This morning as I wandered the river here in the park, a couple of lines from yesterday’s Jesus Calling were still walking around in my head.   I was in no particular hurry because I didn’t want to try to make my way into Austin during the rush hour.

“Trust protects you from worrying and obsessing. Thankfulness keeps you from criticizing and complaining.” Seems like thoughts to hold on to.

Some might think, why would you leave a beautiful state park to go headlong into traffic and busyness and blah, blah, blah. I’ve changed my whole notion of cities since I moved into the city after a lifetime of living in the burbs. I love living in the city and relish seeing others. In the case of Austin, it has a reputation of being a bike friendly city with lots of places to ride. I love exploring on the bike and have been in places in both Minneapolis and St Paul where no one goes. At least not on the weekends. That isn’t to say they are dangerous places, it just means there’s not much reason to go there.

For those who have done it, finding your way into a city where you’ve never been requires good doses of instinct and luck. The internet helps but requires anticipation when you don’t have it whenever you want it. You choose a route that seems like it’s the simplest and most direct and hope your instincts take up the slack.

I chose State Hwy 1 approaching from the southwest thinking and hoping it would be one of those four lane secondary highways with a bunch of lights and lined with businesses. This was significant because I needed to find a place to get an oil change done while I waited. Hwy 1 was a freeway. A freeway with lane closures. As I sat frustrated in slow and go traffic the tall buildings of downtown seemed a long way off and I was thinking, ok, that didn’t turn out as you hoped, so now what?  Eventually I picked an exit that seemed fairly close to where I wanted to go and started my hunt. I drove for a ways without success, backtracked to a street I’d crossed, and turned onto it. This one was looking equally bleak but then as I climbed another hill and around a turn I came to light and there right to my right front was a Jiffy Lube. But this wasn’t just any Jiffy Lube. Carlos was the manager. Not in itself significant, but Carlos’ brother owned a food truck and it was parked off in the corner of their little parking lot. While I waited for my oil change I enjoyed a Southwest Scramble. A piece of Texas toast, (why did Texans think toast should be named after them?), with a layer of black beans, then a layer of scrambled eggs with peppers, a dollup (how do you spell that?) of guacamole, and a drizzle of creamy chipotle sauce. All I can say is that guy should be arrested for making something that good for only $5.50. And there’s more; a block away was a bike shop and do you suppose they could tell me exactly how to get to the trail I was looking for? Jesus, you’re messin’ with me.

Ok, I’ve gone on enough. How about some biking photos? The river that flows through Austin has a wide section below downtown called Lady Bird Lake. The trail runs on both sides with other trails branching off.

This was looking across a tributary at a section that I had ridden through earlier.

 

 

 

A memorial to an Austin favorite son, Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Not exactly the Stone Arch Bridge but a nice urban ride nonetheless.

 

 

 

The buildings on the left I believe are dorms for the Texas School for the Deaf.

 

 

 

 

In spite of how it looks, this trail as the crow flies is only a short distance from downtown.  I didn’t spend much time on this one ’cause I really didn’t have the tires for it.

I forgot to mention it was raining as I drove into Austin.  The day started off as if to hold no promise.  But it proved to be more than worth the trip.

Tomorrow, San Antonio.