Places to cycle in the Dallas/Fort Worth area

[nesteel]

Spending the weekend in the DFW area, and looking for a route for roadbiking.
Any areas I should avoid? Recommended routes?

Thanks.

[KJMUNC]

paging firerescuefin.....he's the local expert.

Big question is are you going to be in Dallas or Fort Worth? Or someone in between? They're actually two distinctly different cities, not close like Minneapolis/St. Paul....they're a good 30mi apart, mostly filled in between with suburbs and industrial parks, but still far apart.

I spent a lot of time in FTW and find the riding west of time pretty nice. If you have time and can get out there it's a nice area to ride open country roads. never have ridden in the Dallas area, so can't comment around there.

[11.4]

Dallas: For simplicity's sake, there's White Rock Lake. It's a great loop and at the north end you can go up the White Rock Trail for several miles. Right now we've had some heavy rain and parts of that trail are flooded, however. For a no-hassle weekend, doing a few laps of White Rock will probably encounter lots of racers and others getting in shape for spring.

That gives you the basic solution within town. If you can get outside, head out from Flowermound. Nice roads, decent drivers, nice scenery. Frisco is about the edge of the congestion on the north side, and there are plenty of good rides leaving from Richardson Bike Mart in Frisco, from Cadence Cyclery in Allen, and other shops on the north side. The riding in Dallas tends to be more shop centric than in most towns, with strong sponsorship support from pretty much all the shops. It's a great thing going here.

Fort Worth: You have hundreds of miles of rolling rural hills west of town, and there are hundreds of beautiful destinations within a short drive. Glen Rose, for example. It's been a very mild winter and the amazing Texas wildflower displays are coming out early this year. This weekend is a bit too early for the best displays, but you'll see some if you head towards the southwest from Fort Worth.

Hundreds (thousands) of routes here. Be aware that Dallas riders seem to like longer distances than in some other parts of the country.

[nesteel]

Thanks for the replies. Going to give White Rock a chance tomorrow. I'm staying in Irving for the next two days, so Dallas and Fort Worth really aren't much of a drive at all, in either direction. Going to see if I can get some riding in up around Gainsville/Lake Kiowa on Sunday.

[Dallez]

The White Rock Lake loop is approximately 10 +/- miles depending on which roads/trails you take. So if you want a 30mi ride, do 3 laps.

I haven't done this ride so I can't comment on it, but if you are looking for an organized event in the area this weekend, there is the Spring Fever Bike Rally in Sulphur Springs, TX (http://www.wheelbrothers.com/spring-fever-bike-rally-2015/) about 80 minutes NE of Dallas.

[jmoore]

The best 30 mile loop from White Rock is to take the Santa Fe Trail down to Deep Ellum, ride through downtown Dallas and pick up the Katy Trail north. Cut across at McCommas which will bring you back to White Rock Lake.

Here's the last time I did that route.

https://www.strava.com/activities/493787507