two firsts in biking around austin

i rode my bike to the farmer's market and jo's coffee shop on west second street mid-day. i used 4th street, which has a bike lane. then i went on the hike & bike trail to south lamar to bicycle sport shop, where i got an austin bike map and the cutest horn--it is a plastic parrot that sounds like a squeeze toy but mounts to the handlebar.

now i can be renegade biker PIRATE grandma! AAARGH, matey! i plan to take full advantage of becoming more eccentric in my old age. i'd like to push the edge on that. going carless at 55 feels like such a gleefully subversive act. i love it!

i like going by the dog park at auditorium shores. those dogs and their owners are having so much fun running around. some dogs retrieve things from the water. it's quite a scene on a mild winter weekend day like today.

later i rode to my friend clarita's near live oak and south congress. this is the first time i've biked on south congress. it's not bad until you hit the diagonal parking just south of guero's. you have to share a lane with cars for a few blocks. it was a little nerve-wracking, but i made it through.

after the very nice party to bless lara and mat on their upcoming wedding, i biked home going north on south congress after dark. i have a little red light that i clipped to the back of my backpack and set to a steady blink. i also have a white light on my handlebar that can blink or shine solidly. so i was visible. it was downhill most of the way and pretty easy. i got alert around the continental club about the possibility of diagonally parked cars suddenly pulling out, but all was cool.

i got my first bike at age 10, and it represented freedom. it feels like this now, the more i learn to negotiate austin via pedal power. to freedom!