SXSW 2010

In a Wired article by Neal Pollack about the the great check-in battle between Gowalla and Foursquare, the Mobile Social SXSW is mentioned

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, 32-year-old Josh Williams, the cofounder of the location-based social-networking game Gowalla, is hanging out with some fellow Texans. Mellow Johnny’s, a bike shop owned by Lance Armstrong that happens to be across the street from Gowalla’s offices, is the final stop of the “Mobile Social”, one of Gowalla’s signature events at SXSWi, the annual gathering of a leisurely four-hour bike tour of Austin that starts at Brush Square Park, cruises over to the State Capitol, and ends with live music and a barbecue.

Note: Gowalla was a sponsor of the Mobile Social SXSW, along with Google, and our other partners.

We hung out with Josh and Neal for a while at that massive party he mentions in the article, then with KK+, Fierce Kitty, et al.

Photo: David Schloss

We’re more concerned here with the bike then the check in network, but the trend of mobile and social networks we spotted a few years ago continues to emerge and gadgets like the iPhone, iPad, Google Phone, Dahon’s charger and Nokia’s charger all make that more possible. @zeldman tipped us to a Read Write Web article that noticed the mobile in social media this week, as well.

After SXSW, our last Mobile Social was at Webvisions and we’re in Toronto next for NXNEi.

The talk with @livestrongCEO Doug Ulman @sxsw was a highlight of the past week. I was on the road talking Twitter, bike culture, changing the world with bikes, and web design at 4 different events.

Doug told us how Livestrong started as a bike ride — the Ride for the Roses.

After some rest over the weekend and bike rides, it’s back to work on a new event with Webvisions in Portland. It’ll have big ideas, thinking, and bikes.

Doug Ulman and Byron photo uploaded by Mathowie.

Saw these in Austin as well. That’s a taxi trailer for an ad-hoc pedicab and we could use these for our fans and party attendees that don’t ride so much. Could parade Zeldman et al around on one as maybe a ride MC.

Then we’d probably go to fast around a corner and bounce one of them out, but the fun we’d have!

Uploaded by davidjschloss | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Here we have the oldest bike on the Mobile Social and the tallest. Bikinis too.

Uploaded by kk+ | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

By all accounts, this was our best Mobile Social so far and we’ve got more coming with dates being announced soon in Toronto and Portland. This year, Cyclefilm made this film for us

Rocking the Google Maps t-shirt for the Mobile Socia SXSW. See you there

The Mobile Social SXSW is tomorrow and of all the MoSos we do, this one is El Guapo, the Mucho Moso, where we do bike culture Texas style. The crew at Social Cycling ATX is leading the ride with ride guides. They’ll make sure you all get to Mellow Johnnys for the party and have a fun, safe time.

Quick access to the details

Scan this code for quick access to the MoSo details. You need a wristband or SXSW badge to get into the party. Get a wristband from one of us at the start of the ride.

The Route

There are turnoff points for those that want to ride shorter. The route is 14 miles and it’s a relaxed, cruiser, fun ride, no-dropping-anyone pace. We stop at red lights and don’t block traffic.

Meet the Bike Map Makers

Google is riding with us and at Mellow Johnnys to show you their Bike Maps. You’ll know who they are because they’re wearing these shirts.

During SXSW, Jason will have this nifty gadget that turns him into a WiFi cloud. That’s right, he’s a cycling hotspot with Wimax bandwidth to share with you. He’s roaming around, attending the Mobile Social, various panels, and is quite happy to connect with you.

So when ATT’s 3G network crashes, find Jason.

The Jason Cloud is brought to you by our friends at Intel.

We’ll have these Official Mobile Social Party Hats for the ride attendees @sxsw and in Seattle during the Bike Expo.

Note: limited edition and quantities.

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Google built their new Bike Maps right here in Seattle and Product Manager Shannon Guymon posted on the Official Google Blog this morning with instructions:

Let’s say you want to bike to work, or maybe you want to drive less and spend more time outdoors. Biking directions can help you find a convenient and efficient route that makes use of dedicated bike trails or lanes and avoids hills whenever possible. To find biking directions, select “Bicycling” from the drop-down menu when you do a directions search:

I’m riding over to the Bike Expo this weekend and tried a route …