OT: Visiting Austin, TX mid Feb

[Triskeliongirl]

Just got back from my mini-weekend in Austin. It does bug me a little that ACA makes you join for the maps, but in fact its not that expensive and the maps are well worth it. I highly recommend doing the ride called the 'tour de austin' early in your visit. I thought it would be a boring city ride, but it goes both through and around the city, taking advantage of bike routes, and gives you a real understanding of the lay of the land, different neighborhoods, etc. It was also quite hilly and challenging, as much of the ride is on the west side of the city and goes high above the city with a beautiful view of the lake. SO, its both a great workout and informative. It lets you see where things are you might want to visit later. As for club rides, we much preferred the rides to the west which are hilly and interesting, rather than the rides to the east which are flattish farm land. Our favourite restaruant is a spanish tapas bar called Malaga on 4th street (warehouse district) which has great happy hour/early dinner deals on tapas and wine, and amazing food anytime. If you are willing to go a tad south towards san antonio, you must ride up river road. You can park in Gruene texas, which is also a quaint interesting hill country town. We did that ride on our way down on thanksgiving day, and ate a great thanksgiving dinner at a bed and breakfast in gruene. If you google tour de gruene you can download ride maps for free (or pm me). If you are really adventuresome, at the top of river road you can ride up the devils backbone and purgatory loop.

[tygab]

Thanks for all the comments, this is exactly the type of information I was hoping for. It looks like we can have a very busy and productive trip. I love the restaurant suggestions. We are foodies too...

If anyone has other suggestions, feel free to add them.

[fixedgeargirl]

River Road is an awesome ride. It runs along the Guadalupe River outside of New Braunfels/Gruene. There are lots of campgrounds along the road, too.

I rode Devil's Backbone a few weeks ago and it had a fresh coat of Texas' notorious chip and seal on it. It was a rough ride to say the least , I had numb hands and arms for an hour afterward. And the road that connects from there to River Road had lots of traffic, even on a cold off-season Sunday morning.

I just camped at Buescher State Park. Lots of highway noise. All night long. Bastrop State Park is the same. I also learned that they don't accept the 50% off camping coupons on a holiday weekend .