road trip to austin, texas.

When temps haven’t climbed above 10 degrees for a week – it’s 20 below as I type this – there’s nothing better than escaping for a few days of sunshine. So, last weekend, we packed our road bikes for warmer climates and road tripped south to Austin. (We rode with Nick’s mom, Mary, on the way down and then flew home.)

It was a jam-packed weekend of fun, sunshine, good food, biking and family. Nick’s sister and brother-in-law Amanda and James hosted and showed us around town (they live in Austin suburb Kyle). We ate really well… Sushi Zushi, Torchy’s Tacos, Chuy’s, Gourdough’s doughnuts (the size of your head) and The Salt Lick… because when in Texas, BBQ duh (and Salt Lick is fantastic). We celebrated an early Christmas complete with king and snow crab legs. We lunched on the patio at the original Whole Foods, obviously (why aren’t all Whole Foods like this one?!). And, I taste-tested local Buddha’s Brew kombucha (good stuff).

Other must-stops: Mellow Johnny’s (no Lance sighting), Jack and Adam’s Bicycles, and lululemon (lucky me got to see Leah, one of my fave yoga + spin instructors who moved to Austin about a year ago).

And, cycling! It’s so refreshing to ride outside in December where it’s so warm you have stop to take off a layer. Even better to be off the trainer for a few days! The first ride around Kyle… you know it’s windy when you’re pedaling as hard as you can on a flat road, and you’re only going 11mph. The second, a 31-mile jaunt in Austin’s hill county; I smiled the entire ride. And, the third, just a quick hour spin around the Kyle countryside. Seventy-six miles of open road bliss in three days!