Hi, I'm a new road rider and I'm interested in finding a beginner group ride in Austin. Any suggestions? Do you have a favorite route to ride? Any information will help.

Thanks

Hi, I'm a new road rider and I'm interested in finding a beginner group ride in Austin. Any suggestions? Do you have a favorite route to ride? Any information will help.

Thanks

I can't answer the group ride question, but some easy routes I can think of include:
If you're south, the Mopac/Veloway Loop. Head down to the veloway, south on Mopac, next light past Slaughter, turn left. It's a 3 mile loop reserved for wheeled activities. Great place to get comfortable on the bike. There's parking and it's free. Once you have some comfort, you can head south on Mopac from there on the shoulder (wide) there are plenty of cyclists out there. Mopac ends at 1826, loop around and come back.

North:
Parmer lane comes to mind. I think it goes through now, so from Mopac, head West.

Check the local bike shops they'll have group info. I know that some groups do leave from the veloway, but not sure of level/timing.

Cheers!

Can anyone else help with this one?

They have rides of various lengths every weekend, both in the north Austin and south Austin areas. The ride coordinators are very helpful and provide maps for each ride. I called one a week in advance as I was coming down to visit the in-laws. I'm from the Ft Worth area, and they were happy to have me along as a guest. Very nice people!

Good luck!

http://www.austincycling.org/rides.html

I only ride Parmer early on Sunday mornings if I can help it. There's lots of glass and debris on the shoulder, the speed limit is 60 (so of course people go 70) and the shoulder becomes the right turn lane every few miles until you get past 1431. If you can deal with all that great, but be careful. I've heard of at least 2 accidents where cyclists ended up in the hospital while riding on Parmer. There's lots of cyclists out on Sunday mornings though.

If you're in North Austin and can drive out to Bertram/Oatmeal/Liberty Hill you'll find much less stressful riding -- just have to watch out for guys in pickups. Much better scenery too! Watch for Austin Cycling Association for the Milmoor's Man ride, it's fun!

Hope this helps,
Lisa

2 of my favorite rides are Old San Antonio Rd south from Akins High School; and Creek Rd in Dripping Springs. Park at the middle school. It is not easy to cross the street, but after that you will see more bikes then cars. When you get bold, you can cut over in Henley and go all the way to Pederdales Falls and on to Johnson City. That is a serious ride, about 60 miles with a lot of hills. Creek rd itself is only 19 miles round trip with few hills but great scenery.
Ols San Antonio has similar options. You can take it all the way to San Marcos or Just turn around in Buda.
Also from Akins High you can go down Slaughter to the 35 access road for 2 exits and go to Creedmoor. It is about a 30 mile trip with some rolling hills.
Here is a good site with some maps from the Hill Country Ride for AIDS
http://www.hillcountryride.org/site/PageServer?pagename=TrainingMaps