Just spent the weekend in Austin – what a great place. My only other experience of Texas has been Houston and the two towns couldn’t be any more different. Austin is cool for a start. Not temperature wise (over 100 degrees every day – eek) but cool in terms of the great vibe, the outdoorsy lifestyle, the music and nightlife. The biggest surprise was how green it is – some of the surrounding area looks almost English with picturesque farms and villages. Also the town itself is packed with lively bars and restaurants.

My visit coincided with the Ralley of Texas. Not quite in the same league as Sturgis – but every biker in the area came to 6th street to *erm* cruise around, rev engines, pose and drink beer. Outside the 90% penetration of Harleys there were some impressive custom jobs and some of the really crazy machines like the Boss Hoss (Putting a Chevy 350 V8 engine on a BIKE has to be crazy).

Actually the biggest shock was at the HD dealer. I’ve never seen so many middle aged men (or even a single one for that matter) in a shopping frenzy before. *The genius of HD is tapping into this affluent market and making them want to shop until they drop – not just clothing but also stuff they can put onto their bikes (hilariously some of the sales guys call themselves chrome consultants). I swear not one of them left the shop empty handed. Some of these franchises must be licences to print money.

*just idly wondering what the collective noun for MA men in shopping frenzy is. Was thinking maybe a paunch but perhaps a ker-ching is more fitting or possibly a male menopause. Any better ideas?