"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Racing in Austin...a little help please.

First I'm sorry for the slightly off topic thread but I think I'll get the most valuable input here.

Short story, I'll be relocating to North East Austin (Samsung) in July and the family will be staying behind for the time being. Consequently, I'll need to find an apartment and more importantly an area that is conducive to cycling and racing as beyond work and trips home, that will become even more of a focus for me. I obviously race road, just ordered a new CAADX for cyclocross season, and do some mountain. If any of you locals can help me with the following info, I'd be most appreciative with hugs, pulls, beer...whatever.

-good area to live preferably close to trails and good roads, not too far from work if possible.
-local group rides or where to get good info, preferably more racers than recreationalists
-good local routes for road, mtn., cyclocross for solo rides
-where to find local race calendars for all three disciplines
-good local teams/clubs to investigate for membership
-good local shop to frequent in the area

Thanks again!

ex-local here...
you're in for a treat, the Austin cycling scene is huge, and a lot of fun. I miss it. The road calendar is at txbra.org. Check out the Thursday evening crits at the Driveway: drivewayseries.com. A fast group ride goes from Austin Tri-Cyclist on Barton Springs, saturdays at 8:30. You'll get a good sense of what teams are out there just by going to those and talking to folks.

there is no good riding in Austin... there used to be but then everybody moved there and ruined it.

PM Waterrockets. He lives there and can help you with all that.

I sent you a pm with my 2 cents. WR is a good resource!!

I lived in Austin the summer of 1982 just off of Ben White and rode a lot south of town because that was the easy way out of town McKinney Falls and points south were my usual routes. I didn't see much of a roadie scene back then in Austin while riding, but I didn't see much of a roadie scene anywhere in the US way back then. I was probably riding at the wrong time on the wrong roads. The local bike shop seemed to be very knowledgeable when I went there to get a cotter pin for my gf's (now wife's) old bike. I don't remember the name of the shop, but the motif was rainbow jersey and I was stunned to see that reference way back before even Lemond was making big waves. I knew that there must have been a road scene, but I never looked too hard for it.

I never got to ride west of town for the short time I was there, but it looked awesome. Of course what was out in the country then might be all subdivisions now. I had no idea how to ride my bike out there. Riding on Ben White would have been suicidal and probably illegal.

Like folks say, PM WR. I am sure his 411 is MUCH more current. :^)

Thanks Flaco, that actually makes me feel better as I also had the option to go to Fremont but had a lot of reservations, knowing the scene in Austin is better is just more confirmation.

Hahaha Creaky, sorry, guess I'll have to make do.

Thanks Ex, I'll certainly welcome his input should he choose to respond.

BG, thanks for the PM's looks like a lot of good info! Thanks so much and I definitely owe ya a beer.

Hahaha, thanks Mullusk...shoot I've been there a half dozen times since you left (vendor training schools). Thanks for taking the time to share.

Looking forward to seeing some of you at the start line.

Northeast Austin is a challenge for road cycling, but I'm don't know it well because I live in southwest Austin (very near the south end of Mo Pac). The riding up in the northeast is pretty flat. There are areas with gentle rolling hills. It's windy and not a lot of trees for shade.

If I had just landed a job at Samsung, I might actually stay where I am, housewise. I love living down here. I almost never ride outside of Austin -- there's just no reason to for the length of training rides I take.

Between here and Samsung, I'd look anywhere along/near Mo Pac. North-central is good because you have good hills like Jester, Beauford, Far West, Ladera Norte, Smokey Valley, etc. -- many of which are awesome for hill repeats. Good access to this area anywhere along Mo Pac between the river and 2222. Going east from Mo Pac, the riding gets flatter, so you have more city, traffic lights, and longer junk to get to the hills in the west. West of Mo Pac is 360, which is a major cycling route, but lots of carbon monoxide out there. Good hills, but not the most inspired riding.

From 360, going west, is Bee Caves Rd, which is a real blast. Shooting off that to the north and south are a few nice routes (Barton Creek and Lost Creek to the south, River Hills Road/Curenavaca to the north). At the end is 620, where you can loop north back onto 2222 to 360 again (this is called the dam loop because you go over the bridge adjacent to Mansfield Dam). The ATC ride mentioned above does the dam loop, starting on Southwest Pkwy -- which is one of my main stomping grounds.

Neighborhoods to look for in the southwest are anything along Escarpment and Southwest Pkwy. The Veloway is also a lot of fun for training, it's down by me (across the street from the Wildflower Center).

Northwest has a lot of great riding too. Off of the dam loop, Bullick Hollow Road, and the three "beaches" on Lime Creek Road.

I'm sure I'm missing a bunch, and I'm probably missing some great places to live up in the north areas. Austin is very north-centric because of Dell up there, but the southwest seems like a better value in general, and much much better traffic -- of course if you have to drive north anyway...

there is no good riding in Austin... there used to be but then everybody moved there and ruined it.

You forgot to add in a 'get off my lawn'.

