Hi Longhorn

I live way on the other side of Austin and I'm not familiar with your area but I took a good long look at your routes anyway.

I noticed is that (on Google at least) the satellite maps show a lot of new roads springing up around 290W in places where the road maps show big blank spaces. Maybe there are some pleasant surprises that aren't yet on all the maps. One thing I'd consider about riding on an east-west highway is whether overtaking drivers would have the sun in their eyes.

Michael Bluejay's site recommends the Fitzhugh/Circle route as the safest and most pleasant. Although good bike route information goes out of date pretty fast in Austin.

Bicycle Austin - Routes.