Our contribution to Adventure Cycling’s cross-country map through Central Texas

Last update: 2002

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I used the great cross-country maps by Adventure Cycling when doing some long bike trips.  (El Paso > Austin, and Austin > Louisiana)  Doing so, I realized I could make a big improvement to the Central Texas portion of their maps, since my route goes through Austin (which most riders would want to do), versus Adventure’s map in which Austin was just an “option” for which riders would have to double-back nearly 60 miles roundtrip total to visit.  I sent them my map and I was excited that they adopted my route for the next version of their map (Southern Tier, Map A, Booklet #4).

[In 2025, I noticed that they now use an entirely different, third route, but their new route goes through too Austin ust like mine, so I’m still happy that I got Adventure on the path of having their Southern Tier route go straight through our city.]

My map has you take S. 1st St., but on further reflection S. Congress Ave. is probably a better choice.  It’s about a mile west of S. 1st, and runs parallel to it.  Here's the easiest way to get to it, going northbound.  For southbound, reverse the instructions.

• Go North on S. 1st
• Take the 1st right after Slaughter Lane, which is Ralph Ablenado (named after a police officer killed in the line of duty, I'm told)
• Slaughter runs right into S. Congress

The old Adventure Cycling route

The old AC map had cyclists bypass Austin by cruising west to east at about 25 miles below Austin, and suggested that if you wanted to visit Austin you take a "spur" route into Austin when you get to Bastrop.

But that means you would have to do the spur twice — once into Austin, and once back out to Bastrop.  Between the doubling back and the longer Adventure Cycling route to Bastrop in the first place, this adds 57.2 miles to your trip (vs. taking our route into Austin). In fact, our route is so efficient that even if you hadn't planned on going into Austin at all, going through Austin anyway with our route will add only six miles total to your trip!

The other problem with going between Austin and Bastrop twice is that the riding on that route isn't so great, with vehicles passing at insane speeds on a narrow roadway with no paved shoulder. You'll do that once with our route, but with Adventure Cycling's old spur you'll do it twice.

To take our route, just leave the old Adventure Cycling route at 150 & 2770 near Kyle, Texas and head north 25 miles into Austin. Once you've had your fun in Austin, you can continue on the Adventure Cycling route by taking the spur directly from Austin to Bastrop. You'll be taking the red line in our map. (The reason the red line also goes south of 150 is that this map also serves as a route between Austin and San Marcos.)

Adventure Cycling's new Map A is mostly like our map except starting at Slaughter Lane they have you take Congress Avenue instead of S. 1st Street.  On further reflection, Congress is probably the better choice.  It's not depicted on our map, but it's easy to find: Congress is about a mile east of S. 1st, and runs parallel to it. The easiest way to get to it, going northbound, is:

• Go North on S. 1st
• Take the 1st right after Slaughter Lane, which is Ralph Ablenado (named after a police officer killed in the line of duty, I'm told)
• Slaughter runs right into S. Congress

Once you're in Austin, you might benefit from:

• Bicycle maps of Austin
• Mini-Map of Austin
• Guide to getting around Austin
• Mini-Guide to Austin