New Tuesday Nighter Course

Earlier this year Austin cyclists started experimenting with new courses for the Tuesday Nighter after a bad accident (with a car...everyone was okay). We ended up settling on the following new course. It's a bit further out than the old ride (maybe 10 minutes longer to ride there) and is tougher, with slightly longer and slightly harder climbs (which may be good or bad depending on your perspective). There is less traffic at the new location, which is definitely a plus. Although some of the roads are cracked, the city shaved them down and evidence suggests it is in the process of fixing them. Overall, I'd say it is a solid course and would suggested folks come check it out.

Just a reminder that the Tuesday Nighter runs during daylight savings time, with groups starting around 6pm. There is an A and B group depending on your fitness and level of experience. It's a great, FREE way to get exposed to racing level riding.

Tour Das Hugel

I'm definitely looking forward to doing my first Das Hugel ride--"hugel" is German for "hills." Rumor has it that it's a 100+ mile ride hitting all of Austin's best climbs for over 15,000 feet of vertical elevation gain. And it's FREE! This year's ride starts at 7 AM under the bridge at Mopac on November 15th.

Here is the route from last year.

Tuesday Nighter Course

If you've never done the Tuesday Nigher, you really need to come check it out. Start time is 6pm.


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Unofficial Zilker Tri

Andrea and some friends are planning to do an unofficial sprint triathlon down at Zilker Park. Here is the route I came up with for the race. The course is as follows:

-Out and back in Barton Springs (about 1/4 mile).
-Under MoPac to do 3 loops through neighborhood (some hills, but it was the flattest course I could find without riding on busy streets) (about 9 miles). 
-A clockwise loop on the dirt trail around Town Lake under MoPac and back across at Lamar (about 3.5 miles).
-Finish is near the pool.

Here is a Google Maps version of the course with details like stop signs.

Satellite View

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Terrain View

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Here is a MapMyFitness (formerly MapMyTri) Map with rough mileage totals.

Note: Click the "marker" link at the bottom to view mile markers or click "full" to see the map in more detail. To see elevation change, click full and then at the top right of the map, click the box that says "show elevation."

Barton Creek and North River Hills

This is one of my favorite rides, especially the hill up North River Hills Road--it has the feel of a mountain and if I have time, I'll use it to do intervals. If my odometer is correct, it's about 1.8 miles in length, and if Google is correct, it's about 335 feet of climbing. It starts steep but gets easier toward the top. (A tougher climb not far away is South Weston Lane, which heads down to Lake Austin.)

And if you haven't ridden Barton Creek and Lost Creek Boulevards, you really must give them a try. They have some very steep hills on them.


Note: If you want to see more details, click on "View this map in MapMyRun" and click the elevation box on the left. You can also download and play the route in Google Earth, which is really sweet if you haven't done it before.

Austin Hill Crunch Ride

If you are looking for a lot of great hills, this should be one you add to your repertoire. The beauty of it is that there are a number of small loops throughout it so you can add or decrease miles (and hills) as you see fit. Enjoy!



Note: If you want to see more details, click on "View this map in MapMyRun" and click the elevation box on the left. You will see that the ride looks like a bunch of saw teeth!

Finding Austin's Best Rides

I decided to start this blog to post my favorite rides throughout Austin. I try to find routes with roads that are less busy and with speed limits that are at or below 45 MPH (there's just something scary about a car going by you at 65 MPH, no matter how wide the shoulder is!). If you know of a ride that I have not included or have a variation on one of my rides, feel free to comment. Thanks and happy riding!