Daily Miles: A couple riding around town
I slept in until about 8:00 AM. My muscles were stiff when I got up and everything pretty much hurt. I started the morning off by getting laundry done and grabbing some breakfast at a Taco place close to Kyle’s apartment. I drank coffee and watched everyone comming in and going out. People in nice clothes with good shoes and clean hair; people with tattoos and piercings and long hair; people in cowboy hats and boots with nice button down shirts. Off to work somewhere downtown or somewhere else with a taco or two to give them some morning energy.
I hopped on my bike after breakfast and cruised downtown. There was an REI there and I needed to buy a new bike computer and some fuel for my stove. After that I went to the largest Whole Foods I’ve ever been in and grabbed a few days of food.
I rode around town after that taking some pictures. I checked out the state Capitol building and was greeted by large group of people protesting the Trunp immigrant ban. People were speaking at a podium up front with a microphone to an audience with signs and t-shirts. They were speaking out in defense of immigrants and individual people were telling their personal stories about how they became American citizens and how immigration needs to be defended. I sat around and listened for a while in the grass. The sun was shining and it was a pleasent day to be outside. A lone Trump supporter with a bright red “Make America Great Again” hat was walking around the protest. He had a shirt on proclaiming his defense of fire arms and open carry laws and he had a pistol in a holster dangling on his hip. He looked very out of place and soon left the protest.
Many people fighting for an outside chance at the American Dream and a life of opportunity, free from religion and social oppression; one person wanting to insure the second amendment stays put to protect himself from those people. Hope and fear and freedom. This is our United States.
I went back to the apartment and cleaned my bike and re-lubed the chain. I get pleasure in doing this. There’s nothing like a silent drive train effortlessly working in your favor. It’s nice to keep things clean and working well. A squeaky chain drives me crazy, anyway. A clean chain will give me the power to overcome the hills tommorrow.
Oh, and Austin is pretty awsome.
