Austin

[bigman]

Headed there later this week for a few days - want to get a few hours of riding in - any paceliners nearby to recommend where to rent or better yet to escort me for a ride - need about a 62 road bike.
I have been told the nearby countryside is fantastic riding.
Thanks

[Rafa]

Howdy! I'll give this a try, I'm sure others will chime in. Seems like the 'goto' bike shops would be Mellow Johnny's and Bicycle Sport Shop. There's other great ones as well, but these seem to be the big guys. Both offer rentals.

I would like to offer a ride, but I'm working too much these days, unless you're here Sunday morning. I know that Mellow Johnny's has a chalkboard with a list of weekly rides, both during the week and the weekend.

If you're here on a Tuesday, I recommend the Bike Night at Circuit of the Americas, where you can pay $20 to ride the track along with a bunch of other people. Good fun, amazing surface/track.

If you're here on a Thursday, there's a cool racing series that goes on: drivewayseries.com --I'm not a racer, but went to go watch a race last year and it was fun.

What else, Austinites?

Originally Posted by bigman

Headed there later this week for a few days - want to get a few hours of riding in - any paceliners nearby to recommend where to rent or better yet to escort me for a ride - need about a 62 road bike.
I have been told the nearby countryside is fantastic riding.
Thanks

[texbike]

Originally Posted by bigman

Headed there later this week for a few days - want to get a few hours of riding in - any paceliners nearby to recommend where to rent or better yet to escort me for a ride - need about a 62 road bike.
I have been told the nearby countryside is fantastic riding.
Thanks

Welcome to Austin! You're going to be here during a fantastic time of the year and the end of this week is forecast to be beautiful.

What part of town are you staying in? What kind of riding do you like to do?

The local countryside CAN be beautiful- especially this time of year with all of the wildflowers. The only problem is that the "local countryside" keeps getting pushed further and further away as Austin continues to develop.

Originally Posted by Rafa

Howdy! I'll give this a try, I'm sure others will chime in. Seems like the 'goto' bike shops would be Mellow Johnny's and Bicycle Sport Shop. There's other great ones as well, but these seem to be the big guys. Both offer rentals.

I would like to offer a ride, but I'm working too much these days, unless you're here Sunday morning. I know that Mellow Johnny's has a chalkboard with a list of weekly rides, both during the week and the weekend.

If you're here on a Tuesday, I recommend the Bike Night at Circuit of the Americas, where you can pay $20 to ride the track along with a bunch of other people. Good fun, amazing surface/track.

If you're here on a Thursday, there's a cool racing series that goes on: drivewayseries.com --I'm not a racer, but went to go watch a race last year and it was fun.

What else, Austinites?

Wow! This is the perfect list. MJ's is probably your best option for rentals. Plus, it's a neat shop to visit. As Rafa points out, they have a list of weekly rides that are usually well-managed. Sport Shop also has rentals and rides and has multiple locations around town. Given that you're looking for a 62 cm, you may want to give both shops a call to see what options are available.

In addition to the rides out of MJs and Sport Shop, there is also the local Cycling Meet Up group that has a list of rides each week - https://www.meetup.com/Austin-Cycling-Meetup/ .

Depending on when you're here, what part of town you're in, and the time(s) that you would like to ride, I may be able to squeeze a ride in and show you around.

Cheers,

Texbike

[bigman]

Thanks all - staying at the Platform Apartments on East MLK Blvd- reached out to Mellow Johnys - they have what I need. Hoping to get a few hours in one morning - want to go out the countryside - what's the best direction to head - I am sure the bike shop will have suggestions but never hurts to ask.

[VC Slim]

Originally Posted by bigman

Thanks all - staying at the Platform Apartments on East MLK Blvd- reached out to Mellow Johnys - they have what I need. Hoping to get a few hours in one morning - want to go out the countryside - what's the best direction to head - I am sure the bike shop will have suggestions but never hurts to ask.

I'd suggest going out to the eastside via the Walnut Creek Trail. The trail goes northeast towards Decker Lake and terminates on Lindell Ln. From there you can take Blue Bluff Rd either north to the city of Manor or south and loop back to Manor via Bloor Rd/Hwy 973/Gilbert Rd/Nez Pearce Trace/Taylor Ln/Parsons Rd/Littig Rd.

Have a great ride and enjoy the abundant wildflowers.

[Rafa]

Originally Posted by bigman

Thanks all - staying at the Platform Apartments on East MLK Blvd- reached out to Mellow Johnys - they have what I need. Hoping to get a few hours in one morning - want to go out the countryside - what's the best direction to head - I am sure the bike shop will have suggestions but never hurts to ask.

