Jean Marie Linhart is responsible for the commentary.
So they were throwing a big party in Austin for Lance Armstrong on Friday, August 13, 2004 to celebrate his 6th Tour de France win. After staying glued to the TV set all during July, did we have any choice but to go to the party a mere 100 miles away?
It seemed like a logical thing to bike there to me. Shawn Hokanson agreed, and we packed up some clothing and off we went. To get to Austin from College Station you can take Hwy 47 to Hwy 21. Past Caldwell, you turn right onto the lovely twisty and rolling FM 696 and go through Lexington, then continue on FM 696 through Blue almost all the way to where it ends at Hwy 290, but not quite. You turn right off of FM 696 onto Old McDade Road at the RR tracks, and follow this in to Elgin. From there Main Street takes you to Hwy 290, which has a wide shoulder the remainder of the trip to Austin. When you get to Austin, you take the 183 exit from Hwy 290, but go straight at the light to remain on the Hwy 290 frontage road. (This is probably one of the hairiest sections of the journey traffic-wise.) Take the first left onto Berkman drive and Berkman will take you (with a bike lane most of the way!) to 51st street (another bike lane!) just north of the old airport. Right on 51st then Left on Duval (wow! more bike lane!) will take you to UT Campus, after which you are on your own for navigation.
| Dog run houses in Lexington, TX are the main tourist attraction. I am standing in front of my bike, loaded with one pannier and the rack trunk. |
| | Lexington is about half way to Austin. Shawn is standing next to my bike, his is in the foreground of this and the picture above. Shawn's bike is loaded with 2 panniers but no rack trunk. He weighed the panniers when he got home and said they were 16 pounds. |
| There are quite a few hills between Lexington and Blue on FM 696 and even more hills between Blue and Elgin. This is on the deck of the Jackson Store in Blue. We got too tired to remember to take more pictures after this! I do remember the milkshakes we had at the McDonald's in Elgin were mighty mighty fine... |
| | We didn't have a lot of time to visit my friend Doris and her cute daughter Andra when we got to Austin because the ride took longer than I had expected. Let's just say that at the end of the day I wasn't riding like Lance Armstrong. :) Thanks for letting us get showered and changed, Doris, sorry we didn't get to stay longer. :( |
Artists were out decorating Congress Avenue in Austin for the party. Here are some of the artists and some of the art work. You can tell it was a Wear Yellow day -- too bad we didn't know about that when we were packing.
 | Congress Avenue looking toward the Capitol of Texas |
 | Jean Marie and Shawn in the big 6. That is the Cuero Wildflower Ride aka "find me in a crowd" shirt on Shawn. |
 | Jean Marie and Mary Shaw. Mary was our hostess and chauffeur for the evening. |
 | Texas flag on Congress Ave. Someone was selling Lance t-shirts that said "Don't Mess with a Texan!" |
 | A little girl in a red cowboy hat works on decorations. |
 | Cute yellow dress in honor of Lance Armstrong. |
 | Kids in yellow work on Vive Lance! |
 | A little boy in a yellow shirt adds a 6. |
 | I couldn't resist the lure of Sidewalk Chalk. |
 | I collapsed after my exhausting efforts at street art! |
We got some food after admiring the street art, and when we got out, the street was thick with people, and we'd missed our chance to get an optimal parade viewing spot. I managed to worm my way up to the front to sit with the kids, and got a good but brief view of Lance as he biked by. I also had a few rather uncomfortable and inconvienient leg cramps while sitting up there! Lance was incognito dressed in a black shirt and khaki's, so most of the kids near me didn't recognize him when he passed by. I have to admit I had expected him to be dressed in the USPS team kit myself, though in retrospect that seems kind of silly thing to have thought. Shawn got some pictures of the parade, but he wasn't able to get a very good picture of Lance (who rides fast even when he is riding slow). I believe he captured what he did by holding the camera above his head (and above the crowd).
 | Bicycles in the parade. |
 | Official Lance Armstrong Capitol Metro bus? |
 | A somewhat fuzzy Lance Armstrong passes by. |
We tried to move up to the front to get a better spot for the concerts and to hear Lance Armstrong's remarks, however, this was not such a brilliant idea. We could kind of see the stage, sort of, but mostly people's heads and trees and equipment were in the way. We also didn't get a great view of the screens they had set up. We could see lots of people. Lots of people.
Lance danced with one of his daughters on stage for a few minutes during Robert Earl Keen's performance. Lance said a few words to the crowd, thanking Austin and mayor Will Wynn for the party. Lance noted that several in the crowd had changed their "6" fans into "9" fans -- he told us that wasn't likely! He also told one anecdote about passing through customs before the tour. He was told by the passport checker that there was no way he'd win a 6th tour. Isn't it amazing the things people will say to your face? Lance commented that he thanked the man for his opinion then either said or thought, "Now give me back my passport, asshole!" I hope that customs officer remembers shooting off his mouth with great embarrassment.
I enjoyed the part of the Steve Miller Band concert that I heard, but I was getting headachy from all the noise so we headed home and didn't get to see Sheryl Crow perform. Even leaving early, it was a late night.
 | Shawn held the camera up to get this view of the stage. |
 | Held the camera out at arms length to take this one. |
 | They lit the Capitol up yellow for Lance, before turning it blue during the concert. |
One of the problems with bicycling to Austin is that then
you've got to get back home again. Mary drove us out
to Elgin, where she went riding with friends and we went
bicycling to Caldwell. It is only 50 miles to Caldwell from
Elgin. Only. I kept telling myself that, but between the encore
performance of the 696 hills and a 10-12 mph headwind, it was a
very long 50 miles to Caldwell, and a very slow 50 miles
to Caldwell. It was, however, a bike ride, and you know
you've got to have a good day when you are out on your
bike. I perked up after Lexington by ceasing to try to
go faster. In fact, I explicitly started to try to go slower,
and I also started having a fun trip. Shawn is a good
riding partner and very patient when I need to just slow down.
I ended up having a good day, but I was really grateful for
Gina Hokanson, who retrieved us at the McDonald's in Caldwell.
 | The rescue vehicle is packed up (thanks Shawn!) and ready to head home from Caldwell. One advantage to carrying your clothing in a pannier is the opportunity to change before the drive home. |
