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ROT Rally, Austin Whiskey girls staying perky in the heat.

Another Expo Center event, just outside of the city of Austin, leads to some  spillover for the downtown area.  Since I usually work weekends, I can only rely on the view from my local SoCo haunts.  But working in this popular area and having sixth street just a ten minute bike ride away, I manage to get a good idea of whats going on.

It wasn’t that long ago that the hot rodders were here, also an expo center event, but the ROT crowd didn’t come close to taking over the city. There were tons of bikes on Sixth Street, but just not the same presence and numbers as rodders just a few weeks earlier.  I blame it on the obviously irresistible midget wrestling federation, which held shows at the expo grounds every day of the event.  That and the heat was just ridiculous.

As relaxed as they come, ROT chopper cruising Sixth during the heat of day.

I did manage some people-watching on 6th street the day of the parade, but had to check in at work that evening.  Not many bikers cruised the SoCo area.  Apparently half the parade gimmick was to have the entire length of Congress street, from 6th to the river full of parked motorcycles.  A concert stage around 7th street and Robbie Knievel’s jump at 11th, right in front of the Capital.

Robbie Knievel, last minute check and photo op before his jump in downtown Austin.

I clocked out of the restaurant then Kate and I rode our bikes to check Robbie’s jump, all the while rushing to get to a location which would afford a view.  After having found one, we still had to wait for him to stop doing wheelies back and forth while Freebird blasted on a PA system.  Since there was a storm system coming in from the north, the joke at work was that he would be struck by lightning in mid jump and taken by a tornado before he hit the landing platform.  Well, some fireworks went off but it was no trip to OZ.

Austin and oak trees.

The days are getting longer, the sunshine is strong and the water at your favorite swimming hole is ready for ya!  It’s time to hike it to your favorite spot along the Greenbelt and grab some sunshine.  There’s been a lot of rain the past couple of days, so places like Sculptured Falls should be flowing nicely.  And like they say, April showers bring May flowers.  The landscape is about to pop with some spring color.  Be sure to check back for more photos.

Hot rods in the city! SoCo witnesses takeover of rodders and fans fueled on high octane cerveza.

The 2009 Lonestar Rod & Kustom Roundup official event took place at the Travis County Expo Center but the nightlife was happening downtown in the SoCo area of Austin. Classic cars, hot rods and home made mechanized monsters like Frankentruck were parked along the strip from Riverside to Oltorf.

For two nights, South Congress street was completely engulfed with rods and rodders. Car owners would randomly start up and cruise the strip, often at the request of a fan. Around 9 or 10 pm on Saturday night it became a jam, or parade if your a fan, and regular traffic was pinched off to a sidestreet because the rods ruled the road this night.

Saturday night on SoCo