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I am interested in sharing the route I devised from my home off of Circle Drive to South First St. near the river, or even drumming up a fellow rider for the commute.
I have it worked out where I don't ride on 290, William Cannon or anywhere else that is bicycle unfriendly.
Don
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I live off Covered Bridge...im working on a route to Downtown. This morning, made my way to WM Cannon and basically took WM Cannon all the way to Manchaca road to Lamar right on Riverside to Pedestrian bridge over river at 1st street near RunTex.
Next time, Ill probably take WM Cannon to WestGate to Lamar. Lamar has bike lane that starts near Matts El Rancho at Manchacha Rd.
Im working on a way to AVOID WM Cannon as there are no bike lanes at all or any shoulder.
long story short...id love to see the route you came up with!
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I live off Covered Bridge...im working on a route to Downtown. This morning, made my way to WM Cannon and basically took WM Cannon all the way to Manchaca road to Lamar right on Riverside to Pedestrian bridge over river at 1st street near RunTex.
Next time, Ill probably take WM Cannon to WestGate to Lamar. Lamar has bike lane that starts near Matts El Rancho at Manchacha Rd.
Im working on a way to AVOID WM Cannon as there are no bike lanes at all or any shoulder.
long story short...id love to see the route you came up with!
I have ridden on William Cannon -- I did not like it -- particularly coming home in the evening. That's why I came up with alternatives.
I have ridden on Westgate, and there is a short section of it on one of my routes, but as you get further north it is not so good, especially coming home.
Check your PMs, but I just posted what is the fastest, but maybe not the most scenic way. http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/51526436/
I apologize in advance there is a little bit of sidewalk riding, but you will not compete with pedestrians or anything else there -- just scan the occasional driveways.
The section on Manchaca is very short with only one or two driveways.
The first of the two rides I PMed to you have no sidewalk riding at all (except for cutting through Longview Park on a MUP) and avoids ALL heavy traffic.
What is your exact origin and final destination?
When do you leave? I generally leave the house about 5:50 AM, but would be happy to show you one of the rides on a Thursday when I am off work and meet you whenever works for your schedule. As you can see, I go through the Covered Bridge subdivision.
Don
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Route is good. But I stick on Brodie longer and go to Ernest Robles, through Sunset Valley, and just a tiny jaunt on Westgate to Rudd. From there you can hit Banister. Seems better than getting on Manchaca for a short stretch? I think I recall Philco being a bit uphill?
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/51617244
Also, if you want an almost completely off-street route that's wacky and needs a cue sheet the first few times....see:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/51616356
I actually took it a lot when it was 106 degrees coming home, since there was more shade and a bit of complexity to break up the long stretches of heat! Only problem is that since you're coming down Convict Hill, you'd have to go south on Brodie for a block or so to pick up the route, then would have to go back east from Vinson on Casey to pick up Bannister. Probably not worth it...but something to consider if you want to see some different parts of South Austin!
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Route is good. But I stick on Brodie longer and go to Ernest Robles, through Sunset Valley, and just a tiny jaunt on Westgate to Rudd. From there you can hit Banister. Seems better than getting on Manchaca for a short stretch? I think I recall Philco being a bit uphill?
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/51617244
Also, if you want an almost completely off-street route that's wacky and needs a cue sheet the first few times....see:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/51616356I actually took it a lot when it was 106 degrees coming home, since there was more shade and a bit of complexity to break up the long stretches of heat! Only problem is that since you're coming down Convict Hill, you'd have to go south on Brodie for a block or so to pick up the route, then would have to go back east from Vinson on Casey to pick up Bannister. Probably not worth it...but something to consider if you want to see some different parts of South Austin!
Why not Beckett to Convict hill ride #1?
Turning from Convict Hill turning south on Brodie you turn right into a bike lane -- I don't ever stop. It helps that I usually hit this about 6:15 AM!
Paisano trail is a pretty neat road.
I have done the ride to Ernest Robles, but I don't like to ride Brodie any longer than necessary. The stretch on Manchaca is very short and I just use the sidewalk.
I Know that is unacceptable to some and I have no argument -- personal preference. Philco is easy to ride in both directions and has no traffic to speak of any time of day at all.
But I am going to look at the other MapMyRide options and experiment. Don't want to get bored!
Don
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Route is good. But I stick on Brodie longer and go to Ernest Robles, through Sunset Valley
I recommend trying turning on Lovegrass, like Donald recommended, rather than continuing north to Ernest Robles. You avoid the Sunset Valley shopping area traffic, and the trail to Lone Oak is short and passable on a road bike.
Also, if you want an almost completely off-street route that's wacky and needs a cue sheet the first few times....see:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/51616356
I like this route and take it often from the Y to downtown. My only complaint is the pavement quality is terrible on some of the streets! Not just chipseal, which is annoying enough, but lots of scrapes and bumps and ruts. Makes for a rough ride with skinny tires.
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The shortcut to Lone Oak was closed by the neighbor who property it was on a month or two ago. I would be surprised if it has re-opened. However, you can enter the Lovegrass subdivision and take a park trail to Ernest Robles just before Jones Road. There is still no need to ride through shopping center property. Here's a link: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/53177424
And there is no reason to ride on William Cannon when you can take Matthews instead. Alternative to first route: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/40601010
Still wondering who else rides in from the Circle Drive area?
Don
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Aw man, that was a great cut-through. Yeah, I just checked it today, and it's definitely fenced off (in three places!)
