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S Walnut Creek … Singletrack?


TAF
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I rode the paved trail from the Y to Govalle park for the first time in a while, and was pleasantly surprised to see a number of trailheads leading off the concrete path, and several mountain bikers popping in and out of em. In fact, a fellow on a full squish came of ‘Area 51’ before you cross the 183 overpass.

Is this a new destination trail?

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8 hours ago, circuitbreaker said:

i know they've been on Strava for years. So it makes sense that they've been built up over time.

I don't have any personal experience. 

There is a section called "Oxbow" that is east of the path. Basically about 4-6 sections between just north of the elevated portion past 183 and the cut off for the Y. I ride them all the time because concrete gets boring.

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21 hours ago, TAF said:

I rode the paved trail from the Y to Govalle park for the first time in a while, and was pleasantly surprised to see a number of trailheads leading off the concrete path, and several mountain bikers popping in and out of em. In fact, a fellow on a full squish came of ‘Area 51’ before you cross the 183 overpass.

Is this a new destination trail?

Area 51 is the Little Walnut Creek Greenbelt.  The small network of trails is not destination worthy yet.  They don't flow well and don't stitch together well.  I will ride through that greenbelt on the trail to ride the trails off the SWCT.

 

The singletrack Austin Bike is referencing is flowy and fun.  

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6 hours ago, The Tip said:

But ARR is pushing to develop Area 51 into a destination. Tons of potential there due to the elevation changes.

Off topic, I suppose, but I do wish ARR would work more to be visible on social media. They did so much, back in the day, and now they have nary as much as a decent website. I only know they still exist because of Cullen's posts, and that's because I'm friends with him on FB. Kinda sad.

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I live close to those trails off 51st and we used to ride MX back there in the 90's before the surrounding development. There is alot of potential to build some fun singletrack back there! We sort of gave up trying as soon as the homeless camps arrived and then we figured it would all get developed soon at the rate they're mowing down every piece of land East of 35. Now Ive heard the city bought the land so maybe it might not get developed into condos too soon. The trails being built on the other side of 183 and along the creek are really fun and twisty. I hit them on the gravel bike quite abit.

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43 minutes ago, Bart said:

I live close to those trails off 51st and we used to ride MX back there in the 90's before the surrounding development. There is alot of potential to build some fun singletrack back there! We sort of gave up trying as soon as the homeless camps arrived and then we figured it would all get developed soon at the rate they're mowing down every piece of land East of 35. Now Ive heard the city bought the land so maybe it might not get developed into condos too soon. The trails being built on the other side of 183 and along the creek are really fun and twisty. I hit them on the gravel bike quite abit.

I did see one gravel rider coming out of one section and diving off into another. I was on a gravel bike too, and was very tempted to follow, but had my wife with me, and didn't think she would enjoy the dirt as much.

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A couple of us hit Area 51 today - there's miles of singletrack in there. Coupled with more singletrack on the far side of 183, we rode a three hour loop from my place on Shoal Creek.

Nice to have options.

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On 3/26/2023 at 5:55 PM, TAF said:

Off topic, I suppose, but I do wish ARR would work more to be visible on social media. They did so much, back in the day, and now they have nary as much as a decent website. I only know they still exist because of Cullen's posts, and that's because I'm friends with him on FB. Kinda sad.


I’m not the expert on quantifying visibility, but we did a new website; new branding; new jerseys; have a new Marketing person who has been doing great photography and posting to FB and Instagram quite a bit, in addition to re-starting the email newsletter. 


https://www.facebook.com/AustinRidgeRiders

https://instagram.com/austinridgeriders?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

We have a member appreciation ride next Saturday at Rocky Hill Ranch.   Cranksgiving in January was huge, with a ton of prizes.  We did a big film screening at Oskar Blues. 
 

 

Also, Austin Ridge Riders joined Austin Outside, an umbrella group of organizations (see the other members we with in this list https://www.austinoutside.org/members ). I’ve attended more than 15 meetings this year, the goal being to try see how we can network in local politics/gov’t to get things done.  I’ve also been networking with landscape architecture firms who work in parks, such as RVI, Asakura Robinson, Second Spatial.   We’ve had calls with STORM and GHORBA to compare notes on advocacy. I have one planned with DORBA.   
So, that’s a slice of what’s been going on!

Edited by cmc4130
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On 3/27/2023 at 7:52 AM, Bart said:

I live close to those trails off 51st and we used to ride MX back there in the 90's before the surrounding development. There is alot of potential to build some fun singletrack back there! We sort of gave up trying as soon as the homeless camps arrived and then we figured it would all get developed soon at the rate they're mowing down every piece of land East of 35. Now Ive heard the city bought the land so maybe it might not get developed into condos too soon. The trails being built on the other side of 183 and along the creek are really fun and twisty. I hit them on the gravel bike quite abit.


Yes, that’s right. The City bought it.  The Pecan Springs / Springdale Neighborhood Association and others pushed hard for it to be designated as a Greenbelt.  That effort resulted in this Community Master Plan.

https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Parks/Planning_and_Development/190108-Little_Walnut_Creek_Greenbelt_MP_FINAL_Small.pdf

 We have been advocating with PARD and Austin Parks Foundation to fund a proper Concept Plan / Feasibility Study by IMBA Trail Solutions; it seemed promising at first, but got bogged down a bit—while PARD agrees in principle, they say they’re also concerned it could be outside the scope of the Master Plan.  The plan mentions the poor condition of the existing trails and rated trails as a high community interest—surely that should be enough of a hook to hang a hat on!  They also said they need to see more community engagement; so we hosted a community ride last year.  And I attended and spoke at a Pecan Springs Springdale Neighborhood Association meeting earlier this year.   The other tactic, if PARD and APF don’t do full trail plan, is to break off smaller pieces and use our Community Activated Park Project (CAPP) approval to use grant funds for local trail contractors and volunteers (combined) to fix/re-route/etc certain sections of the trails, one at a time. 
 


 

 

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8 hours ago, cmc4130 said:


Yes, that’s right. The City bought it.  The Pecan Springs / Springdale Neighborhood Association and others pushed hard for it to be designated as a Greenbelt.  That effort resulted in this Community Master Plan.

https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Parks/Planning_and_Development/190108-Little_Walnut_Creek_Greenbelt_MP_FINAL_Small.pdf

 We have been advocating with PARD and Austin Parks Foundation to fund a proper Concept Plan / Feasibility Study by IMBA Trail Solutions; it seemed promising at first, but got bogged down a bit—while PARD agrees in principle, they say they’re also concerned it could be outside the scope of the Master Plan.  The plan mentions the poor condition of the existing trails and rated trails as a high community interest—surely that should be enough of a hook to hang a hat on!  They also said they need to see more community engagement; so we hosted a community ride last year.  And I attended and spoke at a Pecan Springs Springdale Neighborhood Association meeting earlier this year.   The other tactic, if PARD and APF don’t do full trail plan, is to break off smaller pieces and use our Community Activated Park Project (CAPP) approval to use grant funds for local trail contractors and volunteers (combined) to fix/re-route/etc certain sections of the trails, one at a time. 
 


 

 

Ah ok was wondering what happened with the trail development group going forward. We were back there scouting in early March before everything turned green. There is some great terrain for some fun flowy singletrack back there. Would like to help. 

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