AustinBike Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 OK, COVID is starting to loosen up and AustinBike World Headquarters is starting to approve travel requests so I can start doing trail reviews again. This week I went out to Grelle Recreation area, which is just west of Muleshoe off of 71. Here is the full review: http://www.austinbike.com/index.php/west-of-austin/378-grelle If you are a hard core rider and want to ride with others at your level, I would not recommend making the trek out there, it is like Muleshoe but without as much trail (only 8.5, I think MS is 9.8 officially I usually track between 10-12 per lap.) If you have kids, a spouse, or friends that want to get into biking and you live out west of town, this would be an excellent place to take them because you won't get the crowds that the others have and there is enough to keep everyone entertained. I took my FS but really, this is a totally singlespeed friendly kind of place, it would have been more fun on a single I believe. The trails feel like they are primarily for horses, so there are a lot of steps, that actually provides a bit of a challenge. There is a cheese-grater-ish part of the trail that is actually challenging, I took it easy because I was all alone, literally, in the park. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xl_cheese Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 Looks like a great trail to take the boss. She likes smooth trails... Thanks for the review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moc 5 Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 On 10/10/2020 at 7:52 PM, xl_cheese said: Looks like a great trail to take the boss. She likes smooth trails... Thanks for the review! We rode it a couple of years ago. It is no way a smooth trail (or at least it wasn't at the time). I did not enjoy the trail, but at the time it was "brand new." I believe it was originally a horse trail. CX Agent would know as he had a hand in its opening to mtb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 Yeah, I can attest to the fact that this place is probably designed more for horses. There was one section that was really rocky, Mustang Ridge, that reminded me more of the Cheese Grater on BCGB. Most of the steps were easily passable at this point, there were only a few places where you were forced over them and even when climbing they were not impassable. I will say that you should stay off Cottontail Loop, I accidentally figured that I could just carry my bike for a few feet and then carry on. Boy was I mistaken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 I rode Grelle a little over 2 years ago. At the time I said: "It has a couple of really fun trails. Mustang Ridge, Overlook and Cottontail work out to be about 3.5 miles of fun rocky ridge singletrack, with lots of quick up/down grade reversals. And there is another 3 or so miles of decent fast singletrack. It's all a little hard to get to though, with the fun stuff requiring a short but tough and steep cobble grind of Fox Run. Anyway, the place offers lovely views and the terrain is very cool. I’ll probably put it on a 8-12 month rotation." ...2 years later and I haven't been back. But I'll eventually repeat my Muleshoe/Grelle combo someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 Are you able to ride both for the same admission? That would be cool. They are close enough that they could easily be a nice 2 track with streets mini-enchilada to do the two. Maybe a torta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 15 hours ago, AustinBike said: Are you able to ride both for the same admission? I think so since they're both LCRA. Still when I got to Grelle I signed in and dropped some cash in the box. And yeah, for my ride there that I linked above, I did Muleshoe loop -> Grelle -> Muleshoe loop. I really wish there was a good northern route to Reimers... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 1 hour ago, Barry said: I think so since they're both LCRA. Still when I got to Grelle I signed in and dropped some cash in the box. And yeah, for my ride there that I linked above, I did Muleshoe loop -> Grelle -> Muleshoe loop. I really wish there was a good northern route to Reimers... Yeah those roads are sketchy. Is there any spot where trail could be cut on the "shoulders" kinda like on 1626? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdog-1992 Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 Muleshoe rents kayaks, maybe you can rig a bike to a kayak and do multisport. Seriously, there should be someway to cut across near Spicewood airport. The southeast corner of Grelle (Fox Run on map) is just off Soda Creek Rd but looks like it might be blocked by private property and likely a fence. Grelle-Recreation-Area-Map.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moc 5 Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 On the up side, Grelle is right next to Krause Springs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted October 15, 2020 Author Share Posted October 15, 2020 Yes, it has proximity that gives it some value. Pick it up and put it 50 miles from anything and even I wouldn't head out there. "Make it a part of your balanced breakfast." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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