Visit From The Old Man
Brian from Michigan, aka "The Old Man", came to Austin this past weekend for some good weather and a bit of riding.
He arrived shortly after the race on Saturday. I flew home from the race and cleaned up and visited with the boys and then headed downtown to pick him up for dinner. We ended up parking on 3rd street and went to Cantina Laredo for some Mexican food. We then headed off to find some live music. We found a good band on 6th street at a bar whose name I can't remember. We hung out there for a while and then headed to the bar at the Driskill Hotel for a few drinks. I then took the Old Man back to his hotel with a plan to pick him up at 11am for some riding.
I arrived at 11am and we headed to Bicycle Sport Shop to rent a bike for the Old Man. The choices were carbon Lemond or Titanium Serrotta. Which did he choose? Come on. Titanium Serrotta. We did a 4 hour rental to avoid the overnight charge so we stayed in South Austin. We headed to the Veloway and South Mopac area. It was a leisurely pace with some good conversation. We ended up with 27 miles.
On Monday I showed the Old Man around Austin and took him out to The Oasis on Lake Travis for lunch. The day was overcast, but it was still a good day for lunch outside. After lunch I wheeled the Old Man back to the airport for his flight to New Mexico. It was good to see him again and we had a good time. Next time will be the criterium in Grand Rapids, MI in September.
I also want to say thank you to my wife who took my share of the kid duties over the weekend while I was racing and playing. You're the best!
The Old Man standing next to The Radillac.
The Old Man chillaxin'.
Putting the Serrotta through its paces.
I suck at self photos. I even suck more at trying to get someone else in a photo as well. This was the best I could do after 3 attempts.
Post ride refueling at Shady Grove.
He arrived shortly after the race on Saturday. I flew home from the race and cleaned up and visited with the boys and then headed downtown to pick him up for dinner. We ended up parking on 3rd street and went to Cantina Laredo for some Mexican food. We then headed off to find some live music. We found a good band on 6th street at a bar whose name I can't remember. We hung out there for a while and then headed to the bar at the Driskill Hotel for a few drinks. I then took the Old Man back to his hotel with a plan to pick him up at 11am for some riding.
I arrived at 11am and we headed to Bicycle Sport Shop to rent a bike for the Old Man. The choices were carbon Lemond or Titanium Serrotta. Which did he choose? Come on. Titanium Serrotta. We did a 4 hour rental to avoid the overnight charge so we stayed in South Austin. We headed to the Veloway and South Mopac area. It was a leisurely pace with some good conversation. We ended up with 27 miles.
On Monday I showed the Old Man around Austin and took him out to The Oasis on Lake Travis for lunch. The day was overcast, but it was still a good day for lunch outside. After lunch I wheeled the Old Man back to the airport for his flight to New Mexico. It was good to see him again and we had a good time. Next time will be the criterium in Grand Rapids, MI in September.
I also want to say thank you to my wife who took my share of the kid duties over the weekend while I was racing and playing. You're the best!
The Old Man standing next to The Radillac.
The Old Man chillaxin'.
Putting the Serrotta through its paces.
I suck at self photos. I even suck more at trying to get someone else in a photo as well. This was the best I could do after 3 attempts.
Post ride refueling at Shady Grove.
posted by Chris at 9:00 AM
17 Comments:
yay! that sounds like fun. maxin and chillaxin'.
almost sounds like you're taking care of some old geezer "wheelin' old man around".
and oldman is quite handsome!
couple of things here ...
1. Looks like the Old Man found the right parking spot in which to hang out.
2. Please don't ever use the world 'chillaxin' again.
3. Wish I could have been there.
that does look fun. i have yet to visit austin..but i want to! i'm looking for a new place to live in the relatively near future...
Chris is the Man! I can't thank him enough (or Mrs. Chris!) for showing me a great time. I owe him big and hope to make it up this summer when he comes back to MI for the Priority race.
I will try to write my review of the trip tomorrow, but he hit the highlights here. Needless to say, he was kind in not mentioning how badly slacking my riding was.
And please, never argue with Chris about the hills in Texas; I can attest to the fact that they exist and are impressive.
Lauren - I'll take your word on the handsome thing.
Bryan - I am down with the fresh lingo.
Namrita - this is a great place for living and cycling. Come ride there sometime and check it out.
Oldman - glad you could make it. The cops came by my house again asking questions about you. I told them I didn't know anything just like you told me to say.
Fancy Mapie! I have a photo of Tafi with moi! Don't you love how a bike rental is more costly than a car rental??
the two of you look like trouble just waiting to bust out. :)
Vera - I got that shirt in Salzburg last year. I am going back there the first week of August and am going to go to that shop again. It was an awesome place.
Blue - it was pretty toned down. Now if you and your Iowa posse were here, that would be a different story.
Where is the snow? Weather is looking far too nice.
btw, being half way to a hundred isn't all the bad. 'Specially when you can still stay ahead of a bunch of the young-uns on the trail ; )
Ironically it was a non-cyclist blog reader who immediately figured out the Lego block.
Sure looks like I'll need to make a trek to TX for some biking in the next winter or so. Hit up the Texas tourism board for getting the increase in tourism rolling.
When is the Priority Crit this year?
When I first saw these pics of Old Man I thought "he looks a bit like Lauren's hubby". Then I saw her comment.
Looks like your weather was almost as good as ours last weekend. Makes getting out a lot easier :-)
Awww, Grand Rapids, MI - my childhood home.
Please keep that nice weather going for Hellweek. :-D
Thanks!
chris -- the freshness date has expired.
hey, Chris! were you going to come to CA for Menlo Park in March or Foster City in July?
Velogirl - Foster City in July is the plan.
Chris: Thanks for keeping your mouth shut with the authorities about that little "incident". I owe you.
Of course, I will probably have to drive down there next time to avoid detection at airport! :^)
Wow, its pretty cool you could meet another blogger. Not sure if you knew each other before.. the web can do some amazing things.
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