AntonioGG Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 Are there any in-town or around town routes you guys want to share? https://www.strava.com/activities/1859231450 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheX Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 I'm curious about this as well. I don't like riding an roads since my accident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2112Greg Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 I would also like to know some routes on gravel. The Strava link in the OP doesn't work, btw... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheX Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 The requested activity could not be found Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted September 30, 2018 Share Posted September 30, 2018 1 hour ago, TheX said: The requested activity could not be found Looks like you have to be following Antonio in order to see it. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted September 30, 2018 Author Share Posted September 30, 2018 Fixed it. They just recently changed all the privacy settings in Strava. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted September 30, 2018 Author Share Posted September 30, 2018 I just remembered about this resource: https://gravelmap.com/#@30.317600495288698,-97.76872918475993,10,roadmap Sadly it looks like everything is about as far from Austin as that Lockhart ride, with nothing closer for those in NW Austin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamsloan Posted September 30, 2018 Share Posted September 30, 2018 I was really going to be interested to learn about any gravel routes around town. While this is a bike forum, I'm always looking out for places to "soft road" my outback. Especially when the weather is too bad to ride. The best route I've found is around SW of Llano from Click to Loyal Valley to Castell. Lots of graded gravel and low water crossings. Pretty countryside too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted September 30, 2018 Share Posted September 30, 2018 There are not enough real gravel roads to really do that in Austin, but you can link together Walnut Creek South, Ladybird Lake Hike n Bike, MOPAC service Road, Shoal Creek, some VCT, Circle C, the Veloway, etc with low-traffic roads if you plan carefully. I have done a few in-town 50 milers that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St.Bernardo Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 Best that I can do up in RR is use pavement to link neighborhood granite gravel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotdurt Posted October 2, 2018 Share Posted October 2, 2018 (edited) I used to explore dirt roads and county roads on a dual sport motorcycle. I've ridden just about every county road (at least the through-roads) in central Texas. 15 years ago there were still some pretty decent routes within a few miles of the metro area, but it all got paved over time; not much near Austin anymore. Still some west of 281 and north of 190 (beyond Lampassas, Killeen), but those were starting to get paved too (mostly closer to 281, 290 and around Fredericksburg). There's actually some good double track out there too, if you know where to look. The further west and NW you go, the better, but plan a full day. Some of it used to be technical; 315 near Click had a section that was high clearance, "4X4 recommended", and the Sandy Creek crossing was a beast... I had heard they bladed and "improved" it since though. Also, there's a bit east too that is a little closer and more convenient, just not as scenic, and some of them might be sandy for skinny tires. Not much south though; most of the public roads between Austin and SA are paved, with the exception of a few short segments. BTW, the Junction area is gold, and really good riding in the area between San Saba and Brady, too. Edited October 2, 2018 by gotdurt 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted October 2, 2018 Share Posted October 2, 2018 has anyone ridden the bike path that goes out past the airport along 71? it goes pretty far from the city and ends up at Southeast Metro Park, from what I can see on the map. the bike path is not marked or labeled on the map at all, but you can see it clearly on the satellite picture. I am all for riding pavement for the sake of exploring and I always find ways to include dirt in those routes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheX Posted October 2, 2018 Share Posted October 2, 2018 We should have an exploration ride out there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAF Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 3 hours ago, mack_turtle said: has anyone ridden the bike path that goes out past the airport along 71? it goes pretty far from the city and ends up at Southeast Metro Park, from what I can see on the map. the bike path is not marked or labeled on the map at all, but you can see it clearly on the satellite picture. I am all for riding pavement for the sake of exploring and I always find ways to include dirt in those routes. How do we access it from the Austin end? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 12 hours ago, TAF said: How do we access it from the Austin end? yeah, that's a problem. I will pay more attention next time I drive past it because the satellite images on Google are out of date and the city does not seem to have it marked anywhere. it seems to just start at the airport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted October 3, 2018 Author Share Posted October 3, 2018 That looks interesting. It seems to end at Onion Creek, and there's another path that starts across the creek and ends farther south. Strava Heat Map shows people cross under 71 and go to the north side of 71 and onto Bastrop Hwy. Then the traffic thins out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAF Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 22 hours ago, AntonioGG said: That looks interesting. It seems to end at Onion Creek, and there's another path that starts across the creek and ends farther south. Strava Heat Map shows people cross under 71 and go to the north side of 71 and onto Bastrop Hwy. Then the traffic thins out. I've always found it intriguing that the bike racks in the close-up parking lot are usually fairly full. I'll have to check out the heatmaps also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
June Bug Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 Semi-related to the topic. The Montopolis Bridge on 183 will be decommissioned to traffic and transitioning to bikes/peds only. That's great because the railing along the attached sidewalk is way too low for cyclists and it's a long damn way down to the Colorado River. I can't find information if that transition has already happened or will happen in the future. Is anyone current on this? The next thing that needs to happen is a bike/pedestrian light to safely cross 183 to ultimately get to Govalle Park, which is the start of the Southern WC Multi-Use Path. The Castell area is fantastic for many miles of unpaved roads. You can contact the Chambers of Commerce in Llano and Mason Counties and they will send you a free map showing all county roads, if you are a paper map type person. Just be aware, depending on how long since it has rained, there can be a relatively short stretches of deep sand on some of those roads out there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted October 4, 2018 Author Share Posted October 4, 2018 I've done the Castell Grind but somehow forgot all about it! Yes, that sand at the start is terrible, but mostly it's all very nice gravel roads with very low traffic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamsloan Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 Last time I drove from Loyal Valley to Castell in the outback, there were long stretches of deep sand by car standards. I couldn't imagine doing on a bike. But blasting along with AWD was a ton of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted October 5, 2018 Author Share Posted October 5, 2018 It was brutal. People were falling left and right. A lot of people gave up and just rode on the dirt trails on either side of the road. I rode the hard stuff, thinking riding outside was cheating. You're at the start of a 100k ride with your HR already maxed out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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