Relocating to Austin
 

So, my company is relocating from the DFW area to Austin over the summer, and I'd love to get recommendations on places to ride/avoid and bike shops worth visiting. I checked out Mellow Johnny's while at SxSW, but let's just assume I might want a wider selection of bike manufacturers to choose from when I buy a new bike. I can't be certain, but it looks like we'll be searching for houses in the southwest part of Austin, anywhere from the Barton Hills area down to Circle C Ranch. The Veloway looks like a nice place for a family ride, but I'm not sure I want to be doing 10+ loops around it to get in a good ride. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to biking in Austin and hearing what y'all have to say about rides and shops. :)

inelukii,

Welcome to Austin! Austin is a great city to live in if you are a cyclist.

Check out the Bicycle Sport Shop on S. Lamar (http://www.bicyclesportshop.com. They organize many group rides around town and have their own in house riding club, the Austin Flyers (http://www.austinflyers.com)

As for rides, take a look at the City Of Austin's official bike route map (http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/bicycle/bikemap.htm) Route 10 - Shoal Creek is a good easy ride for families. It is a ride about 10 miles with very minimal hills and low traffic volumes. If you want something a bit more challenging, Route 23 from Mozart's Coffee House on Lake Austin to North Austin via Balcones and Mesa is the way to go. There are some extremely steep hills along that route as well as several fast hills.

The nice part of Austin is that there are great places to ride just about anywhere. I live in Cedar Park which is just north of Austin and there are great rides their too. The north part of Parmer has nice wide shoulders and goes on forever without a lot of traffic.

Regarding bike selection, between Mellow Johnny's, Bicycle Sport Shop, University Cycles, Freewheeling, Nelo's, Jack and Adams and Austin Tri-Cyclist, I'd say you'll have most of the brands covered, as well as top-notch service.

Regarding the area you're moving to...it's tough to avoid the hills. There are a lot of flatter areas in Circle C but as you start to go north, it's a lot more hilly.

Let us know when you make the move and where you end up. More specific suggestions can be given and maybe a small group ride organized.

Even Circle C is pretty hilly :)

And Circle C has its own bike club -- the Circle C Ranch Cycling Club (CCRCC). Come join us on a Sunday ride, 8 a.m., Starbucks at Escarpment and Slaughter.

dstrong pretty much covered all the bike shops you need to know. as for places to ride, i ALWAYS see cyclists riding up 360. i'm not experienced enough to do those rides yet, but my boy does love riding up 360 to 183. you hit some of the toughest hills on that route, i'm really hoping you're not avoiding the hills. it's the best part of the ride and the descents look amazing.