Austin Bikes

Riding bicycles in Austin is fabulous. I mean who doesn't love to ride a bike? AND here in Austin it's warm, other bikers and drivers are generally friendly, and people think that you are forever hip if you show up at a party on your vintage Schwinn roadster instead of your old battered Honda. Let's be honest. It's just all about the digits.

I grew up in Austin but I haven't lived here in years. After I left I always took my bike with me. When I lived in Brooklyn, NY and in Rinconada Llicuar, rural northern Peru I rode a bike all over. One develops skills. In Park Slope, Brooklyn I was frequently being run off the road by aggressive women pushing baby carriages, only to then be picked up by attractive delivery guys bicycling Thai food to some hipster's houses. I thought that this situation balanced itself out. In Peru, The Gringa (i.e. me) doing anything was an incredible show for everyone in town, so The Gringa being the only woman to ride a bike was very entertaining for all. Role modeling, blah, blah, blah, but sometimes you just want to get where you're going so I took to riding through the rice fields where I got many fewer cat calls. Now that I'm back in Austin I have been surprised to discover that when it comes to road riding, Austin is treacherous despite it's green living and outdoors loving reputation.

It's true. There really are a lot of bicyclists in Austin riding outside and keeping their carbon emissions down in their morning commute, so you would think that drivers would be used to trying to avoid killing them. I guess traffic just varies so much. If you're riding during rush hour people are inching along impatiently, staring holes into the bumper in front of them and really they're not going very fast so it feels safer. Any other time drivers seem like they are barely looking at the windshield, much more interested in the radio, the iPhone, or the crying baby in the backseat. I feel almost ridiculous wearing my helmet when a Ford F150 pickup speeds past me grazing my earlobe on Enfield. I'm on a bike. That truck weighs a ton. There is no delivery guy to pick me up and invite me to dinner later. In any case, I know that living in central Austin is a lucky break for someone who loves bikes. There are some bike paths, even if they don't always go where you need to go. And like I said if drivers are paying attention they're usually helpful.

In sum, I am proudly announcing that on Sunday I rode down Enfield, a busy street, to meet my brother for coffee. I guess I figured that he's a resourceful guy, he would notice if I didn't show up and come looking for me. Right? It's only like a 10 minute ride from the house to Medici Cafe at West Lynn and 10th St. It was a very proud ten minutes and I highly recommend Medici for a victory chocolate chip cupcake.