The weather on this trip to the USA has been pretty insane; sub-zero conditions, chilled winds, freezing roads, and more than a little danger. For anyone from a cold, wet country, you might take temperatures of a mere -6 degrees celsius in your stride. Such lows literally bring Texas to a sliding halt, though. There is zero infrastructure for handling the ice on the roads, people have no idea how to drive in such conditions, and the number and width of roads makes gritting a pain; forget about salt.
Walking out on Friday morning onto South Congress, I was presented with a comical scene of cars sliding around; many failing even to make it up the slope of the bridge to down-town. Indeed, a pick-up truck with a Mexican family in it was totally stuck, unable to move. With the whole family in the front, no weight in the back and no experience in these conditions it wasn’t perhaps a surprise. With a look of horror on the face of the driver, I pointed at the son in the back and we bumped, pushed and cajoled the vehicle up the slope, and he gave me a friendly wave goodbye. Job done. I must admit that I did not, however, help the Mercedes that got itself into the same situation a minute later!
While Taiwan celebrates Chinese New Year, my boss took the opportunity to bring me over to Austin for a week or two with the team. I didn’t struggle too hard, since I can reschedule the holiday, and anyway flights out of Taiwan are pretty expensive during the holiday period. I have been through LA a couple of times, but never stopped for more than a couple of hours, escaping from LAX to Manhattan Beach for a swift beer.
This time, however, was different. I finally took Pip up on his offer to visit, and he picked me up at the airport in his new Range Rover. Without hesitation, he asked ‘do you surf?’ and I was too deep in exhaustion and jet lag to say anything else but ‘hell yes’ … I am not going to look a gift horse (or a Brit in a Range Rover) in the mouth. So, before I had even sat down, I was walking out of a surf shop in Santa Monica with surf board and wet suit in hand. Life is Awesome. Otherwise known as LA.
Range Rover + Surf Boards x Los Angeles = Pip Tompkin
Pip in his natural environment
Manhattan Beach in the daytime … long board in hand.
Limited snowboarding and wake-boarding experience have even more limited application to surfing, but I wasn’t about to let that stop me from trying. I mean, first time surfing here … what a start. Pip gave me the basic pep talk; essentially, paddle really quickly, jump up in one motion, don’t fall off … and we were off. I was far from completely fluid, but I did legitimately have some real standing time … I will be back.
After an extended chat on the beach and with my brain still being faxed over from Asia, we spot that the waves had receded. We grabbed the boards, paddled out to beyond the break, and hung out a little more. Some fins approach in the distance … “are they sharks?” I calmly ask. No, a school of dolphins swims by us, flirting in the wake. I bob there, mouth agape, and more than a little overwhelmed by the scene of dolphins, salt spray, and California rising up in the distance.
Jet lag completely forgotten, I decide this is time to catch a proper wave for the first time, and am caught by a fairly serious swell building up behind me. Arms darting into the salt water, I build up precisely the right amount of speed to catch the full momentum of the wave, and it picks me up like a rag doll as I dive off the six-foot wall of water. Screaming like a schoolboy (and with feet flying into the air) I plummet to oblivion, only to be spun around like an old t-shirt at the bottom of a washing machine. Twice.
Emerging from the water, I had nothing but a smile on my face, and water leaking out of my ears. My first proper wipe-out. Time for a burger. Time for In ‘n’ Out Burger.
While only having about three things on the menu, other styles, ingredients and upgrades can be had with the use of secret code names … a very cool idea.
The burger was pretty awesome, but mazing out on all the code names that I could think of broke my flat-mate’s #1 rule of buying burgers: get the basic one. ‘Animal Style’ and whatever happened to the fries, was delicious, but oh so oily. Ah well, start as I mean to go on!
After a quick brunch at Santa Monica staple, Norms, it was time for a tour of the LA sights. Naturally, we swap cars for something a little more befitting of Beverley Hills, Bel Air and Hollywood; yup – a drop-top BMW coupé. Music, shades and attitude packed, we prowled the streets, wowing at the cars on display, the wanton display of wealth, and imagining what celebrities are waiting around the corner (or at least I did). Since we were not rich Chinese tourists, we pointed the car at the mountains, and took in views of Hollywood from Mulholland Drive. It was surreal, taking in all these sights that I knew so well, and yet had never seen.
Wait a moment for the movie to load
Pip has two rather beautiful fixed-gear bikes, and he was kind enough to take out his baby for a spin – what a host. Cruising along Venice Beach was a cultural lesson in taking recreation very seriously; this is the melting pot that lead to skateboarding, surfing, hip-hop and BMX. It’s pretty humbling, and highly entertaining to see new forms of street culture bubbling up in front of your eyes.
Swap four wheels for two.
LA all the way.
Cavendish takes the green jersey.
Santa Monica amusement park at sunset … why doesn’t the whole of America live here?
Watching the scene; I could stay here the whole day.
An absolutely phenomenal weekend … thanks so much Shannon and Pip. You are welcome in Asia!
