canal.
Wareham has been my go to ride for medium miles for years. There are two hills to climb to get to the center of town on the back road route. As I was climbing the first hill, a 30 something rider passed me and the only thing she did was a psheh sound when she looked at me and my bike. An old guy, no helmet, riding steel. psheh. Continue reading “Novara Randonee Touring Bike.”
Taxes, Yoga and Football
I wanted to ride today but things conspired against me doing a long ride. Putting all the stuff together and entering everything into tax software can be tedious. By the time I sat down to begin entering the figures and descriptions it was after 11 AM. By noon time I had most of the federal stuff done, and my wife had roasted some cauliflower and asparagus for lunch. I got on the bike and rode to Subway. Continue reading “Taxes, Yoga and Football”
A Midnight Rider 