Old Home Week Part II, Chapter 1

We started the day at McKinney Falls with a quick bike ride to look at the lower falls. Kelley’s gears were acting up, so this was a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, Bruce was able to adjust them before we left the park. We did a bit of hiking to the upper falls before heading to Austin. ( Not without incident, as Kelley learned bicycle clip shoes are horrible for hiking across rocks and she got the days bike clothing soaked as one shoe slipped and she fell in the falls). At this point, and for the next few days, we are retracing in reverse part of our bicycle trip last year in Texas Hill Country. It’s amazing how comforting familiar terrain is, even if you’ve only seen it one time before. The trip into Austin is short, and we are soon checked into our hotel. After a bit of a rest, we call Uber to take us to South Congress St., where much of the Austin action is. We visited Allen Boots which is heaven for anyone who loves boots, cowboy hats, or leather. Just the smell alone is worth it! After that we sampled some tacos at local favorite Torchy’s, then took in a blues set at the Continental Club, which has been around since 1955. We left after one set because we wanted to be sure and get to the South Congress Bridge before dusk. Like Bracken Cave outside San Antonio, this bridge is home to millions of Mexican free-tailed bats who emerge every evening at dusk. In fact it’s the largest urban population of these bats in the world. People gather on the bridge, under the bridge, in boats, on kayaks and on the adjacent park to await the bats. When we arrived at the bridge there was already a crowd. The bats were slow to come out, so some folks got discouraged and we soon had a railing spot. When the bats finally emerged, it was difficult to see them because they didn’t fly skyward as expected, but sort of sideways. Nonetheless, it was cool to watch and we were glad we stuck it out! We checked out a couple of other nightspots before calling it an evening. It was a great day off (more or less!). The next day was planned as an off day in Austin as well, as we have had several hard days in a row. So we stripped the gear off our bikes and headed to town with our lightened steeds! Our first stop was the Cathedral of Junk. Some fella has been collecting and displaying junk forged together like a mountain in his back yard since 1989. For a donation he’ll let you tour it. It was...interesting. Leaving the COJ, we headed towards town to check out the Capitol building, get some lunch, and find a bike shop. We were soon riding with some locals who pointed us in the direction of their favorite bike shop. Before we went to the shop, we toured the Capitol, then grabbed some lunch at Pelon’s. It had an enormous live oak tree patio where they actually changed the wall of the building to allow the trunk to grow. The food was great! Our server Nick was lots of fun and very accommodating. He even brought a band-aid for Kelley. On our way to the bike shop, we rode through the park where an Ai Weiwei sculpture “Forever Bicycles” is. It has 1254 bicycles welded together which look abstract from a distance and it symbolizes how important bicycles were as a means of transportation in China and how bicycles were a status symbol.But now the automobile is changing all that. Louisville folks may recognize the name Ai Weiwei from the recent installment of his Zodiac sculpture outside the Speed Museum. We finally made it to the bike shop, Mellow Johnny’s. The bike shop is owned by Austin native Lance Armstrong, and much of his memorabilia is on display there, including all his yellow jerseys and a $30,000 bicycle he once owned. (why do you need to cheat when you have a rig like that!)The folks were very helpful, and we found all we needed. They gave our bikes a quick look, and recommended a new chain and cassette for Kelley- probably why her gears were not working the day before. We left the bike shop, somewhat poorer, but with confidence in our bikes. We cycled through Ladybird Johnson park and happened on a free benefit concert for Beto featuring Willie Nelson! Alas, we didn’t stay as we had no lawn chairs, and Willie wasn’t scheduled to play until 10:30. So we found ourselves back on South Congress, where we found another outdoor concert and listened to a set. Our day off was loads of fun and very refreshing, but not without mileage! We cycled 21 miles today! Total cycling mileage (2 days): 33 Total hiking mileage (2 days) 12