Christmas Ride
Christmas day a few friends and I met at a middle school on South Congress to take a bike ride organized, more or less, by the Austin Cycling Association (ACA). There were five of us (Fred, MJ, Kari, Jon, and I) and maybe about fifteen total. The trip lead had maps of the route which was about 20 miles.
We went through lots of neighborhoods (I waved to you Bridget on Barrister, though I'll bet you weren't home) on a route that would be nigh impossible on any other day because of traffic. We went as far South as Ben White. As far West as Lake Austin. As far North as 53rd Street. As far East as Duval.
We took it slow and easy. The temperature started pretty cool, but I had enough layers on (which wasn't a whole lot) that it was okay and it warmed up to perfect by the end of the ride.
It wasn't all trouble-free though. Somehow, progress seemed impossibly slow at times (as in...I...can't...go...any...slower...without...toppling...over...). So the group broke into sub-groups, which is fine and normal. But then some of the people, who were in the same group, all seemed allergic to pulling out and looking at their maps. Start to finish took about 3 hours, making it the slowest 20 miles I've ever biked.
All in all it was a fun ride and I'm glad we did it. The same five of us met a little later for an afternoon Christmas dinner of Chinese food at Din Ho and then watched some videos of old Christmas movies, including the '69 Frosty the Snowman which stands the test of time well and the '73 Jack Frost which I hadn't seen in a very long time and doesn't stand up quite as well, but it was still entertaining.