San Antonio

[ZOOMZOOM123]

Hey Paceliners,

I'll be moving to San Antonio in June for the next 4 years! I will most likely be living in the Northwest part of city, close to UTHSCSA.

What advice do you have for me?
Best bike shop to work on Campy?
Group rides? I did find the San Antonio Wheelmen's site.

I am always down for a ride and a beer! Thanks in advance. :beer:

[Clancy]

The best riding is out in the hill country, it's actually, in my experience, some of the best riding anywhere. The flip side is that riding anywhere in San Antonio is pretty dangerous. San Antonio is not a bike friendly town, at all. With that said, there is a pretty fantastic network of ever expanding bike paths. However they tend to get crowded with walkers and joggers and aren't really meant for fast pace riding, still good for stretching the legs. Look up San Antonio Greenbelt and that should take you to the city's park and rec site with maps of all the bike paths. But as far as riding on the roads within the city, or out skirts, don't. Greenbelt or head out of the city.

If you're a member check out the bike shop at REI, they're getting a reputation for working on high end bikes. The other shop is Joe's Pro Bikes, a 68 year old bike mech who has been at it for decades, a super one man shop. There's a couple of shops I wouldn't trust with a Wal Mart beater, but I'm not naming names in public.

The Mountain bike riding is pretty spectacular. Lots of trail systems in the city parks as well as a State park within the city limits, plus a number of sites within an hour or two of where you will be.

Guessing it's med school for you?

[bikinchris]

The climate is VERY different from Florida. Very dry. The food is very different. Good BBQ, Guenther house, Schilo's and Tex-Mex. The hills are very much steeper than anything in Florida. I almost fell on my face trying to push my tandem up one hill.
Enjoy.

[texbike]

Check out Britton's Bike Shop and Helotes Bicycles (Hank the owner has a crazy amount of cool, old school iron). Both are great.

As for riding, I don't have any suggestions other than getting one of the local rent-a-bikes, dropping a six pack of a local brew in the basket, and cruising through Southtown and Prince William. Good fun! It's one of the things that I look forward to when I'm down there for conferences.

Texbike

[steelbikerider]

If fast riding/race training is your interest - post on the TXBRA site to find the appropriate rides and place to live. Lots of weekday evening crits in the area. If not racing, lots of charity rides and club rides. be prepared to drive an hour or so to get out of the city on weekends but awesome riding in the hill country.

[ZOOMZOOM123]

Thanks for the shop recommendations everyone. It's surprising that REI made that list, I'll have to check em out.

Having lived in Dallas and Houston most of the my life, I am excited to move back to the country of Lonestar, breakfast tacos, brisket, and kolaches. I am going to UTHSCSA for residency.

Riding within the city is that bad? I rode in downtown Houston plus the neighboring hoods all the time. Sounds like trainer, Hill Country, and Greenbelt for me.

No mountain bike in the stable yet, but have an incoming gravel bike.

Forgot about TXBRA. Will have to revisit.

[Clancy]

Check out Britton's Bike Shop and Helotes Bicycles (Hank the owner has a crazy amount of cool, old school iron). Both are great.

As for riding, I don't have any suggestions other than getting one of the local rent-a-bikes, dropping a six pack of a local brew in the basket, and cruising through Southtown and Prince William. Good fun! It's one of the things that I look forward to when I'm down there for conferences.

Texbike

As I said, there are shops I wouldn't take a Wal Mart beater, but I'm not going to name any names in public

[Clancy]

And it's King William, not Prince William

[txcid05]

Keep me posted! We'll have to get together for a PL ride! I live about 30 miles south of SA there is plenty of nice country to see out here. You'll love it! :D

[texbike]

As I said, there are shops I wouldn't take a Wal Mart beater, but I'm not going to name any names in public

Interesting... :)

And it's King William, not Prince William

Thanks!

Texbike

[Chief]

Joe at Joe's Pro Bikes. He will treat you fairly. He is a couple years older now at 70 years.

[tiretrax]

Britton's is a good shop. I had them rebuild a bike for me when I was in town for a few weeks while my mother was getting a hip re-replaced. They did good work and very reasonably. I also used Bicycle Dreams for a small job when getting a bike repainted. It seemed like a competent store.

When I lived there many years ago, I used to go to Bike World on Broadway. The shop has changed a lot and now has multiple locations, so it might not be that great.

I used to ride out along 1-10 from the medical center to Boerne and up 16 to Helotes and beyond. I don't think that's possible anymore because of traffic. If you do live out in the NW, I'd look for subdivisions where you can climb and descend without much traffic.

I lived inside 1604 off NW Military, in the medical center, and in a fourplex in Olmos Park. While it's tempting to have a short commute, I'd go back to Olmos Park anytime.

[alessandro]

Congratulations on matching. :beer:

[cmg]

from a thread i posted on last year. here's some links. https://www.facebook.com/ChainReactionSA, http://www.sawheelmen.com/home.cfm, http://www.sabikerides.com/ http://www.brittonbikes.com/, https://www.facebook.com/bicycle.heaven.9 on the southside rides happen from Mission san jose tues, thursday (6-6:30pm and sunday (8-9am). near randolph is action bikes https://www.facebook.com/ActionBikes if you like doing centuries there's the shiner bash in May http://shiner.com/shinergasp/in july is the katy flatlands ride https://www.facebook.com/KatyFlatlandCentury it's a blast, totally flat, very little wind. then there's the heat fest that is Hotter than hell http://www.hh100.org/2015-hottern-hell-hundred/ weekend emersion in all things cycling. If you are here in april the wildflower fiesta will happen on april 26th http://www.fiestawildflower.com/wf-gen-info.htm. to do a ride with a more community feel try david's ride http://www.davidsride.com/ rolling through small town texas with plenty of rollers in the lovely texas heat. done it about 6 times. what fun. from the bike texas site http://bicycleridestexas.com/ summer will start in about a week and last till November, enjoy the heat. ..