If you're here on a weekend, an ACA ride is a great way to see some country out away from the busy city. They *usually* give out maps at the ride start (I've gone to two in the last couple of months that were lacking maps). There are a few "training" routes closer in if you just have an hour or two to get away from the family .

Town Lake Trail/Greenbelt are marvelous places to run. They're just blocks from my apartment, so I'm spoiled and haven't searched out any other places . There's some 5k/10k/fun run practically every weekend of the year, but I don't race and have no info. You could probably google "5k Austin February" and find something. Both road and mtb race seasons start in February.

ACL tickets are announced just a few days before a taping at a random time on the radio. They are usually gone within an hour or two.

The LAF is located in a non-descript office complex on a busy highway. Nothing to see.

There are literally hundreds of restaurants. Depends on what you're looking for, how far you want to drive, etc. Chuy's is a must-see, tho . I saw Lance riding down Barton Springs one day and he turned toward there. I slowed to see if he was going to stop, but he kept going down the side street. Darn, I was hoping to hit it off over some queso and a couple of Shiners !

I've been hitting a lot of state parks lately. Pedernales Falls is about 40 minutes from town, with an awesome falls, a couple of trails you can mtb on and a couple of separate campgrounds. I also like Guadalupe River State Park, near Blanco. The country out there is awesome, and the park has a cool loop trail up above the river and a beautiful campground with lots of trees. Bastrop State Park is know for its "lost pines", an oddly placed pine forest out in the middle of the Texas Hill Country and funky stone cabins built by the CCC. The park roads there make for an awesome, rolling, quiet, rolling, ride full of rollers. Oh, did I mention it's kind of hilly ? If you buy an annual state park pass for $60 you get free admission to all state parks (usually about $4-8/per person over age 13) and they send you four 50% off one night of camping coupons . The coupons take about 4-6 weeks to arrive, so order early. Check it out here.

It would be so cool to meet any and all of you while you're in the area. I should have my freelance Austin area booster check from the Chamber of Commerce by then !