Texas

With a state as large as Texas it's difficult to make the decision where to ride. Hit a big city (Dallas, San Antonio, Houston), see the Gulf of Mexico, ride out in the middle of nowhere, or check out Big Bend National Park? I considered all of those options, but in the end I went to the Texan city that I hear cyclists talk about the most- Austin.

My route of choice was the Tour das Hugel route, a difficult ride through the hills of Austin that's been featured on Pez (http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7774). I wasn't doing the official ride, just riding on my own and using the cue sheets from the website.

I flew in to AUS and rented a bike from Bicycle Sport Shop. The price was right and they had the Specialized Roubaix available, which seems to get great reviews. I wanted to see if it would live up to the hype.

The rental bike for the day.

Maybe I'm too picky, but I don't seem to have good luck with rental bikes. This one was dirty and didn't come with a computer. I brought my own pedals, tires, saddle, pump, tools, and bottle cages, but didn't think to bring my own computer. I'm not a slave to the data, but having a computer would have made following the cue sheet easier. On the plus side, the people in the shop seemed nice enough and I got lucky with the seatpost position and didn't have to adjust it at all.

The ride starts at Zilker Park on Stratford under the MoPac. As luck would have it, Stratford was closed, so I had to start somewhere else in the park and got the feeling that I was going to get lost somewhere along the way.

A morning view from SR 360. The picture isn't great, but that's downtown Austin in the background.

The rental bike and Austin.

The first loop (38 miles) went by with no problems. It was mostly rolling hills through residential areas. There were some steep sections, but they were never very long and it was still early, so I felt good.

The second loop was both more scenic and more difficult. I'd say the most difficult part of the day had to be Beauford Dr/Jester Blvd. The climb there was steep and seemed longer than most, plus the grooved pavement added a bit to the difficulty.

Colorado River- early in Loop 2

Beauford Dr- the toughest part of the day.

Mansfield Dam

Mansfield Dam

Big View Dr

I managed to make it through the whole day without getting lost or making any wrong turns. Doesn't sound like much, but that's always an accomplishment for me when I'm going off of a cue sheet in an unfamiliar area. The route itself was great. Traffic was light most of the day and the sections on 360 had more than enough shoulder. I saw quite a few cyclists out there and from the short time I spent there, Austin does seem like a bicycle friendly city. If you're looking for a ride in Texas I don't think you can go wrong with Austin, and I highly recommend the Tour das Hugel route.

Update: I rode through a portion of Texas on my ride across the country in the summer of 2015. Here are links to the relevant days: 12, 13. You can find the Strava Links to the route I used, which is actually safer than it looks because those highways have large shoulders.