[scorpionwoman]

My plan for today was to make it a no-car day, and use my bike to run errands, deliver my son to school, and commute to meet clients. Errands, check. Delivery of son, check. And then just as I was about to leave the house for work, both my clients cancelled. Well, wouldn't you know my daughter was home today, and she needed to meet someone at 1p. So I proposed that we do a little urban bike ride to get her to her destination.

Annie and I rarely get to ride together; she mostly rides on the road with her dad. So we were both pretty stoked at the opportunity to go play together.

We used a popular commuter north-south route here in Austin, which strings together several scenic parks.

 

[scorpionwoman]

We stopped by the 9th-St BMX spot, and Annie played a bit on the washboards and bermed turns. She did a little BMX racing when she was about 8, so it brought back some memories for her. She made me promise we'd return with her 20"er.

Then we stopped by Lance's shop to get her a seat-bag and spare tube. Mom just doesn't have any 26" tubes around the house anymore!

And finally, we made our way over the river to her destination. Okay, one more little side trip, to see the cool fountain area. I dropped her off, then rode back home on my own. What a great day! Plenty of exercise, time with my daughter, cool sights--and all without the need for vacation time or driving!

 

[grungePoodle]

We used a popular commuter north-south route here in Austin, which strings together several scenic parks.

Can you share your route? I would love to take my husband on that, he's not much into hardcore biking. But that would be a fun/tame thing for us to do together.

 

[scorpionwoman]

Can you share your route? I would love to take my husband on that, he's not much into hardcore biking. But that would be a fun/tame thing for us to do together.

It is very fun. And there's plenty of interesting stuff to see along the way, which might keep him from realizing that he's getting exercise.

Here's a map of Austin's bike routes.
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/bicycle/downloads/bicycle map_07.pdf

I used the one labeled "31," which is commonly called the Shoal Creek Commuter Route. If you follow it on the map from 2222 (I live just north of there) south, you'll see that it becomes trail around 38th street. This is the point at which you move through several parks as you work your way south, eventually coming out onto the Town Lake Trail, next to the old power plant (and very close to Mellow Johnny's).

 

[scorpionwoman]

My daughter has asked me to announce that she was borrowing her little brother's helmet, as hers was at her dad's house. Evidently, it is important that everyone realize that she would not purchase a helmet with orange and red flames on it.

 

[teleken]

Looks like some quality family time and the apple didn't fall far from the tree eh?

 

[FastFix]

Very cool post ! Looks like a fun day.

 

[grungePoodle]

Thanks for the directions!!!

 

[garrett1478]

awesome commuter trail! thanks for sharing

 

[scorpionwoman]

awesome commuter trail!

Indeed!

Thanks, everybody. You know, it was evident early on that my daughter's interests were not going to be focused on mountain biking. (She prefers surfing and skateboarding--now "wave boarding.") So when we get a chance to ride together, we both recognize that it's special.

 

[dburatti]

Nice pictures, Clair! How's Annie doing? Tell her I said, "Hi!" And if she ever wants to play Scrabble with me, I'm game! Of course, I'll actually have to be in town, but that's semantics. :thumbsup:

D

 

[scorpionwoman]

Nice pictures, Clair! How's Annie doing? Tell her I said, "Hi!" And if she ever wants to play Scrabble with me, I'm game! Of course, I'll actually have to be in town, but that's semantics. :thumbsup:

D

Semantics? Sounds like geography to me!!

You go do your wandering and working, and we'll try to arrange a Scrabble night for when you get back.

 

[HotBlack]

Great pics as always.

And I totally agree about the helmet.

 

[scorpionwoman]

Goodness, what happened to my thread while I was out riding??

How about we all take a deep breath and remember why we're here. We love mountain biking, and we love sharing that passion with others. I always appreciate when folks post up that they enjoy my posts (as I do with others' posts), but I'm a bit uncomfortable with all this personal attention.

Good intentions aside, let's keep this on a less-familiar level, shall we?

Thanks!

 

[HotBlack]

I'll say, I've been hearing great things from a few very vibrant personalities, about the lengths that city has been going to to provide a bike friendly lifestyle. Very neat to see pics of New Urbanism developments working.

 

[tomk96]

it always great seeing parent out riding with their kids. nice job on avoiding the car.

 

[JeffSkisMontana]

Fun time.

Fun time when you can get your kids out riding. My oldest has not ridden in a while with me. My teenager has begun to ride less and less. thanks for sharing the pics.

 

[scorpionwoman]

I'll say, I've been hearing great things from a few very vibrant personalities, about the lengths that city has been going to to provide a bike friendly lifestyle. Very neat to see pics of New Urbanism developments working.

They're working on it, it's true, which turns out to be timely, given that so many people are using their bikes to commute these days. And Lance's new shop provides a "commuter station" downtown for cyclists who don't have a shower or bike-storage facility at their place of work.

However, this particular north-south commuter route has been in place for at least 10 years--that's how long I've used it, anyway.

 

[Mrwhlr]

I wanted to hear AQ's song!

:bluefrown:

 

[AdventureQuest]

I wanted to hear AQ's song!

:bluefrown:

Hey thanks but you can't because I don't know how to post vid. But with all the new commuter threads I'm working on a reall winner I like to call Uptown Scorp. You can imagine it though.