Holy Shit I Biked That Far?!

So it is beeutiful here in Austin Texas.  70 degrees, sun out, with a nice breeze.  I couldn't stay inside so I went for a pleasure ride.  I usually go north, but today I decided to explore some of the neighborhoods south of 71.  The thing I like about the area I live in is HOA (home owners associations) don't have an iron grip and so you can see funky houses, children playing on monkey bars in their backyard, and unusual gardens. In other words, the houses have personality.

So I was just riding around; the funny thing about Austin is they helpfully say bike lanes are ahead, but I had a hell of a time finding one.  I was following the helpful signs until one was just too messed up that I couldn't tell which way to go. So, the first part of my ride I had no idea where I was.  I ended up on South Congress, and turning south I made it all the way to Southpark Meadows.  That was about a seven mile ride. I'm pretty proud of that, despite the presence of bike lanes south south austin (what do you call that area?) doesn't enjoy as many riders.

Southpark Meadows is a huge new shopping center that has just about everything you could possibly think of.   I don't go there very often because there is nothing there I can't get closer to home.  The parking lots are huge though and I was nervous about going into a place that is obviously centered around cars.

 The funny thing is that South Congress has a very wide shoulder, I was under the impression I was already on the bike lane.

A very wide shoulder, but had quite a bit of debris in places

                                      
                    My final destination. I hadn't planned on it, but was halfway there so figured why not.

Wal-Mart bike parking. I was pretty impressed, I'm not sure how many bikes this holds but must be quite a few.  I was the only one there, so I had it to myself.  A lady commented on how nice my bike was with the red crate in the back. That's always nice.