Yesterday, the day started fairly early and fairly hot. We broke out all of our biking gear for a test ride. I filled my panniers with a variety of Harry Potter and Psychology text books (Hembry love his Harry P.) and we set off. What was going to be a short 10 mile out and back turned into a 30 mile round trip ride. The landscape was a flatter eastern Colorado. It was hot, but not humid and we had a very supportive tailwind for the entire ride out. The new bike was much heavier than either of my bikes back home. It's a freaking warthog. When it's all loaded up, it's ugly and wide, but is a beast on the road. I am super bad at changing gears with a different gear system than I am used to, but I'll have enough miles to figure it out before Ragbrai. Saw a Roadrunner yesterday and even though he wasn't 7 feet tall, nor was he chased by Wile E. Coyote strapped to an ACME rocket it was still cool.
Besides the ride, we went to a cool place on the east side called Gourdmans. Huge sandwiches, in a not too hipster setting. After lunch I caught up on some sleep and then we went out to a friend of the Hembry's for grilling and fireworks.
We hung out at their friend Tyler's house and I was introduced to a number of energetic, and happy Texans. As commonplace so far, everyone was super nice and inviting. The food was good, the atmosphere was lively, and the fireworks were bright. I fear I will add like 5-10 pounds of Texas food before we even start the ride, but the food is just so good.
I have determined one thing about the weather in Austin (and I assume Texas) you are going to sweat all day everyday. You have no choice in the matter. There has been a nice breeze, but it's still hot. To all of you "dry heat" constitutes, I get what you are saying about the lack of humidity... but it's still scorching.
The number of people who have told either Ian or myself to be sure to stay hydrated or drink lots of water is approximately 234,367. If any of us get dehydrated, we will be berated and ridiculed.
As promised yesterday, I'll try to best describe the fashion or style of Austin, Texas. For lack of a more creative way of breaking it down, I'll just split it by men and woman, from head to toe. Here we go...
Women:
Haircuts - Vary. Trendy baby-doll bangs, shorter cuts, partly shaved hair cuts, dreads, and a variety of color is typical.
Head- Ray-Ban or black rimmed look a likes are all over. Tats behind the ear, neck, and piercings are prevalent.
Body - Crazy stuff. Grandma dresses (super old, ugly thrift store), old prom dresses, jorts, jeans with ankle zips, 80's tank tops, and sleeve tattoos. People in ATX love tatts. Girls have all sorts of designs and surprisingly their are lots of sleeves and half sleeves. One waitress we had had an entire sleeve of plants, flowers, and animals- very artsy, but wild.
Shoes - Standard flip-flops, cowboy boots, toms, tom high heels, Greek sandals, trendy chucks/chuck-styled shoes, and even bare feet are worn.
Guys:
Haircuts - short buzzes, shoulder length hair, dreads, or the "I don't give a shit, I just woke up and this looks hip style." Trucker hats, some snap-backs, and beanies are not strange sites. There is about 98% less flat bills here than in Iowa. IA is as usual, behind the times.
Head - Ray-Bans and black rimmed retro glasses are still the choice. Neck tatts are less common (though on guy had a tatt across his cheeks and nose), as are piercings. The most popular male look on Austin dudes is the beard. There are huge beards EVERYWHERE. It is 98 out and cats are still rocking the Arctic explorer look. Not as many moustaches as I had expected (or hoped), but they are still out there waiting for bare knuckle boxing matches.
Body - Jorts and tanks. Dude's here love the jorts. A variety of colored jeans with a typical Austin one cuff. Thrift store fashion is frequent (*thumbs up*). The guys also like the 1980's neon tanks, and some tanks even look like the got them from the women's section. There are your typical slim khaki cargo people in the masses, but jorts are everywhere. I even saw a guy wearing a digi-camo sport kilt. Outside of that guys in Austin are all tatted up. Sleeves, calf, ankle, back, dudes are tatted up.
Shoes - Flip flops, toms, chucks, boat shoes, and a less is more style. The frequent laced-shoebox Osiris, DC, and other brands worn in the midwest are extinct here. Not a lot of Nike or major brands worn in and around the campus/downtown. Casual, low key, and comfort reign supreme here.
Note to those reading, the fashion breakdown is not a judgement at all. I find myself people watching a great deal and notice this things. The beauty of Austin is no one really cares. Wear what you wear, do what you do, and be who you are. There is a huge billboard in town of a local attorney, a white middle-class male with dreadlocks, who would be exiled in (most of) the midwest is quite popular here. He deemed himself the rock 'n roll attorney, which I thought was a pretty cool title.
The rest of the day should consist of the last pre-ride workout, some more eating, and exploration of Austin culture. Ian is going to show me the "scene", so I'm excited to see what turns up today/tonight.
I've heard that the midwest/northeast/northwest/southwest/southeast is getting pummeled by some heat, I hope you stay cool. Just remember there is no such thing as global warming. I kid, I kid- no politics here. But I'm sure I will be thinking of you in three days when I'm sleeping in a hot pocket container and you are in AC. My choice I know, but I'll still be envious of you.
Ian should be finishing his test and I need to finalize this supply list so I'm signing off for now. Hope your 4th was great a great time with friends and family, and your hangover (for you legals) not too severe (if you are illegal, hangovers aren't so bad).
Remember, friends don't let friends wear jorts. Ever.
Until then,
KRS
No comments:
Post a Comment