Maybe the reason I have moved away from Austin in the past is because rediscovering Austin is so wonderful.  Today I set out on my bike for Mellow Johnny’s bike shop, owned by none other than Lance Armstrong (and a few others), to watch the end of today’s stage of the Tour de France.  They’re showing it on a giant screen every morning. The plan was to head for the gym after, as I hadn’t put sunscreen on or brought more than one water bottle.  But watching the Tour and the relatively nice day encouraged me to hop back on the bike and just start riding… around.

Meandering up through West Campus, I marveled at all of the apartment buildings and condos going up - seems like more activity there than downtown?  I wonder who will be able to afford to live in those places. I guess if you’re in your 20s and have a job in Central Austin that would be a good location. Will students be able to live there? I’m not sure what the maximum amount people can now get in student loans, but I have a feeling that many people will be tempted to spend their loan money on those cush digs. And they’ll pay for it later.

It’s great to just bike around on neighborhood streets and then hop on the path near Shoal Creek, then under Mopac on Bike Route 40 (I think) over to Exposition and down to Lake Austin Boulevard. There, again, you encounter the other end of student apartments, which is owned by the University and is reserved for married students.  Speaking of, the University of Texas has been advised that the land they own over there, known as the Brackenridge tract, should be developed. Now it’s the city’s turn to try to figure out what the citizens think about that… and this Saturday there will be a public meeting on the issue.   Will it be upscale condos and chic boutiques? Or can we figure out something better for the people who already live here, instead of just the refugees from California, New York, and other high-end places? Getting something innovative for working people in West Austin may not be an easy feat, but I have to ask.

From Lake Austin, I cruised under the Mopac bridge on the Roberta Crenshaw pedestrian/bike bridge, and down Barton Springs Road, stopping for a smoothie at long-time favorite Bicycle Sport Shop.  Again, passing more condo developments.

I know many people question the wisdom of building so many condos, but $4 plus gas is going to encourage more and more people to find refuge in the central city.  And that could mean, I hope, more people on bikes and less air pollution for us all. Which makes affordable housing in the central area all the more important. Michael King of the Austin Chronicle discusses some current efforts by Foundation Communities and others to provide affordable housing and address the NIMBY attitude in most neighborhoods.

Whew! What you can see on a simple bike ride in this town!

I was driving home down Mopac the other day and a regular car covered in branches, leaves etc. joined from one of the on-ramps. To start with I couldn’t work it out, but I soon realized it had been decorated that way. As far as I could tell it was it’s normal “dress” not special for a parade or anything.

I mentioned it to one of my friends who pointed out there was a long standing tradition for Austin “art” cars. I must admit, I’d seen a few around, but never put two and two together. Here is one in my neighborhood and there are a load more pictures on flickr of Austin art cars.

Why not upload your pictures too, tag them with keep austin cars weird

Since metroblogs isn’t a magazine or newspaper, we are not limited to publishing something and then forgetting about it ;-)

and so it was I got back from my trip, and the first thing I noticed was access to S 1st Street Bridge crossing on the west side was still closed. Also access to the trail from the north of the bridge was still suspended. I called City project Manager Rick Colbrunn, who promptly called me back and explained they are having problems “sourcing material” for the retaining walls, and the project probably won’t be complete until the end of July 2008.

So, unlike people wanting to access the trail, this one continues to, err, run! I’ve updated my original “But my training plan says to do loops!” post, and this one is for those who use the RSS feed.

At this weeks BCNA meeting the Austin Clean Water Program (ACWP) team briefed us on the work about to start between South Congress and South 1st.

ACWP has a great program to clean up the creeks and refurb/move lots of the ugly pipes in and around the creeks. This includes 80-miles of sanitary sewer system, nearly $400 million of funding. The big time work on this project starts Saturday with the closure of W Monroe between S Congress and S 1st, and will carry on until the roads are finally resurfaced in December 2008.

The good news is that it will see an end to the ugly above ground pipes, including one known to leak into the creek. The bad news is that it will put even more pressure of the already strained neighborhood roads, especially at w/e and First Thursdays.

It isn’t just the loss of roadside parking caused by the construction. There will also be heavy construction vehicles parked in the ‘hood as well as at various points, large parts of major roads blocked.

Net, net, if you visit South Congress between Johanna and Elizabeth Streets, please be patient, park carefully and be mindful of residents, especially on W. Monroe and W. Mary St which will be subject to closure.

Details on the plan, status, maps etc. can be found here, the project is called Govalle 1 Newton Street.

Really, seriously.

I’ve been following the increasingly rancorous debate in the Austin Chronicle between the cyclists and the car drivers aka the motorists. It has from the start been very polarizing and has become increasingly aggressive as one side take offense at the other.

