Bicycle Austin forum

moebevo

Member

Registered: 2019-05-11

Posts: 2

Round Rock commute to downtown Austin. Route ideas please!

I have ridden once from 5th and Red River to my home in Round Rock, as an experiment, and enjoyed it.  I kinda just picked my way, making it up as I went along. So, I am now going to do it once a week, and was wondering if there was a route that anyone would recommend. I work 10am to 7 pm most times...so I'd need to probably leave the house no later than 8:00am. I can ride my road bike or my MTB...if anyone has any short cutting ideas, etc. I would love to hear them.
Thanks!
Brad

RedFalcon

Member

Registered: 2013-10-10

Posts: 233

Re: Round Rock commute to downtown Austin. Route ideas please!

I live at Parmer / Mopac and commute to La Frontera. Not sure which side of Round Rock you are on, and I35 is a huge barrier, but if you can get to La Frontera, you can get to Metric/Lamplight or Metric/Lamplight easily enough.  From there you can make your way down Parkfield.

From Lamplight Village / Parmer going north, follow this:
1. North on Lamplight Village across Scofield Ridge. LV will bend right and put you at a T intersection at Campesina. Turn left, which brings you to a cul-de-sac, but there is a gap between houses on the left.  Go through that gap ( I call these kinds of routes - wormholes). Turn right and run north along the fence line until you see a paved road to your left.  Take that to the intersection with Avenue N.
2. Now you are in Kings Village.  Keep going north on Pansy Trail and turn left onto Daisy Drive and go up the hill. (Avoid Gardenia Drive unless you like being chased by pitbulls)  After you climb the hill you will pass a Tree trimming business. Just on the west side there is another wormhole trail that leads to the intersection of Howard Lane and Thomas Sinclair Blvd. Take Thomas Sinclair north.  (All of this keeps you off Howard Lane)
3. Thomas Sinclair T intersections with Wells Branch Drive.  In the morning, going north, I ride Wells Branch west to Single Trace > Merriltown > Bratton.
4. Take Bratton Lane north to Sauls.  Turn left on Sauls and take the first right on Crissom. Turn left on Grand Avenue.

Next, you can either turn right on Pearson and back up to Bratton (avoiding the deadman curves), or stay on Grand Avenue to Quick Hill Road.  Take a right on Quick Hill which turns in to CR 172 after it crosses 1325.  you could turn right here onto 1325 and head straight into La Frontera, but if traffic is heavy, just stay on CR 172.  Once I pass the 45 overpass I take the sidewalk a short way to the top of that hill and my office is close to that.  Or, you could stay on CR 172 into RR.  The section of CR 172 I ride between 1325 and 45 has a shoulder for half of it. 

You could also take Wells Port from Sauls to make your way to Thermal/Metric.  If you use the Wells Branch trail system, there is a tunnel under WB just west of Thermal, and a trail system you can take to avoid Thermal.

There are lots of variations, but the main thing is that you do NOT need to ride on 1325.

Hope this helps.

Last edited by RedFalcon (2019-05-14 07:39:56)

RedFalcon

Member

Registered: 2013-10-10

Posts: 233

Re: Round Rock commute to downtown Austin. Route ideas please!

The North Austin Ride of Silence follows parts of the route I was describing.  Join us at 6:455pm at Bratton Square on Wednesday 5/15 and you can ride a lot of it.

moebevo

Member

Registered: 2019-05-11

Posts: 2

Re: Round Rock commute to downtown Austin. Route ideas please!

The North Austin Ride of Silence follows parts of the route I was describing.  Join us at 6:455pm at Bratton Square on Wednesday 5/15 and you can ride a lot of it.

Thanks for the detailed response...we live on 620 and Oakland...I am trying to figure out a way to get to Downtown Austin from my house that is both quick and efficient.
Thanks!

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,455

Website

Re: Round Rock commute to downtown Austin. Route ideas please!

Thank you very much for helping out, Red!

RedFalcon

Member

Registered: 2013-10-10

Posts: 233

Re: Round Rock commute to downtown Austin. Route ideas please!

From 620 / Oakland I would ride east through the back of the business center that is on north side of 620.  Cross at the light onto Deep Wood drive and head south.  You can either stay on it all the way to McNeil, or part way you can jump onto the Round Rock West Greenbelt trail.  I used to have to do this to get back from a series of Dr appointments years ago.   Seems like that trail had speed bumps on it, but maybe I'm wrong.

Once you get to McNeil, head south on CR 172.  It is not the funnest place to ride, but at least it is four lanes.

Option 1: Stay on CR 172 until it crosses over 1325 and turns into Quickhill and then turn left on Grand Avenue.  Go east on Grand Avenue for .28 miles and turn right (south) onto Cadoz Drive.  Turn left on Shoreline Drive to hook back up to Bratton.   From there, follow the instructions I posted before - but in reverse.

Option 2:

Get off CR 172 at 1/2 mile turning east on Hesters Crossing, then Sundance Parkway, then La Frontera.  If you go this way you will want to turn east on the 45 feeder to Parker Drive and then turn right (south).  Don't try and ride on 1325.  From Parker Drive 1/3 mile to Jarret way which turns into Michael Angelo Way.  Next, head south on Bratton for another 1/3 mile.  Keep going straight at the new road "Pearson'.  This will intersect Grand Avenue (new section).  Turn south on Crissom, left (east) on Sauls, and you are back at Bratton without getting killed on the 'deadmans curves'.   Take Bratton South.    From there, follow the instructions I posted before - but in reverse.

If you don't already use it, check out mapmyride.com.  I have found that the satellite images here are more up to date than on google maps. Also it lets you measure routes. 

If you can do it, I recommend leaving before rush hour traffic.  I leave from Parmer / Mopac at 0545 and get to La Frontera / Hesters Crossing in about 30 minutes and probably only cross paths with about 10 cars the whole way.  The worst part is the last mile on CR 172, but even that isn't too bad usually, but stay off 1325.  I have tried riding 1325 and the stress just isn't worth it to me.  The speeds are easily 60+mph and there is no shoulder. The traffic tends to platoon, so even if the front driver changes lanes to pass you the guy behind him wont see you until the last second.

Also, check out Cap Metro route 50 and 52 in Round Rock and Redline train at Howard for multi-mode options.

Last edited by RedFalcon (2019-05-30 18:10:22)