We plan to ride out to the Maker Faire the weekend
of Oct. 20-21, and wanted to check in with you guys on route info. Its on
decker lane at Walter E Long Lake/Park.

I found this - http://bicycleaustin.info/getaround/route-elgin.html
Which has some good info - but was wondering if anyone has ridden out this
way recently and can comment on a good route from central austin.

I have a friend who wants to bike from Pflugerville (say the corner of
Heatherwilde and the Pflugerville Loop) to the Whole Foods in Gateway
Plaza. I've done this ride once or twice and can offer suggestions, but
maybe someone who lives in the area has some specific suggestions for
the best way to go without getting run over?

I would like to ride to Kealing Middle School (1607 Pennsylvania Ave.)
with my daughter and I would like to figure out the lowest stress way to
ride there (i.e. least traffic hazards as a first priority, followed by
least potholes and other obstructions). I don't mind riding more distance
for a better route.

I know the best way to 34th and Speedway. How do I proceed from there?

I'm guessing it is best to cross 35 on 26th/Dean Keaton, then drop back to
Leona (perhaps on 22nd) and take it South to the school. If you know the
area, please feel free to give me advice about a better way to go. Like
"Go right on XXX, turn left on YYY, etc."

The trip will be during early rush hour and returning in the early afternoon.

If you ride Dean Keaton to cross over, I would suggest taking a right at Red
River and riding over to Manor Road and crossing there. The Dean Keaton way
past Red River is not awful - but can be a little stressful as traffic speed
seems higher and people are entering into the right lane to merge onto the
access road to get to IH35.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1096693

Also note: you could avoid Dean Keaton and ride through Campus. Speedway to
E 24th to San Jacinto Blvd to E 23rd to Robert Dedman Dr to Manor and
across. I've not done this - might need to test it out. Course riding
through campus isn't always a picnic either. But traffic is slow moving.

Depending on where you are starting from, you could also consider riding
over to Hancock Shopping Center, you can exit the shopping center on the
IH35 side and cross under (by Sears, there is a light) then, on the other
side cut through the parking lot of what used to a Outdoor store or Academy
(heading south). This puts you on Wilshire Blvd. Take that up to Cherrywood
Rd and that's a nice ride over also. Neighborhood, tree cover, low traffic
and wide streets.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1096700

Hope this helps some. Have fun riding....

One nice thing about gmap-pedometer is the little
graphic about elevation

This map
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1096693
has a valley near San Jacinto and Dean Keaton and then
another valley at Kealing

whereas
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1099413
which goes 34th to Harris to 32nd to Lafayette
has only one valley at Kealing

I don't know which is more pleasant or safe or
whatever, but they illustrate how nice the elevation
graphic can be.

I am considering commuting from my home in Lost Creek (Bee Caves and 360) to 7700 W. Parmer Lane @ Anderson Mill Road (closer to 620 than MoPac). This is an 18.5 mile route. I am interested in a hybrid route that might include some Capital Metro riding. What is the safest route north? I will be commuting M-F, early morning to early evening hours.

Well, this aint pretty, but maybe you could find a few clues in here...


http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1122727


Anyway, that's how I would ride the entire route. Not sure exactly
what bus routes you might be able to take advantage of.

If you want a hybrid route, you could bike downtown to pick up one of
the NW routes to the Pavilion Park & Ride (near Jollyville & Oak
Knoll) to pick up Lane's route from there. (You don't have to
backtrack through Riata like Lane shows but you did say "safest".)

It's too bad there's no bus along 360!

I was wondering if you had any suggestions on the safest route from William Cannon and Westgate to the Barton Creek mall. I am trying to start riding to work but it all looks a bit dangerous. Thanks I appreciate any suggestions.

As far as riding to The Domain goes, there really are no great routes
connecting The Domain or Gateway areas. If you are coming from the
south, riding north east of Metric might get you to Gracyfarms where
you can turn west to Gault which enters the Domain on its north-east
side. If coming from the north, you have to ride on Burnet for a
little bit. Once in the Domain the speed limit is 25 so sharing the
road or taking a lane is no problem.

