A couple of fine examples parked outside live/work condos on East Sixth Street

Artsy and creative types? Check. A compact area with multiple locations to traverse? One of the best areas of town to cycle in? Check. All of this combines to make the East Austin Studio Tour one of the coolest cycling events in Austin, and it’s not even a cycling event.

On Sunday, with rain threatening, there were enough people cycling at times to make Fifth Street seem like a bicycle highway. The best thing to me about this event is that everyone biking is very casual, friendly, and generally not in a hurry, so there is plenty of personal interaction involved – lots of smiles, waves, and casual conversation. Basically, it’s a representation of what I would like to see every day on the streets of Austin.

A herd of bikes parked rather haphazardly at Nuevo Leon in the late afternoon

Oh yes, I should mention there was also art involved (I loved the mosaic gecko sculpture at Brocca Gallery, among others!).

Even outside the galleries, there was random street art to be found

I should also add that we happened upon the Bakfiets at TwentyOne24, emblazoned with enough stickers and advertising to be Nascar drivers, not pedal-powered haulers.

Got enough advertising on there?

These probably haven't seen much actual riding, but that back fender looks a little bent

Hopefully someday they will get put to real use, after their first life as urban lifestyle advertising props.