As they say, you only get one chance at a first impression. My virgin tour of Austin, TX and its ballyhooed 70.3, "scenic one-loop 56 mile ride passing through rolling Texas farmlands, complete with expansive ranches, cedar-covered vistas, sunflower fields and prickly pear cacti," left plenty to be desired.
Like a signature climb, a challenging hill or a white knuckle descent. The roads, a combination of just about every surface known to public works, and completely bereft of anything remotely resembling smooth, also features an embarrassing lack of shoulders. Frustratingly, the longest section also shares with traffic limited to a mere 60 mph. I saw one person out riding today as I did recon on the course. ONE.
Tomorrow is supposed to be the sunniest day over the weekend, so I plan on shooting base footage starting at 0900 from T1, Decker Lake. The plan is to capture, in one take, the entire 56 mi. one loop course, and then add footage from Saturday's shoot for cutaways. There is no way we will be able to shoot the Route 969 section and stay under the radar. It would create a unique opportunity for a savvy headline writer to pun me being strung-up for impeding local traffic shooting triathletes riding at 1/3 the posted speed. These guys in their big red trucks drive like pissed-off steers.
But I am willing to give it another try tomorrow. Maybe now that I know where the hidden turns are and some of the landmarks, I will get another crack at a first impression.
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