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visittheusa.com and athletes from Sabotage Wrestling, an Austin-based sporting organisation. While Blake’s trailer is closed at present – “electrical issues”, he tells me with the despair of someone who has had too many conversations about cables and plugs – he’s keen to meet at Counter Culture, a long-established vegan-only restaurant in the same neighbourhood. “I started being vegan five years ago for health reasons,”

Blake says while we plunge into plates of vegan cheese and bread, mac ’n’ cheese balls and a substantial Reuben sandwich made with tempeh. It’s not a clean-eating level of healthy, but I dare say it’s healthier. The cheese is a revelation and the plate is wiped clean.

While I relish Austin’s vegan scene in the daytime, the nights prove testing. I’d be lying if I pretended I hadn’t dismissed vegan food as a load of bean dishes that would give me a bad case of wind. No sign of that yet, although sadly Jon’s not so lucky.

The following day starts with

Doggie Style – a tomato-red vegan hot dog truck parked up in south Austin. My seitan sausage in a bun, topped with mustard, ketchup and diced onions, puts the hundreds of meat hot dogs I’ve scoffed to shame. The trailer is also handily close to the Wandering Vegan market, a roaming set of stalls serving everything from jackfruit jerky to nutty vegan yogurt.

Belts loosened – we’re on a roll – we take a short drive north to the North Loop district in search of dessert. In an unremarkable car park, wedged between a Domino’s and an office, is