One thing’s sure, Austin is changing and there are loads of people that don’t like it. Buildings are getting bigger and taller, traffic is getting busier, the steets more cramped. Anywhere where people get “in your face” it causes friction. People in New York City are not a different species, yet they seem to have a hardened, more aggressive voice, nature and look, inside they are just people but they’ve had to adopt a certain attitude in order to survive the pressures of daily life.

And so it is here in Austin with the cyclists and motorists. I’ve been lucky enough to have cycled in many of the worlds biggest cities, London, New York, Paris, Sydney, Manchester, San Francisco, Melbourne as well as in Spain, Italy, Germany and more.

I bike to work from South Austin to up past Braker Lane a couple of times most weeks mostly on the most direct route up Lamar and Burnet. From time to time when I don’t have early meetings and have left my laptop at work, I do the whole length of 360 and some.

What I can tell you is that I’ve been really impressed with most motorists here in Austin. Mostly they do leave space, in town it is not uncommon to be cycling in the right lane and to have 25 out of 30 cars actually pass in the left lane. Would almost never happen anywhere else.

Yeah, you get the occasional driver who really doesn’t think through making their next right turn, overtakes and completely underestimates the 22-24MPH I’m going and cuts right in front of me, causing me to brake. Then there are the motorists not paying complete attention as they make a turn out of a parking lot and I am coming down the street, its hard to “stop on a dime on a bike”, the easiest way is to put a 2000lb steel object with 4-wheels in the way!

And yes, motorists and cyclists don’t adhere to the letter of the law. However, generally Austin is better than many. Rather than escalating letters blaming each other for our problems, lets try to understand that we both have “issues”, both are not perfect but things can get better.

I for one have realized that storming down the right gutter at a long line of cars waiting at a light, probably isn’t the smartest thing I could do. In other cities that might be acceptable, here in Austin though where most drivers will move into the left lane to overtake, it just frustrates the motorists as not only did I possibly pass dangerously, but now I’m making the line even longer forcing them to have to wait more. Mea Culpa, I’ll wait in the traffic from now on.

On the other hand, next time you are coming up on a right turn in your car, and there’s a cyclist between you and the turn, think about it. If you slow, wait for the cyclist to pass the entrance to the turn, at most it won’t even cost you a minute.

A pack of cyclists cycling together is often referred to as a “train”. When a train makes a crossing, you wouldn’t expect every carriage to stop in turn, the same for cyclists. Cycling in close proximity requires attention and a pack like behavior, while the law might require each cyclist to stop individually, in reality, it’s impractical and probably more dangerous, so cut us some slack when it’s our turn to go, please wait if there are more than one or two.

Equally, cyclists need to realize they are often the master of their own destiny, cycling in a cavalier or irresponsible manor will ultimately get payback. We need to take a sensible, consolatory perspective. Many drivers are increasingly finding Austin a difficult place to drive in, and increasingly expensive. Many can’t afford to make the changes that they want. Apart from a minority, nobody enjoys sitting in traffic on I35, Mopac or downtown to go a few miles, and watching the dollar bills get blown out of the tail pipe. Like it or not, cycling to work isn’t an option for most people, most days even me.

I for one applaud the cities efforts in raising awareness of a healthy lifestyle, including cycling. I appreciate their effort to provide an increasingly cycling focussed means of getting around. But equally motorists and cyclist need to focus on safe driving. As the city gets bigger and busier, we all need to do better and focus more, blaming each other for the problem gets us nowhere.

Collide by Howie Day is playing in the background, nothing more than a coincidence I hope.

Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills my mind
I somehow find
You and I collide

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who wears shoes 2-sizes too big, they flop around, you can’t control them, they trip you up, and overall are not a comfortable experience.

So, why is it people drive cars that are 2-sizes too big?

One of the joys of living in Bouldin Creek or on a road adjacent to South Congress, or to one of the popular restaurants off South 1st, is having people around all the time. Mostly people = cars.

There is nothing funnier than watching someone who really can’t park take two or three goes at parallel parking, get out their car, look at the gap behind them, get back in the car either delighted with their effort or thoroughly angry and they screech off, only to come walking by 10-minutes later having found a better “space”.

Of course that’s really not the issue. The issue is why people drive vehicles they clearly can’t control adequately. Both the cars at my next door neighbors have been damaged when parked on the street, at least 30-cars a day drive fully up onto most of the driveways, as drivers can’t turn them around in the street.

Maybe once gas hits $8 a gallon cars will change, until then here’s hoping people will change. Next time you can’t park in that space, instead of blaming the space, the neighborhood, why not think, with the hassle of parking, the time it takes to walk from the “free” space you found - I’ll take a cab!