Somehow this photo seems to freeze frame a few of the individuals at large in Austin. It must be noted that the guy was using luminous paints to capture his scene.
It’s my third trip to Austin, and my second this year. I must admit, I have grown fond of the place, in no small part as a result of my skill in choosing the most pleasant periods of weather of the year to come; blue skies mix with cool breezes to make for perfect conditions to enjoy life outside, eating, drinking, listening to live music, and riding bikes. Bliss.
Coming via Houston, which seems to be built around its oil refineries and parking lots, Austin is delightful. And doubly so now I know my way around; I have my favourite bike shops, cafes, hell, I can even discriminate between different organic supermarkets and live music venues.
But would I live here? Even in this liberal paradise? Not quite. As much affection as I have for this place, I still feel more affinity to Asia and Europe. But as an exercise in allowing myself to regroup, see some music, talk to people in my own language, and yet have a different experience from returning to the UK, it’s just magic. I am pretty lucky.
The cool weather during the week politely extended into the weekend, and I jumped at the opportunity to get out into the hills. I was provided with wheels once more by Lance Armstrong’s shop, Mellow Johnnie’s, again with Ken and Sandra expertly guiding me on the trails (and in the post-ride tacos) … but sadly we were missing Tony on these excursions.
We lined-up two days of riding; the first a two-hour drive out to Flat Rock Ranch near Comfort, and twenty five miles of high-intensity switch-backs and short, sharp climbs to numb both the brains and the legs. Sandra is a former professional racer, so if she is feeling the pressure I know what I am riding is pretty serious. I was determined to work off the calories consumed during the week, and I was pushing pretty hard the whole way, cramping up near the end. Exhausting, exhilarating, and rounded off with ‘The Best Burger in Texas’; the images are still flashing in front of my eyes (the trails, and the burger).
After the tough Saturday route, we opted for a shorter 18-miler on Sunday at Reimers Ranch. Another private trail centre, this was more of a skills and finesse session, sporting multiple foot-high step-ups and steep drop-ins. It took me a little while to really get the hang of the approach to these things; third gear seemed about right, with a firm lift on the bars, deft weight transfer, and finessing the rear wheel over the final inches. With legs still reeling from the day before, I took it a little easier, and treated myself to tacos and cup cakes on my return to Austin.
The amazing thing about these sets of trails is the quite insane number of turns, looping back and forth, as if penned by a slightly nervous five year-old. Both of these ranches were privately-owned, and as a result the owners want to maximise the course length on the available terrain. This is in contrast to the UK, where trails are usually old routes between settlements, and as a result, straight. All I can say is that I would not be surprised if riders used to these trail centres are wicked at negotiating turns.
I had a slightly sub-optimum flight plan into the USA this time – via Tokyo and Chicago, as opposed to the more conventional routes via LA or Dallas. None-the-less, I grabbed the opportunity during lay-over to jump on the underground system and run downtown for a few hours of walking around and getting a whiff of the sights. I have always, always wanted to go to Chicago, and I was impressed by the initial impression; funny people, a gritty feel reminiscent of Glasgow, and hearty Italian-American food. Well worth it, although snow did delay take-off and scuppered any chances of getting stuck into the final Saturday night of SXSW. Next time.
After a long 2.0 hiatus, I am back online and ready to start getting stuck back into writing, photographing and generally interacting.
I have put quite a bit of effort into getting the new blog up and running – now on the WordPress system – and this coincides with my series of flights to Austin, via Tokyo and Chicago. I am off to spend some time with my new team, and get up to speed with how things are done in the big city.
And just to prove how much I am looking forward to the new system, here is a photo taken with my iPhone, as I wait to take flight.
I just landed from a three week trip to the USA, taking in Miami and Austin, with brief stops in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The last time I was here, was right at the end of my Cambridge University masters; and it therefore offers rather a convenient moment of Texan-style punctuation from which to reflect and digest.
What a long way I have come. The first time was trans-Atlantic with nothing more than a backpack, a Greyhound ticket via San Antonio, a whim and perhaps a prayer. The next was trans-Pacific, taking in a global design conference, and with an extended stay at the Austin mothership, visiting colleagues that have become firm friends. I have, geographically-speaking at least, come full circle.
It also allows me to look at my Asian experience and life through a different, Americana, lens. I am positive I could feel myself being ‘reculturalized’ (as our resident Cuban, Pedro, so eloquently puts it) back to Western ways in a way I did not feel when returning to Blighty, perhaps because I am on holiday when I head back there. It’s a good feeling to head back to the office with a bit more confrontational spirit and less of the passive-aggressiveness reticence.
Usually, I enjoy writing these blog posts on the way through the trip. I think I felt some mild feeling of vertigo, however, as I imagined a virtual life in the USA, and re-imagined my Asian life; which felt more like a daydream, frankly – Kyoto to Taipei to Shanghai to Miami to Texas … what a head spin!
Jet lag is oozing from every pore of my being right now … time to sort out some photos, unpack and have a coffee. Good to be back to the daydream!
