The weather in Austin hasn’t been much better than the rest of the midwest, but bad weather here is nice weather in most other places. Today was nearly 60 degrees. I got on my bike to go watch a bike race. I knew it wasn’t going to be much better than watching cyclo-x Nationals. And, it wasn’t. I made the mistake of getting there right before the start. Like 5 minutes. In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t have a helmet. I would have more than likely raced. The course was wide open. The field of 1-2’s was nearly 80 guys. Seemed like a good race to sit in and do nothing. Maybe tomorrow. Instead I rode over 5 hours. I ended up riding until dark. I got kind of got lost a bit and did a few more hills than I’d planned.

Riding around Austin is super interesting. The architecture is a weird mix of stone and metal, old and new. I love it. And, especially when you add in the terrain. Riding west into the Hill Country is great. Too much traffic, but that is the norm everywhere “cool”. I don’t mind riding in traffic if I’m on my own, in a group it is a different story, of course.

Tomorrow there is another race. I’m not sure if I’m going to ride all day or go to the race. Guess I’ll decide when I wake up. I don’t have enough miles to race, but that hasn’t stopped me before. All I know is that it is super nice riding with nothing over my knees.

People are exercising everywhere here in Austin.

There has been a ton of rain here this winter. Very good for the drought conditions.

The road racing scene is healthy in Texas.

Nearly had to get my feet wet at this low water crossing.

Yesterday I watched the Super Bowl with Maureen. She is from Charleston, SC, thus it was mandatory she was a Saints fan. Actually, she likes the name of the team, so she was rooting for them. She cooked up jambalaya. On rice. With bourbon. And lemon. It was awesome. I rode through Westlake Hills today post Superbowl. Hometown of Drew Brees. It’s just on the other side of the river up the hill. Just a suburb of Austin really.

Maureen's awesome jambalaya plus extras.

It rained all day here in Austin. It got up to the lower 60’s, which is the norm nowadays, but it was wet most of the day. I finally got out later in the afternoon and got a couple hilly hours in. Not a bad day considering how it was looking at noon. I did a loop out in the hill country west and came back through town along the water through the nice neighborhoods. The stonework is amazing. There are 1000’s of houses here covered completely in stone. I love it.

Tomorrow I’m going out with the locals for a long day. But, tonight I have my KU shirt on. KU basketball vs. Texas while I’m in Austin. Should be fun.

A little post ride, neighborhood riding, architecture photo session.

Lance's home.

A screen shot of skyping with Trudi in Qatar. She is showing me her Blackberry with the email of the KU score on it live. It is 8am there and 11pm here.