Following is actually from Austin's Bicycle map.
I've taken the roads west of I35 some and all seem fine to me. Not sure about Cameron, but it is a short section.

45th East to Red River.
North on Red River to 51st
East on 51st to Berkman
North on Berkman to Coronado Hills
West on Coronado Hills to Cameron
North on Cameron to Rutherford.

Is there a safe way to get from NW Austin to Bastrop via Elgin?

I've been patiently waiting for Google, Mapquest, and Yahoo to update their maps. If you venture off the beaten path out East, you risk winding up at the end of a long dead-end into SH130. A lot of the popular cycling routes for ACA and the UT cycling club have been impacted around the Manor/Pflugerville area.
Right now, some good places to cross it are:
1. Parmer Lane (underpass)
2. Nez Perce Trace off HW 973 (they've almost completed the permanent replacement which will involve using the 973 bridge. Currently this bridge has no shoulder though.
3. 290 (it ain't purty, but there is a wide shoulder that will take you across 130.

From Steck & Mesa, it looks like I have two choices, according to the Austin Bike Map

(1) THE NORTH ROUTE: Hyridge, Mountain Ridge, Arboretum, Jollyville
(2) THE SOUTH ROUTE: Spicewood Springs, Bluffstone, Bluegrass, Lost
Horizon, Fire Oak, Barrington.

Which route is safer?

Maybe this would work? I have only ridden the part
through Old Bee Caves, so someone else would have to
confirm the rest or you would have to drive it
beforehand. You would especially want to make sure
that there is a light at Fletcher and 71 and adequate
shoulder on that part of 71 and 290. This route would
be hilly.
-Kristen

620 through Lakeway
71 Left
2244 Left
Barton Creek Right
Turns into Travis Cook
Cross SW Pkwy
Old Bee Caves Left
Fletcher Right
71 Left
Silvermine Right
Scenic Brook Left
Oak Meadow Right
290 Right

Now back to the question. I always take the Ben White Service Road to
Lamar and head north using Lamar till I get to the Pfluger bridge at
Riverside.

Map

I'm comfortable going at a decent clip with traffic on South Lamar
descending to the river. As they say, "Your mileage may vary." I only
use Lamar going downhill (north) where it's possible to haul buns downhill.

If you're looking for a more serene route (with shade too), continue
past Lamar on the service road crossing Ben White at Banister. Take a
left (North) onto Garden Villa which eventually leads you to South 5th
which you can take all the way to Barton Springs Road.

When returning up hill back to Oak Hill, I always use this South 5th,
Garden Villa, Banister route.

And since serene is the operative concept, it's possible to avoid Ben
White altogether if you take Jones Road, there's a connecting street
from the strip mall area on Brodie at Ben White that goes behind Burger
Center to Westgate and then you hop over to the the street behind
Central Market taking that to Banister, crossing Ben White (as above)
and continue the Garden Villa, South 5th & so forth.

Map

That said, I usually just take the more direct route, the feeder road on
Ben White, rather than Jones Road.

All sorts of ways to get to downtown from the town lake. I'll leave that
to you...

I am definitely no expert on S. Austin routes, but looking at a map, it looks like there's lots of connectivity in some of those neighborhoods. For example, it looks to me like one could get across Slaughter either via Gail -> Briar Ridge, or via Curfew. Then, I might consider crossing W. Cannon via West Gate (although I don't know what traffic's like on West Gate -- or any of these streets, for that matter). Finally, I'd probably cross Ben White via Banister, then take Banister around to take a left on Garden Villa, then jump over to S. 5th street. From there, it's pretty much straight north to Barton Springs (5th becomes Dawson). I usually hang a left on Barton Springs and then take a right just before Lamar. Cross via the Pfluger bike/ped bridge, ride the hike/bike trail to maybe 100 yards to the trail heading north, up Shoal Creek. Then, I hop onto West and head north. From there, there are several surface street routes, or you can jump onto the SCB trail/sidewalk and head up parallel to Lamar all the way to the hospitals.

