Keeping Austin Weird...and fabulous

  My weekend of firsts in Austin started lakeside. I saw thousands of bats create an animated black cloud as they flew against the grey-pink sky on their nightly journey from their home under a Town Lake bridge to hundreds of miles South for the evening. Then I tried a scallop and didn't spit it into my napkin, I actually liked it. I witnessed the busiest street in Austin be blocked off for hundreds of motorcyclists to come and show off their shiny toys to fellow tattooed-leather wearing men and women. I made a pomegranate martini, carmelized pecans and road a bike, none of which I had done before.

Now I know what you're thinking..."you've never ridden a bike?" Well, my friends, I have, but not like this. When I was in Kindergarten I got my first bike on Christmas morning. It was blue and I advanced past training wheels rather quickly and can only recall one wipeout on the driveway. Since growing out of that bike, the hills of my neighborhood back home were not really conducive to bike riding and the sight of my mom and dad's bikes, dust-covered, tires deflated, buried in the garage were really no incentive for me to begin a career in cycling. But then flatter than flat Waco came along and so did uber expensive gas, so it was only natural I should make an attempt at bike riding again. This past september for my 20th birthday I got a beautiful, turquoise beach cruiser that I love and ride with all my might the 10 blocks to school everyday. 

But I've never ridden a bike more than 10 blocks and don't know anything but back pedaling as a means of braking and loose gravel as a means of "off-roading." Well, there I was on a legitimate mountain bike, gears on the right handle, gears on the left handle, and no back pedal. I learned that the hard way when testing out the bike and nearly meeting the metal gate face to face when the pedals flew backwards with no intention of stopping. Oops. But so I practiced about five minutes, adjusted my seat (bike seats are quite possibly the most uncomfortable thing ever invented), buckled my helmet, and put on a camelpack (yes, I was that intense) and off we went....a whopping 17 miles! I'm proud to say I hit no pedestrians, no cars and only lightly sideswept a leashless dog :) Success.