Vacation + Social ride tonight

I've been taking it easy, and will take it easy through the weekend. My brother is in town and recently 21...

See the twitpics to the right...

Anyhow, we will most definitely be going to the ATX Social Cycling Thursday night ride. Remember folks: ~8:00 PM, Ped bridge.

Im back homies....

Now then lets see what has gone on these past few days.

I guess ill chime in on the little whoop-la about the Social ride's sidewalkedness. I very very rarely ride sidewalks, but I don't mind it at all when with that great group. And that's all I have to say about that.

Sunday I did the Mellow Johnny's ride. The route was really nice. South on Mopac, West on Southwest parkway, north on 71, back towards town on Bee Caves and Loop 360.

There was a little side loop that was really awesome. Tight turns and steepish short hills. Very "scenic", if you will.

Speed was a little faster than the Jack and Adam's Sunday ride. The J&A ride is an excellent introduction to group road riding. Plus they have tacos and coffee after.

I am working on grand post describing the various road rides in the area. I will include things like speed, length, route terrain, size, "character" of participants, and most important, fun.

Monday was down right fall-like.

Started the day off with a friend (not the bike, shes more than a friend) and coffee at Mozart's.


Then I rode up to Mt. Bonnell. I love the descent on the North side of Mt. B road.


I rode again that evening. I was going to check out the Nelo's shop ride. It was news to me that they had moved, and I arrived late. They had left, so I did a few loops on shoal creek and great northern. Every time I passed by the ball fields on northern I felt like stopping......so I finally did. I munched some nachos, and watched the little dudes do their thing for a bit.

It is pretty rare that I ride south on shoal creek without stopping at Draught House. Turns out Monday is porter and stout night. Either is 2 bucks. Nice conclusion to an evening ride.

Later that night, I met a gentlemen by the name of Takeshi


Tuesday I was supposed to meet up with D-dog from www.thyneighborsbike.com for the Ridazzz ride. I was going to head there straight from a time obligation (work), but I am irresponsible and didn't have my ID with me. I went home to hunt for it and got a call that they were heading to the ped bridge.

I boogied on over in time to see the warriors roll by. Soon we were at Barton springs saloon where clowndog? hooked up the whole crew up with high lifes. Thanks.

I was convinced that Wednesday would be the last super nice day until October. It started with the Early morning coffee ride at 7am. I will say, once over coffee is pretty choice. My latte was meticulously brewed, artfully poured, and very very good.

The group was small. First 7, then 5, then 4, then 3.

In time this thing will grow. There are plenty of good coffee places. Maybe they will mix in a bakery stop....maybe a Mexican bakery stop. Marranitos....mmmmmm.

Then It was off to San Marcos. Its a 75 mile round trip from my door.



Animals seen alive:

Dairy Cow
Longhorn
Deer
Goat
Ram
Weird bird with a scissor tail
Baller ass Hawk
standard buzzard thing

Animals seen dead:

Snake
Skunk
Armadillo

The ride out there is nice, but this time I had an actual goal. My dearest Mother sent up some sunglasses with a friend, so I met up with her to pick them up.



These babys came with clear lenses so I don't grind away my eyeball at the next cross club race.

Wednesday was also a very special pint night at Zax. It featured various Belgian ales. These guys usually ring in around 8-9 percent and have distinct characters.

They had a nice info sheet there.



Now it is about 7:00, time for the Social Cycling ATX Thursday ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Littering is no good

I was out rolling about this morning. Did the usual trip out to the 360 bridge. I was coming back into town via mopac on that section that veers right onto barton springs road when...



Yup, dang ol plastic bag all up in my der. It sure did suck, but I remembered that it even happens to the best...

Social Cycling ATX Ride TONIGHT

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=76897148123&ref=nf

Double Pint Night

Zax at 6pm. (512) brewing company, my current local favorite IPA maker.

Flying Saucer 7pm

A Sierra Nevada rep. will be there with samples of new brews. Also a FS Beerknurd Glass.

Early Bird Coffee Ride

Once Over Coffee Bar
2009 S 1st St
http://onceovercoffeebar.com/
Day: Wednesday
Time: 7:00am

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=9175&uid=56122823659

Full moon ride + Bike Polo

This past Saturday was a big fun Full Moon Ride. I wish it were more of a cruise, but there are a few sides to the story. The route was awesome, and the stops were killer. Stops were hidden from prying eyes, and shielded from sensitive ears. Very cool. But it was not a cruise. Some cool people on some cool bikes were really working to keep up. I did a little SOS action with my NiteRider light at the first stop to get the attention of a big group that was far separated from the head.

