Good to be back in Austin

Ahh....Austin. Sure it's a bit on the sweltering side, but it's still one of the coolest cities anywhere. It's crazy to see what's still here and what's not here...and what's newly popped up - like 50 or so high rises. Such a different cityscape now.

Jackie and I headed out on bikes to make our rounds today. We saw some of our favorites...


One thing I love about Austin is how you can take bike trails all over town. After living here for 11 years, I know some short cuts. It's something I really miss - how easy it is to get to a trail in Austin. And don't even get me started on the Green Belt. It may be rocky, but how cool is it that 10+ miles of single track are right in the heart of downtown Austin?
Here's something you can't get in Colorado: Migas tacos and a ginger bread pancakes. Then when we visited various friends - 3 different people offered us breakfast tacos. Sure do miss these too. My favorite tacos were the ones from Whole Foods before they moved to the new huge OganoMegaPlex.
Vytis at Ozone was happy to show us some of his favorite artwork. Next time you go in, ask him to see the framed Soldier Crab. He's very proud of it.
Check out this sweet Masi - 29er/700C wheels, flat aluminum fenders, brooks-ish leather saddle, internal shifting hub. It's at Ozone. Good for commuting. Yessir.
I love it when businesses hire graffiti artists to do murals. This is at the Co-Op - the Univ of TX bookstore. It's a burnt orange incredible hulk...with 'Texas Longhorns' cryptically written on the sides. nice.
Soliolio taking a breather from the action at Austin Bikes. Sol is my long time Austin training partner and 1st employee of Adventure Fit. He's since gone on to build one helluva pro-shop and I'm darn proud of him. They used to have this smooshed-face Persian shop cat. This street girl walked in one time and looked at the cat in a state of confusion. She then asked, "Can I axe you something? Is that a cat... or a dog?" She really didn't know. I love that one. I'll try to get a picture next time. Sol looks like he's enjoying the wind in his hair in this shot. But he's just posing - trying to be provocative.
I bought me a new commutin' helmet. Jackie is purty. I saw this sticker in Portland that said "Helmets are sexy". It's true.
True dat. Well not really, but it won't be long.

Ahh...Waterloo. Here's Hans checking out some new tunes. Waterloo is where I 1st heard Ozomatli, Jack Johnson, The Roots, and Reverend Horton Heat. It makes me feel bad for buying MP3s when there are cool indy record stores like Waterloo.
And finally, a cool custom rasta painted bike - complete with pretty leaves.

We've eaten nothing but Mexican food since we've been here. I guess you can say were a bit deprived. Soon, we're off to the RIO for margaritas and more mexican. Yum.