Austin, the capital of Texas, is one of the fastest growing big cities in America. It’s known for its live music scene, outdoorsy vibe and finger lickin’ good BBQ. Neither of us had been to Austin before, so we were looking forward to checking it out – especially the BBQ!
Before we arrived in Texas, Max had been having an issue with the shock on his mountain bike which made it unrideable. We needed to have it professionally repaired, but had a difficult time finding a shop that could turn it around in two to three days. Thankfully, with Austin being a city known for its outdoor culture, they had plenty of bike shops and we were able to find one that could fix the bike in just two days.
While we were at Bicycle Sport Shop waiting to pick up Max’s bike, I walked over to the sale section to see if they had any good deals on mountain bikes. Back home we do a lot of road biking, but Max has always wanted me to try mountain biking as it’s his favorite. We found one for a reasonable price and Max convinced me to buy it so we could mountain bike together on our trip. An hour later, I walked out of the store with my very first real mountain bike! The bike shop also helped package up my road bike to ship home since I’d be using the mountain bike on our trip from here on out.
As the bike shop was just a few blocks from downtown Austin, we took my bike for its first spin on a trail that loops around the city. It was a really fun way to see the city of Austin and get a better sense of the city’s vibe. There were people enjoying the outdoors everywhere we looked whether it be on the trail (biking, running, walking), on the river (paddle boarding, kayaking), or in the grass (playing Frisbee, having a picnic, etc). It totally reminded me of the Uptown vibe back home in Minneapolis with everyone enjoying summertime around Lake Calhoun.
After our bike ride, we were super hungry and all we could think about was BBQ! We had heard the Austin BBQ scene is known for crazy long lines (think Franklin BBQ with a 4+ hour wait), so we hoped to find a good BBQ spot with a more reasonable wait. After doing a little research on top BBQ places nearby, we headed over to Terry Black’s BBQ. While they did have a line out the door, we saw that it was moving pretty quickly AND they still had the brisket available. We both ordered the brisket sandwich, along with a few sides, brewskies and dessert. It was easily the best brisket we had ever had! So good that Max went back to buy a Terry Black’s BBQ hat!
The next day, with both of us now having mountain bikes, we decided to hit up a real mountain bike trail at Reveille Peak Ranch. I was pretty nervous with this being my first time on a mountain bike trail, but Max assured me we’d start out easy on the beginner loop. However, we soon realized the beginner trail at this ranch was a lot harder than most beginner loops. I was so scared going down some of the rocky slopes that I started crying and had tears streaming down my face. Max kept asking if I wanted to stop, but through my crying I kept saying no I’m just scared, but I’ll be ok. For whatever reason, crying seems to help me push through my fear so I can think straight again. After the tears subsided, I was able to enjoy the trail a bit more, gaining more confidence with every pedal. While I did come away with a few minor scrapes and bruises I was proud of myself for completing my first real mountain bike trail. Although one trail for the day was good enough for me – I told Max he should do another one, but this time alone. 😉
