This may help a bit too, maupertius:  https://austin.maps.arcgis.com/apps/web … 9%2C102739 (City of Austin bicycle route map)

Thanks, this is very useful and should help me getting out of town safely!

https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes … ntry-loop/

This is a great ride.  It took me 4 or 5 days, but I could have spent longer.  You can also cut it short if you need to for time, and the ACA map shows you how to do that. 

I wrote up my trip on the crazy guy site when I did the ACA Hill Country loop a few weeks after the map first went on sale.  I have some suggestions for improvements.  I rode part of it again this year and posted that on crazy guy too.  I was trying to give some advice to anyone who wants to ride this great route.

Hill Country Loop:

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o= … 17855&v=5f

Hill Country Loop, Revenge of the Hills:

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o= … 21516&v=3J

You could also look at the ACA Southern Tier route that passes through the Hill Country.  The ride from Vanderpool to Camp Wood is not to be missed.

Thanks for your reply Jack. I'll definitely consider looking at the club rides you suggested (assuming I can just turn up and join them for a ride).

The route you suggested looks good, I like the idea of riding to a different town. Another question: is it safe to ride to the countryside from downtown Austin? By this I mean not being forced to ride on main roads where bikes are not allowed. I'll likely be hiring a bike from a downtown shop, so I'll need a safe way to get out (will have a gps with me).

The route is fine--as I mentioned it was laid out in 1976 for this portion of a cross-continental bike ride event.  The roads remain more than good enough.  And as dougmc notes, all roadways are legal for bicycles as for other vehicles except for some limited access highways. 

As for the Bike Austin and Violet Crown group rides, you can go just for the showing up and going and I believe their websites also include route maps (but I must say I can't be sure of that since I haven't looked at the sites in quite some time).
https://bikeaustin.org/rides/
https://violetcrown.org/  -- their Sunday "recovery pace" ride I find enjoyable.  I'm fast enough to hang on, usually, when they are keeping it cool.

That said, riding the countryside is as safe here as it is anywhere.

Don't trust your gps too much -- they'll find you a route, but they will sometimes do stupid things or try to take you on paths that are NOT bicycle friendly.  Even Google Maps screws this up pretty often.

The route you suggested looks good, I like the idea of riding to a different town. Another question: is it safe to ride to the countryside from downtown Austin? By this I mean not being forced to ride on main roads where bikes are not allowed. I'll likely be hiring a bike from a downtown shop, so I'll need a safe way to get out (will have a gps with me).

Bike Austin (you can find online), formerly the Austin Cycling Association, has regular weekend rides with varying routes. 

The Violet Crown cycling club also does regular weekend rides of several different routes -- if you are faster than I am, they are a great group to ride with.  Find them online too. 

We call the area "the hill country" but the many hills here tend not to go so high.  Some are steep, though.