Got in the van this afternoon with Bromont and headed South. It snowed 4 more inches of wet snotty snow and I was sick of it. Plus, there are some dehumidifiers down this way that want to be moved to Kansas. And, the “horrible” Texas weather looks to be clearing up. It should be in the 60’s this weekend in Austin. There are 2 races in Austin this weekend, but I’ll have to think about it (or better yet, not think about it) to figure out if I have any desire to suffer that much this early. It’s nearly 700 miles door to door, but the drive isn’t bad. It all depends what time you hit Oklahoma City and Dallas/Fort Worth. I didn’t leave until after 2pm, so it wasn’t an issue. I brought my MTB with me just in case I feel the urge and am physically able. I took the photo below somewhere south of OKC. They was cruising down I-35 at about 80mph. He (the dog) had a pretty good view and was out of the weather.

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.