Things did stick together better after the first stop. Im sure the rush was beer related.

I understand there was a couple of crashes and a few flats. That sucks.

In total, very fun. I am very excited about the Moon tower cruise coming soon!





BIKE POLO

Admittedly, I used to think bike polo was kinda goofy. Like this guy:




















Nonetheless, I figured it would be an entertaining venue to drink beer and what not so I went to check it out.

Fellow bloggers thyneighborsbike.com and onelescar.blogspot.com where out there playin' and hangin'.

Bike polo is the real deal. Some of these guys are good with hockey-like moves and strikes. There is serious bike-handling and balancing skills going on. I can definitely see how playing can increase your skill on other bikes and terrain.

Watching is a ton of fun too. One of the guys had a mobile IPod PA thing with a pretty good playlist. People need to discover this. Harris Park is nice with all the trees and shiz.

Here some of my pics. For actual photo quality pictures, check out thyneighborsbike.com. Check out les' vid also!

360

If you will be driving on 360 near the bridge within the next two hours, be careful.

Pint Night

Ill be performing my usual act at The Gingerman ~6pm.


Austin Commuter Challenge Happy Hour after 5 at Rio Grande.

Ive got a bit to say about the Full Moon Ride and bike polo, but not yet...

Flat day + Ladies race

I woke up today with little time to spare. I did my tire check with 10 min. till I HAD to leave. Cross bike flat....to lazy to fix it right now......screw it ill take the roadie. The roadie is flat.

Ill just have to fix the cross bike.

Cross bike fixed, im out.

Halfway to my destination, I sense some mush. I hop the rear to check, yup a flat. I had no flat equipment because I was in a hurry and thought it was way too improbable to get another flat so soon.

I NEEDED to be on time.

It was too early to bother friends, so I flagged a taxi that happened by.

My taxi driver was cool about the bike. Turns out hes from Colombia, turns out hes educated in economics and pursuing a graduate degrees, not sure what level. Having an eco degree myself, we talked about the doom and gloom that the future may hold.

A weird and fortunate encounter.

Got there on time.

Turns out the other tire also got a flat. The first was glass, this one was wire.

Fix them both, and check out the finish of the ladies ride.

WOW.

Amazing turn out. Very impressed. It looks like it was a blast. There was a crew there shooting video. It looked a little serious, I mean they had a sound guy.

So I go back to my bike........FLAT.

Yup.

I don't know the culprit yet, I'm afraid I will take my anger out on it and leave its children with out a parent.

Hooray for Friday

First I must say Buenos Aires Cafe had good eats. It's not as pricey as you might think. Small but very nice dining room. Totally date worthy, but still accessible in shorts and a shirt.

IMG00282" width="500" height="400">


Thursday evening rolls around and it's time for the ATX Social Cycling ride. The popularity trend is still on the up, and the regulars are still coming out.

I was surprised about the police presence.

Rumor is that it was not a coincidence that they were there, but they were instructed.

Rumor has it that a cop who wanted to ride along with us was told "its not you that's not liked, its the badge."

Word on the street is the cop was cool.

Weird.





The cops stuck around for a while and we ended off leaving around 830.

First stop was the dirt jumps along the rail line.

Second stop was at some cafe on 1st st.

Some people had a little too much weight in beer form. We saved our money and relieved our backs chillin in a empty lot across the street. Soon, a contingent was formed that headed to the Draught House.

Some of the group stayed at the cafe, others went for margaritas at El Mercado.

Draught house was cool as usual. Got a nice spaten glass, enjoyed a sweet house vanilla porter.

IMG00289" width="500" height="400">

I noticed on the twitter feed that the other groups headed to crown and anchor. I let our faction know, and we joined everyone at C & A soon after. Good times all around.
































Hope to see everyone at the Full Moon Ride this Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tweet Tweet

Ill be using that dumb ass thing on the right side to update the stops on today's ride.

Social Cycling ATX ride...

Be there or potentially die an unrelated death.

