Nice time in Austin, with excellent riding on Hwy 130 as promised... About a dozen from the DFW area attended!!! I'd guess about 45-50 overall in attendance... including Dave and I, Lynn, Larry, Eddie, Dianna, Patti and husband, Bob and Kathy, Frank B, Shelley, a couple of women from Garland, and I'm sure I've forgotten somebody else... It was good to meet Bryan Ball, although he didn't get to do the long ride due to having to review a trike...
About 10 of us did the long ride, with everyone else opting for the shorter park trail ride. The ride down 130 southbound was fast, with a 20mph tailwind... A friendly highway patrol officer pulled off to talk to us, saying a lot of drivers were calling in about the "dangerous bicyclists on the highway" -- but he had no problem with it, because it was legal and we were obviously keeping to the (wide) shoulder... it was a pretty funny conversation, actually.
The ride back UP was tough stuff, both into the wind and generally uphill. Once we got to the exit, Dave and I decided to do bonus miles, just to have some tailwind at the end of the ride - so we went another 5 miles north, then flew back down. Click on the picture for a video...
Lunch was in the center where the shop was, where Mike had rented out extra space. Bryan gave a talk, then, Mike talked about maintenance stuff and some unusual retail items he sells.
Dave and I were staying at his son's house, and we decided to go have dinner with them instead of waiting till 7:30 with the rest of the recumbent gang -- and after that, we returned to Dallas, skipping Sunday's festivities.
RAT rider on the Morciglio...
My pics from the long ride and the shop are here:
http://photobucket.com/HOTRally2012PB