“I owe the city birthday cake, and thank you cards are due”(1)

It’s been nearly 18-months since I moved to Austin, and many things are making it seem like home, places, faces, events and more. Some events are more memorable than others, good and bad.

One of the surprise things I did last year, and will be repeating this year, is bike to work day. Last year I headed from South Austin up north to work. I do this often, but only in the quickest, shortest, most direct route, it’s an 25-mile round-trip and not particularly memorable if you discount racing the buses, and sometime breakdowns, getting caught in a true Texas downpour,and the occasional car drivers’ abusive hand signals. Mostly though, I’d say the car drivers here are better than most other cities I’ve cycled in!

Bike to work day last year was much more fun than the normal ride to work! I rode the shoulder on 360, up Great Hills Trail to Jollyville Rd and finally coming to rest at Bucks Bikes. Donuts and a quick chat with some other bike to workers including one of Austins tireless(no pun intended) Volunteers @anetmarie, and I was off to work.

This year there is an even longer list of places providing a “free” breakfast for cyclists and the weather is looking good. I’m going to venture a bit further, in fact all the way up to Music City Cycles on W Parmer, where this year @anetmarie is a co-host.

In fact, checking the current list of breakfast stops, if I plan my route carefully, I could end up in a calorie surplus, there goes the waist line!

Bike to work day is part of Bike Month, the Austin Cycling Association usually have a calendar online, but as of writing it’s gone AWOL. Hopefully it will be back in shape soon. In the meantime, the current list of breakfast stations includes the following and official hours are 7-9am:

•Whole Foods, Sixth & Lamar
•City Hall Plaza, 301 W. Second (sponsored by city of Austin employees)
•Texas One Center, 505 Barton Springs Rd. (also sponsored by city of Austin employees)
•Texas Bicycle Coalition, 1902 E. Sixth
•Mellow Johnny’s, Fourth & Nueces
•Wheatsville Co-op, 3101 Guadalupe
•Bicycle Sport Shop, 517 S. Lamar
•Shoal Creek Boulevard at the Far West Bridge
•Music City Cycles, 6301 W. Parmer #504
•Jo’s Coffee, 1300 S. Congress
•Freewheeling Bicycles, 24th & San Gabriel

If you see a big guy cycling on 360 on Friday with a bag over-flowing with donuts, that will be me, make a wide pass please!

(1) Lyrics (c) Steven O’Reilly, Tammany Hall NYC, Ceilings in the sky.

 

I ran into a ton of traffic on the way to work this morning. Both South Congress and South First were a mess going north and I couldn’t figure out why. I even took a picture of Barton Springs and South First since it took me several lights to get through the jerkoffs who were blocking the intersection during light changes.

Turns out there’s a water main break at Lavaca and Fifth street and the northbound lanes of Lavaca are closed causing traffic problems all around downtown and just across the river.

As doublegood reported recently, not only is Capital Metro planning drastic changes to the Dillo service downtown, they are proposing schedule changes across the system. Although the public hearing on the issue was held last night, the only aspect of the changes that the local daily focused on was the proposed removal of the “Capitol transit center” which is really just a bus stop that happens to serve a large number of lines. Cap Metro is proposing moving this stop to 10^th Street (removing the stop from a couple of lines) because the Governor and State Preservation Board asked them to “for security reasons.”

Although I think the Guv is being silly, I don’t know if this one change should be the focus of news coverage. There is a huge list of changes. Strolling down South Congress this weekend, I spoke with one of the shop owners and she really didn’t understand why they were cutting off the Orange Dillo’s service down South Congress. Many tourists, locals, and students use it to get to SoCo, not only on the weekends and during SXSW, but regularly throughout the year. I am personally concerned as I’ll be moving to the area soon and am hoping to use the Dillo or the bus instead of clogging the road with one more car.

Again, there are a number of changes across the system that are being proposed. If you ever ride the bus or think you may start riding the bus because of rising gas prices, climate change, stress levels from driving, or a desire to keep or witness Austin at its weirdest (I was hoping to link to a post by a friend of mine of the guy stripping on her bus ride, but oh well), then you might take a few minutes to check out these proposed changes and e-mail your comments to planning@capmetro.org. Although I don’t know how good Cap Metro is at responding to public comment and actually incorporating it into their planning, they need to know that people are paying attention!

I’m with C., this is really ridiculous. If I’m reading this right, then Congress Avenue is closed from 10th Street to Oltorf from 7am to 5pm today along with Oltorf between Congress and South First? That’s only two entries on a page that you have to scroll because there’s so many closed street listings. And would it kill them to include a map?

Last weekend saw much reported problems for people trying to get to the Long Center.

Forget trying to go down Lamar near 15th either with Eeyore’s going on today. It seems like Austin always packs way too much on the last two weekends in April, trying to take advantage of the mild weather before we all start baking.