So when are you going to be here?

[William]

Originally Posted by bigman

Headed there later this week for a few days - want to get a few hours of riding in - any paceliners nearby to recommend where to rent or better yet to escort me for a ride - need about a 62 road bike.
I have been told the nearby countryside is fantastic riding.
Thanks

One person in Austin though not quite the size you are looking for...but maybe someone will see your post and join the list?

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=215340





W.

[bigman]

I had searched that post - I'll be arriving late Wednesday and returning late sunday.

[texbike]

Originally Posted by VC Slim

I'd suggest going out to the eastside via the Walnut Creek Trail. The trail goes northeast towards Decker Lake and terminates on Lindell Ln. From there you can take Blue Bluff Rd either north to the city of Manor or south and loop back to Manor via Bloor Rd/Hwy 973/Gilbert Rd/Nez Pearce Trace/Taylor Ln/Parsons Rd/Littig Rd.

Have a great ride and enjoy the abundant wildflowers.

This probably is your best choice. The trail head for the Walnut Creek Trail (it's a path) is just East of where you're staying. It'll keep you out of traffic until you get out to the Manor area. Once you're out there, you can ride on (mostly) empty roads East (toward Elgin)/South/Southeast from there. Nothing too steep, but nice rolling country side. There are more developments going in all the time, so the traffic during the week may be busy. Stay North of 969 if possible. If you want to go North/Northeast of Manor, the world really opens up into lots of open County roads.

Originally Posted by bigman

I had searched that post - I'll be arriving late Wednesday and returning late sunday.

I may be able to do a ride with you early Saturday if you're interested.

Texbike

[Rafa]

I’m open Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning if you’d like to plan on a ride.

[simplemind]

Don't know if you're into gravel riding but there's a great ride this weekend called The Wire Donkey, east of austin about an hour's drive. Here is a facebook link.

[dmurphey]

Originally Posted by bigman

Thanks all - staying at the Platform Apartments on East MLK Blvd- reached out to Mellow Johnys - they have what I need. Hoping to get a few hours in one morning - want to go out the countryside - what's the best direction to head - I am sure the bike shop will have suggestions but never hurts to ask.

CyclEast is closer to where you are staying. They are a super nice bike shop. You can ride the Walnut creek trail from where you are staying. To get in a good ride in the country you can drive to Dripping Springs, park at the Pioneer bank and ride to Wimberley. Or drive to Liberty Hill and ride to Burnet. Or drive to Manor and ride to Elgin. There are routes on Strava. If you are fast then meet up at Melow Johnnies for the club rides, see the website for info.

[bigman]

All if this is gEtting me a bit stoked!
Kind of still unsure of my schedule but given the above - going to try for Saturday morning
Ill send you folks my cell number
Just a bit of a caveat i’m nursing a foot tendon issue that’s definitely improving
But definitely want to ride w you
Whats the estimated mileage of some of these routes??
Thx again

[texbike]

Originally Posted by dmurphey

CyclEast is closer to where you are staying. They are a super nice bike shop. You can ride the Walnut creek trail from where you are staying. To get in a good ride in the country you can drive to Dripping Springs, park at the Pioneer bank and ride to Wimberley. Or drive to Liberty Hill and ride to Burnet. Or drive to Manor and ride to Elgin. There are routes on Strava. If you are fast then meet up at Melow Johnnies for the club rides, see the website for info.

I'm not really a fan of driving to rides, but it really does open up the options if you want to ride on empty(r) country roads. Another great place to park and ride is Coupland which is about 30 minutes Northeast of Austin. Or even Taylor. Either option opens up an incredible amount of open 1.5-2 lane County roads through nice, rolling terrain. Finish by 10 and head over to Snow's BBQ in Lexington for lunch. Be sure to be there by 11 - it's been the top-rated BBQ place in Texas for several years and is only open on Saturdays.

Originally Posted by bigman

All if this is gEtting me a bit stoked!
Kind of still unsure of my schedule but given the above - going to try for Saturday morning
Ill send you folks my cell number
Just a bit of a caveat i’m nursing a foot tendon issue that’s definitely improving
But definitely want to ride w you
Whats the estimated mileage of some of these routes??
Thx again

You can ride as far as you want. The routes are all different, but you can always turn around or take a short cut back to the start. I guess the real question is what kind of mileage and pace are you looking for?

Texbike