Armadillo Hill Country Classic and The Rookie

Last Friday night Larry came out from Houston to ride the Armadillo Hill Country Classic ride on Saturday morning. We went to Mother’s Café for dinner. I think Larry was a little skeptical when we told him everything there is vegetarian, but he was impressed when he got his food.
Saturday morning Larry and I drove up to Liberty Hill for the ride. It was a beautiful day for riding and the Austin Cycling Association did a super job organizing the ride. I did 43 miles, it was hilly, but it actually felt a little less hilly than the last time I rode in Liberty Hill at the Spokes & Spurs ride. I’m not sure if it really was less hilly or if I’m getting stronger riding on the hills. I really enjoyed this ride, just had a great time the entire day. When I finished riding I had lunch and found a good spot to watch people coming in and wait for Larry. Larry ended up riding 100 miles! He broke a spoke on his rear wheel about halfway through and luckily a really nice woman from Team in Training traded him wheels, she had finished her ride and driven out to check on her teammates. When Larry finished the first thing he said was “that was EXTREMELY hilly!” Compared to Houston that ride was definitely extremely hilly! But I think Larry is ready for more hills, the other day he sent me an email “when is the next Austin ride? Must ride more hills!”
Photo by Tom Marek
On Sunday I went down to the Texas Ski Ranch to volunteer at The Rookie Triathlon. A few of my Tri Zones friends were racing and a few others were volunteering, so I was looking forward to spectating and hanging out with friends while volunteering. Sandra, Annette, and I volunteered at the finish line. It was an action packed spot and it was fun to see my friends cross the finish line up close. Brendan Hansen the Olympic swimmer was there with Pure Sport and he was handing out towels at the finish. It was pretty awesome to get swimming advice from an Olympic medal winner! He is taking the year off from swimming (but still swimming 4000m 3 times a week) and thinking about doing a triathlon this summer. There is a picture of Sandra and I with Brendan, but it's on Kristen's camera and she hasn't found the computer cord for it yet.