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Turns out the property owner who shut it down had his reasons. I came across it shortly after it was shut down and I was staring in disbelief when he saw me and came out of his adjacent home. He turned out to be a customer of my auto repair business! he got on his bike and showed me alternatives. Best is to turn left of off Lovegrass where you see a park path with a bridge. The path is part fine gravel and part paved. You can ride it on a road bike with 23s, although probably not super fast. Can't go real fast because of sharp turns, in any case.
Don
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Care to share his reasons? Trash? Noise? People parking by his house and walking to the Sunset Valley Nature Area trails? Inquiring minds want to know.
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Care to share his reasons? Trash? Noise? People parking by his house and walking to the Sunset Valley Nature Area trails? Inquiring minds want to know.
Too much traffic close to his house. Privacy compromised. He told me there was even a guy that would ride his wheelchair through there, another dude would ride his horse! On top of that, recently the wheelchair and the horse got in a wreck! I am not making this up... This was told to me by the neighbor on the left (if your are on Lone Oak facing the cut-through) and he told me the neighbor on the right was never keen on the path from the beginning. The path was on the left-hand neighbor's property.
So the neighbor on the left shut it down. He was quite apologetic to me about it.
But the park trail to Ernest Robles is fine.
Don
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Experienced Rider but New Commuter
I live near Circle Rd. I live in Granada Hills. My destination is 15th and Lavaca.
I would appreciate any routes and advice you are willing to share. I prefer to ride early - even in the dark - in order to have the streets to myself.
Thanks in advance!
Regards,
David
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I assume you leave your subdivision on El Rey?
I assume you don't have sufficient death wish to want to ride even one mile on 290 -- I know I don't! Therefore, I tweaked my route for your origin (approx.) and destination. http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/126297247 This is not the most direct, but my goal was to avoid all gnarly hostile, heavy traffic situations. Some comments:
The way this is 1mapped, it looks like you ride west on 290 from El Rey to Boling, but there is a little road parallel to 290 that should have been mapped. May have to go a few feet on the shoulder of 290 at each end of that road, but very little. I have never done this, so will check it out next time I drive by.
You go in the back gate of ACC Pinnacle campus through a (steep) service road. Just walk your bike around the gate. Cut through the parking lots and down the driveway that faces Convict Hill Rd. Traffic is never too bad on Convict Hill.
At Brodie north of William Cannon there is no bike lane and I use the sidewalk. There is NEVER anybody on it, so just keep a close eye on the driveways and parking lots and look over your shoulder for people turning in -- even though both are very rare. The sidewalk section is not very long.
You will turn off this sidewalk into the Lovegrass subdivision and then turn on to a nice little park path to Ernest Robles. You will see a little foot bridge. This MUP has very light usage.
When you get to Jones Rd. and Manchaca, HAUL ASS when you get the light, and you will get to your right turn to Lansing before the northbound traffic held back by the traffic light catches up with you.
You may want to take a different street north than Lavaca. I don't know, I only go to South First!
I leave my house at 5:50 and see very little traffic. I get to Once Over Coffee on South First before 7:00. And I am looking forward to riding in the dark again!
Let me know if you would like me to take you on this route some morning. I would be dropping out at 1636 South First. Could meet @ Intersection of El Rey & 290. Except for the different beginning and going on north to 15th and Lavaca, I do this on a regular basis.
Don
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That will work, Donald. But also if you live on El Rey you can simply go over to 1826 and, if you're comfortable with it, haul butt from Gallant Fox across to Twilight Shadows, which leads to Davis. From there Davis all the way to Latta, to Convict Hill to Brodie. (The Circle C Club riders usually take the other end of Gallant Fox and simply cross directly into the Storage Unit drive, which connects to Slaughter. But that puts you on slaughter without the comfort of a bunch of riders, although there's a good sidewalk.)
The City of Austin is just now striping new bike lanes on Brodie north of William Cannon. Hurray! Unfortunately they will only go to the city limits of Sunset Valley (just north of Ben Garza), which previously refused to put in Brodie bike lanes on resurfacing. However, Brodie right there gets REALLY wide in the right lane and there's plenty of space to get to the shopping center at Home Depot Blvd. and cut through it to Ernest Robles.
From there it's a comfortable ride....right on Jones, left through a little residential pocket on W. Wind Trail--let's you cross Westgate fairly easily--straight on to Sagebrush > Western Trails Blvd. > turns into Redd > left on Banister > right on Cardinal > Left on S. 5th all the way to Barton Springs (or you can cut over to Bouldin). Then Barton Springs (which city is installing bike lanes on this fall) to S. 1st and take the lane or ped bridge over the river and then you have sharrows all the way up Lavaca.
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http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/129308477
This is a partly pea gravel, but mostly paved park trail where you will encounter NOBODY nine out of ten times. Nicer than shopping center pkg lots IMHO. Check it out.
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/129311475
Maybe a little less traffic except for one block of Manchaca.
I live north of Circle Drive so I am not really too knowledgeable about getting out of Grenada hills, but what you say makes sense. I will check it out sometime when I am riding down to Slaughter Lane area.
All good!
How soon can we expect the bike lanes on Brodie N. of W Cannon?
Don
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How soon can we expect the bike lanes on Brodie N. of W Cannon?
The Brodie bike lanes are in! Yay! (maybe they've been painted for several days now... but I just noticed tonight)
They do stop at the city limit, a little north of the Lowe's, like damico mentioned. But they look so smooth and inviting :) and amazingly the car lanes don't feel much narrower than before. Can't wait to ride it to the Sunset Valley farmers market tomorrow.
Last edited by owlman (2012-09-07 22:07:30)
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Very nice thread, here.
Thanks for making it happen, Don.
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