>From Dawson north, I can attest that the routes aren't that bad, for the most part. Pretty nice, especially if the weather's nice.

The two times I went on long rides out of town to the south, I used
Manchaca for a good chunk of the southern part of Austin. There's a long
stretch with very wide striped shoulders - and north of that, you have the
option to hop over to Emerald Forest (route 31) which was really nice.
Stassney was a good connector, but I think that some of Manchaca south of
Stassney reverts to 4 narrow lanes with no shoulder.

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/bicycle/d2s.htm

Lane's comments about Route 31 between Ben White and the river are spot-on
as usual. A very nice ride overall.

Let's say we start at Seton Hospital, since getting there to/from UT/downtown is about the same for either route.

"Woodrow route": 9.6 miles
http://tinyurl.com/q3d7f
From 38th St, take Medical Pkwy north.
Cross 45th onto Burnet Rd.
R on Woodrow Ave.
(You can even avoid the short distance on Burnet by taking 44th to Ramsey Ave
to 49th to Woodrow, which should only add maybe a quarter mile.)
Cross Anderson Ln.
Woodrow Ave becomes Wooten Park Dr.
R on Teakwood Dr.
R on Shadowood Dr.
R on Ohlen Rd.
R on Contour Dr.
L on Fairfield Dr.
Cross under 183.
L on Parkfield Dr.
Cross Payton Gin, Rundberg, Rutland, Kramer, and Braker.
R on Bittern Hollow.
L on Gracy Farms Ln.
L into IBM.

"SCB route": 11.2 miles
http://tinyurl.com/ndyde
From 38th St, take Medical Pkwy north.
L on 39 1/2 St.
R on Shoal Creek Blvd.
L on Steck Ave.
R on Robbie Dr.
L on Hyridge Dr.
R on Mesa Dr.
L on Jollyville Rd.
Cut across large dirt-covered area to Loop 360.
Cross 360 at 183.
Cut across field/parking lots to the Arboretum.
Through Arboretum parking lots.
R on Jollyville Rd.
R on Balcones Woods Dr.
L on Santa Cruz Dr.
R on Duval Rd.
Cross Mopac.
L on Mopac access road / Gracy Farms Ln.
R into IBM.

I've mapped these out with the main goal to stay off of Burnet, Braker, 183, and Metric as much as possible, since those are all pretty intimidating roads for an inexperienced cyclist (and frankly, Duval's not all that fun, but at least it has a sidewalk if the traffic is really too heavy). If you can find a shorter route between those two general locations, I really would be very eager to see it.

And just to be thorough, taking Burnet straight there is about 7.3 miles. So from that standpoint, both routes are certainly out of the way.

I am seeking a safe, roadie friendly route to Cedar Park from essentially downtown Austin. It looks like you can get on 360 and then take some back roads to Cedar Park and avoid 183. This route is for a charity ride I am helping to organize so it's not just for one rider but a few hundred (hopefully). I've got access to all of the ACA maps but didn't see anything that goes to Cedar Park. Thanks for any help.

What some of us do is take the "Tumbleweed Hill by-pass":

North on 620
Turn right onto Four Points (after HEB)
Turn right onto River Place
Turn Left onto Big View
Turn Left onto Narrow Ridge
Turn Left onto Westminster Glen
Turn left onto City Park*
Turn right onto 2222**

* Newly surfaced road, traffic not TOO fast or heavy. Narrow shoulder for about two miles then, on the long desect, take your lane but watch for sharp turn to left at the bottom of hill. :eek:

** wide shoulder, low stress. :cool:

I work on the South frontage of mopac just North of
Hyridge. As I'm coming from near Anderson Lane on the
East side of Mopac, I find that I spend 90% of my time
riding sidewalks crossing and along Mopac (facing
traffic, as the frontage has only one side sidewalked)
to get to work. Should I ride on the road? It seems
hair-raising!! Those cars drive 50+ mph. Even
crossing at Anderson or Steck those cars are going
40+. How do you guys keep from getting hit by side
mirrors in this area??