OFT: A visit to Texas

Sarah and I visited Texas middle of last month as a "One Fun Thing."   I have been too busy to blog, but, here is a brief update to the trip.  I think it is pertinent given the first place we visited:  Livestrong HQ.

That's the entrance.   Here is the Livestrong manifesto:

They also have some art, a lot of yellow jerseys, and Lance's Bronze Medal from the Olympics.

Here is what a conference room would look like:

Livestrong HQ in Austin was really neat to see.  What was amazing is all the great work they are doing there.  We spent a bit of time in their new patient care area which will serve the underserved population in Austin.  They'll provide a variety of resources covering medical, psychosocial, and economic. 

You can read more, and see better pictures of this here.  They give tours to the public at a variety of times, and I'd highly suggest it to anyone who visits the Austin area.   Sarah and I were very grateful for a public tour from our workshop leader, Leigh, who is pictured below.  We also got to meet and say hello to Colleen, who we've corresponded with about some grassroots things in Colorado.   A very special thank you to both of them!

Also during our trip to Austin, we got to visit Mellow Johnny's Bicycle Shop, which is owned by Lance Armstrong.  Say what you will about Lance, but after seeing his bike shop and his charity HQ, he can pick out a great location, a great building, and some great decor.

In terms of bicycle selection, Mellow Johnnys was like most other big bike shops.

The exterior was pretty understated from all entrances.   They obviously had a lot of bikes, but the real draw were the bikes you couldn't purchase.

Lance's bikes from the 2010 Tour.  The TT bike was probably my favorite bike in the entire store.  Sarah and I rented some bikes from them (Treks, of course) for a fun ride during our stay.

Lance had a few more bikes and some jerseys around.  A few were from other famous cyclists.

Team Radio Shack had a small section of the store (see in above picture, lower left), plus a vehicle there.

Where they really make their killing is in Mellow Johnny's merchandise.  They had a lot of cool things, though.  It was definitely a neat place to see, and I'd recommend it as well!

The last of the three big highlights to the trip (it was all highlights!), was getting to hang out, get a ride in, and do dinner with some friends, including a Team SBP member!