Best Place To Impersonate Sisyphus

Jacob's Rail at the Veloway

Sisyphus, the despot of Corinth, was condemned in Hades to roll a huge boulder uphill, which always rolled back before he reached the top. If you're looking to atone for some sins, pick a summer ozone day when the heat hangs in the air like a wet towel and at, say, 2pm, head down to the Veloway with your favorite brand of in-line skates. After a mile or two of baby hills and level ground, when you've had enough and your heart is about to explode, there it looms, what an Austin writer nicknamed "Jacob's Rail," a hill whose degrees in steepness rival Barton Springs' degrees in coldness. By then you're so sweaty that even if you clung to the rail for dear life, you'd skid back down. You're on wheels, remember, so no boulder is necessary; your fat ass will suffice.

Veloway
4900 La Crosse, 512/974-6700
www.cityofaustin.org/bicycle