Great weekend for bike shit in the ATX

This weekend has been badass for bike riding! Between the perfect (slightly chilly) weather and the plethora of local events (both SXSW and not) there's no end to things to do on and off two wheels.

Yesterday I met up with the Bike Hugger crew to get some free food and swag..., er, I mean check out the Urban ride and BBQ and meet up with some fellow bike bloggers. We had ~25-30 people go on the ride though a few had to bail partway through (not dropped or anything, a bikers' life always intense). The cruise took us past REI where they were giving out free water bottles (free as in sign up for some junk mail free), then on up through west campus and across through UT proper, where we took a slight detour and ended up at The Crown and Anchor for some beer and snacky foods. After sufficient refreshment we continued on to The Blanton museum where they were kind enough to let all the riders in for free. I hadn't had the opportunity to visit yet so this was another excellent treat on top of a badass group ride.

We spent a good 45 minutes there before everyone was ready to go back to the starting point and check out the grub. On arrival back at the tents we were ushered through the gates and given even more swag. Skull and crossbones bike socks, re-usable grocery bags, and some little beanie things rounded out the gift package. But even better than the free bike stuff, they had free booze and BBQ! Beer and Tito's Vodka was on the menu, as well as brisket, sausage, and other various standard TX BBQ fare. Must say, the potato salad was outta control. Eventually there was a prize drawing for some REALLY NICE bags and handlebars, but by then a bunch of badge-holders (I believe they reached their 300 max capacity) were on the scene so besides another pair of socks the bikers came up empty-handed. Ah well, you can't win them all and since I didn't drop a dime on the afternoon besides Crown and Anchor I was a happy camper.

Once things wound down we rode a little more to El Chilito for some more food, at which point I took off. Thanks again Mark, Bryon, and the rest of the Bike Hugger crew. Hope you enjoyed a taste of Austin bike culture, and we hope you'll come back sometime to join us on some of our rides sometime!