I promise not to wear my wrestling suit this time.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=51911356&id=7934339&ref=nf#/event.php?eid=81363931435

Cyclocrossing.

Ill be out at the ped bridge at 9:30 to do laps. Join if you want.

A most satisfying second place...

was had at the Tuesday Nighter.

On the second lap, some dude with a power meter kicked it up a notch. Bro was hoss. I rode side by side with him till the end of the lap, around 8 miles. He dropped me on the first hill on the second lap. I chilled for around a minute to wait for the pack to catch up. There is a part of the circuit that I really like. Its a slight downhill. Long and flat. Nice high speed turns. Followed by a long, but not steep climb. The right song came on at the beginning of the flat, and I kicked it into high gear. Whipping up to 35mph+, I dropped the main group but still had one guy on my tail. It was on the long gradual climb that I escaped him. The rest of the race was a TT trying to hold on to my gap which was about 30 seconds. Although I was second by about 30 seconds, I was really happy with my ride. It was intense and unconventional, the way I like it. I know I've had alot of race stuff on here recently. To those that dont know me, I'm not a "racer guy". I am a cyclist who has recently caught the racing bug. I just dont want any assumptions made...


You know, that I'm a jerk* or something.


But ya, I got some compliments during and after the ride, so I guess im doing something right.

One of the people that complimented me may be three time olympian and the originator of the ride, John Howard.

If not, it is simply a coincidence that he has been doing the ride since it's inseption, his name is John, and he looked like him (its tough with a mushroom cap and glasses).

Either way, nice guy.














*Not every racer is a jerk, just most.



Just kidding




No but seriously...

There needs to be a website full of this shit...

Tonight's opportunity to drink and ride

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=88807013024&h=DhOE6&u=Eyx0N&ref=nf

Cross Club

BD switched up the game and took us eastbound to the country club trails. In conversation with BD I had mentioned the CC trail as a possibility for a different course. I've used them before to get a quick ride in, or test out things on my trail bike. The web of trails makes for many possibilities, and BD setup a nice one on Sunday. Actually it was kick ass. I really liked that there was a little climbing section, but also a fast and flat part. Also, barriers were set up for the first time.

The field was strong. About half way in we had whittled a foursome out of the starting group. I noticed that people were taking it a little easy on the flat just after the barriers, so I decided to shake things up. With about 3-4 laps to go, I did a little hammer dropping. My lack of grace had me fishtailing past the group. I created a gap, and noticed we had dropped one of the four. At the hairpin turn, the three of us regrouped. The attack was a success! I was a good feeling. Then followed a bad feeling. The type of feeling that tells you that you are flatting.



D'oH



Also, someone said my remount "bound" is reminiscent of a gazelle.


Word

My dismounts need work. Those cats can dismount at some pretty ridiculous speeds.

Also, I must give props to the homeboy on the Masi. While he is not "competitive" with the "fast" people, he is the best competitor out there. He comes out every time, and he tries hard. I hear this cross club torture is reaping him benefits in the alleycats around town. Nice. Hell move up the ranks in cross soon.

Song in the brain...

Best picture ever...

Here is some perspective for this photo. It happened at the bottom of the hill in Pease park. We were cooking right around 23 mph I guess. I was really surprised that the hand off was successful.

Thank you Dougmc!!!



For the record, I didn't drink it. It was about 3/4ths of the way down. Call me old fashioned, but I don't roll like that.

If I offended the beer's owner, meet me at pint night.

Cyclebum endorsement!

The cyclocross bike:

It has proved to be a purchase that has provided the most utility per dollar than anything else.

It is the best commuter ever.

Road bikes are not tough enough for my style of commuting.

Other bikes are just not fast enough.

You could do some real road riding if you slap some slick 23's on.

I've even done a criterium on mine.

You can ride a few of the local MTB trails on a cross bike. It will have to be slow going, but you'll definitely learn how to pick a line...

Oh ya, then comes cyclocross races.

This shit is fun.

So everyone is wearing spandex... Get over it!

Its functional yo!

A running mount with anything baggie is a scary proposition.

I left some grated cyclebum on the trail this week while practicing mounts.

I can whole heartily recommend this vehicular:



And with less than 100% of my heart, also recommend this bike:




BUY A CROSS BIKE!!!

Its the first of the month, blow that paycheck to hell