I agree with everything WR has said about south Austin (I myself live just south of the river and love the cycling scene so much from the plethora of local bike shops and the rides they sponsor to mountain biking on the greenbelt to riding my roadie to the 360 route) however I disagree (quite strongly) with any recommendation to live south of the city when you'd be working far north at the Samsung plant. Austin is one of the worst cities in our nation for peak traffic and you'd be unnecessarily driving yourself through the city. I cannot see that leading to a happier life than the alternative! I would live north, shorten my daily commute, and drive my bike to my rides. It isn't fun having to drive to rides, but an off peak leisurely drive with your bike attached a few times a week is better than a rush hour commute twice per day. You'd be looking at over an hour each way to get anywhere south of the river to Samsung in rush hour (and rush hour here is a three hour window).

Mellow Johnny's has a few race-pace rides on Sunday. Check their website. There's a group that meets on the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge on Monday at 7:30pm for a hard evening ride on bike routes through town, which turns out to be great crit training because of the accelerations and it's also a great way to get to see Austin.

Thanks WR, I'll definitely familiarize myself with those routes. I'm with you for the most part in that I don't do many rides >60 miles but given the amount of time I'll have, that may change.

Buffet, I agree with you and definitely see your point as that would be my preference as well. However, my situation is a bit more unique in that I won't be traveling during peak hours (I'm assuming 5:30am and 6:30pm aren't peak?) and I only have to do it 3 or 4 times a week with one of which being on Sunday. Sounds like a tough choice, but I hate "driving to ride"...so I'll have some choices to make.

Where would you guys say the bulk of the cycling community/functions are? Where I live now, the majority is on the other side of town 30-50miles away.

I'll be sure to check that out HMF...thanks!

Thanks again for all the info, this will be a great resource for me to get started,

Thanks WR, I'll definitely familiarize myself with those routes. I'm with you for the most part in that I don't do many rides >60 miles but given the amount of time I'll have, that may change.

Buffet, I agree with you and definitely see your point as that would be my preference as well. However, my situation is a bit more unique in that I won't be traveling during peak hours (I'm assuming 5:30am and 6:30pm aren't peak?) and I only have to do it 3 or 4 times a week with one of which being on Sunday. Sounds like a tough choice, but I hate "driving to ride"...so I'll have some choices to make.

Where would you guys say the bulk of the cycling community/functions are? Where I live now, the majority is on the other side of town 30-50miles away.

I'll be sure to check that out HMF...thanks!

Thanks again for all the info, this will be a great resource for me to get started,

I do agree with BuffetJr about the traffic -- it's probably worse than I know, because I ride my bike to work, and stay in SW Austin for all of it. Five years ago, I commuted up to Braker from SW Austin, daily. I worked from 7-4, and it wasn't that bad traffic-wise, but I was pushing it... 30 minutes later on both ends would probably kill it. One thing you can do too is a multi-modal commute, where you drive through the fast parts, park, then ride through the bad traffic. Free training ride, timewise.

The bulk of good cycling gatherings seem to be central. The Driveway is central-east. There are probably a lot of rides up north that I don't know about or seek. Buck's Bikes up there would have the scoop though. Great shop too. I honestly mostly just ride at lunch, or at the Driveway, so I'm not hitting many of the bigger rides. For six or seven years, I did the ATC ride weekly, and I love that ride.

The Tuesday Nighter is another one that I did for many years, but can't any more with the kids' activities. The 'nighter is incredibly fun. Pros show up, and you can come out of it with 35 miles at 30mph (not counting the ride out there). That ride is southeast of Austin, with the bulk of the group leaving from downtown (Austinbikes? Mellow Johnny's?)

Your first stop should be at the Driveway http://drivewayseries.com/ LOTS of action every thursday evening starting at 5:30pm. Then, by all means stop at Mellow Johnnies, for a wallet stinger. After that you can go to the real shops, Bicycle Sport Shop, Jack and Adams, Nelos, etc, where the real people shop/go to discuss life in Austin. Also see; Jo's Coffee, Taco Deli etc. who support TXBRA.org racing in Austin.
When you get tired of seeing people with wall to wall tatoos, come down to San Antonio and we'll ride with you.

ask lance armstrong when you get there

Indeed on Taco Deli!!! I can consume their red salsa by the truckload. And ya gotta hit up sno-beach for their shaved ice; I'm also a bit crazed for P. Terry's double after the Driveway. This thread has made me yearn (more than usual) for ATX racing and eating (and people). MJ's sales can actually be decent, and, I have always felt like I was treated right in there whether buying or not (and they've done some little special things for me that were nice).

I live in the Northwest (near 360/2222). There's plenty of rides that are in this area. Nelo's has shop rides M and W evenings at 7, and Saturday mornings. BSS North has some rides too. I've been riding down the MJ's for the Sunday Mellow ride which is a pretty nice ride.
But my personal favorite is the NW Austin Tuesday nighter - http://groups.google.com/group/north-austin-tuesday-nighter
It's somewhat inspired by the Original Tuesday nighter, but it's not as crazy.

And as the others have said, the Driveway Series is a must.