Round Rock Social Cycling Rides

Last year, some friends and I rode the Austin Social Ride held every Thursday. It was fun but a bit hectic. There were so many cyclists and we had no clue where we were going or how we were going to get back to our vehicles. Their ride ended at a bar that had two kegs on tap for the cyclists. People left when they decided it was time to go home. It really was fun, but I like a little more certainty.

So began the idea to create our own social ride in Round Rock. I worked out a few routes and we had a very slow start. There were only two of us. Or three, but never at the same time. This year, we've managed to get up to seven riders going at once.

Here are the main routes I've worked out so far. The routes are meant to give us a look at different parts of Round Rock. All routes begin and end at the City Hall Parking Garage. We park for free, we ride, and then we hang out.  Things look promising. :)


No.1 The RR Social Original
I mapped this route because I wanted to check out the bats under the McNeil Bridge, but they usually come out later in the evening. It's a fun thing to watch but it hasn't happened for us yet.

No. 2: The RR Social Hill
It's really a very short hill ride, but it's pretty steep. It's okay to walk it. I think it's even better to stop and look back at Round Rock from the hill top. As a bonus, once we get up there, we get to ride down it! No stop signs or intersections.



No. 3: The RR Social - Red Bud
It's 16.24 miles which makes it a longer ride. Tried to avoid riding on Gattis School Road as much as possible but it cannot be completely avoided. It's a lot of fun riding down Red Bud. The road has a shoulder good enough for single riders. I discovered the connecting back roads last year that lead us to A.W. Grimes that lead us through an apartment complex back to Junior's. Hey, it works. Be warned, it is a hilly ride, so if you're not in shape, this ride is a chore.







No. 4: The RR Social Sam Bass 

Sam Bass is a narrow road but it is a fun place to ride. The neighborhoods here are also fun to ride through. There's always people about. I put this route together to ride part of Deep Wood and part of Sam Bass. I was trying to combine these two sections but there aren't too many roads. This route will probably change the most.


All of the rides are made to have loops added or subtracted, depending on the group that is riding. Over time, I'll plan out a few more sections of Round Rock. 

We can be More Than Cyclists

A section of Hairy Man road, which runs alongside a creek, is going to be removed. With the recent rains, I couldn't help but think of that road. When this city was less busy, I used to ride my road bike down that road frequently. It's a bending road with no shoulder, the oaks and elms grow tall, and every season offers a wonderful view.

I wish the road would stay open only for cyclists. A few years ago, some repairs had to be made on the road. A long section was torn up and it took about two months before it was opened up. But I remember riding that road then. Long lines of web fell from the trees. Leaves covered the road, and everything was so still and peaceful. If that road was only for cyclists, it'd be quiet like that again. That'd be really cool.

Further down the road, there's a curve and a small section where cars used to pull off right by the creek. It was one of my stopping points on my bike, too. I'd take off my shoes and socks, wade in, and I would just stand in the middle of the creek. One time, a deer joined me out there. We both stood in the middle of the creek. It drank water while I stood there cooling off.

I don't know what's going to become of that section of road. I'm hoping the new section will have a shoulder to it. Because it's a low road and prone to flooding, I hope that keeps the builders away. Maybe I'll buy a kayak.

Not Biking to Work, Biking at Work

Riding to work is sweaty work, and there's nowhere to clean up properly. Yes, I can towel down by a sink and put on extra deodorant, but it takes my body a long time to cool down properly.

Tomorrow, I'm taking my bike to work, and at the end of the day, I'm jumping on my bike and riding around the park at the bottom of the hill. I affectionately call it the Duck Pond; it starts at the intersection of Great Oaks and Hairy Man Road.

I'll be traveling up the hike-n-bike trail where it borders on Parmer, then I'll ride back. More tomorrow, after the ride.

Use Your Bike Rack

Part One: Before I ride.

So, the plan is to ride to work sometimes, but I don't want to ride the entire way. I've done it, and it's not that far. According to Google Maps, it's just under 8 miles which is not bad, but still.


View Larger Map

This is where my bike rack comes in handy. I drive part of the way and then I ride part of the way. I mean, I cannot complain about stores and malls not having a place for my bike if I don't even have one myself!

However, Round Rock has changed a lot in the last 10 years. Hairy Man Road is not as safe as it used to be. Not that it was ever safe -- it doesn't have a shoulder and it's a curving road on which people have always driven over the speed limit.The road is simply used more and in the near future, the city plans to alter its course so it doesn't run along the creek the entire way.


Change is good, though. Change is good. A hike-n-bike trail and a parking lot were also built along Hairy Man, so I'm going to park my truck there and cut into a neighborhood via a sidewalk that leads from the trail to a street. I don't know where I'll end up exactly. The Google Map doesn't clearly show me a sidewalk where I guessed it would be. More later...


Okay, so it's later!

Had to use MapMyRide.com to create the route. I'm liking that program more and more. It even shows the elevation. Maybe climbing 157 feet is not much elevation for some but it felt like I was riding uphill for too long. It didn't help that I did this at noon. (Memo to self: Self, don't ride at frickin' noon o'clock.) Here's the route:


Once I got to school, I meandered around a bit. I noticed few kids (or some adults) had their bikes locked up at the bike racks at school. Two of them had U-locks attached to the front wheel, and that was it. Near our school is the Brushy Creek or Cat Hollow (IDK) M.U.D. Rec Center. It's a loverly place. They had these strange bike racks which looked like egg beaters and your only choice was to stick your front tire in there, and it looked like everyone who had locked up their bikes only locked up the front wheel. (That's a horrible sentence.) I'll have to take a picture of them.

There's a bike trail behind this place -- a fun trail! It pretty much runs west and downhill the entire time. It leads to O'Conner, right behind the HEB on 620. The trail did break off so I turned back to ride that one. It leads to a residential area: I ended up on a street called Liberty Walk. I back tracked again to the main trail and rode back to my truck. Like I said, it was hot out so I didn't try to figure out if there were any other roads.

When school starts, those roads, particulary Great Oaks Drive, are going to be packed with cars. But, there is one good thing. I get to ride downhill at the end of the day. :)

About a Dog

Leah stopped for a lost dog the other day. It was meandering and hopeless, crossing the street repeatedly. We've been watching the dog, looking for a 'lost dog' sign, and yet hoping he might get to be ours. The last two days he's been getting more and more anxious to go for a walk.

So today, I hopped on my bike to go buy a leash at HEB. I've ridden to BlockBuster before because it's in the same shopping area as HEB, but I never noticed a bike rack anywhere in the area. How can such a large area not have a bike rack? Stores continue on both sides of this place: BlockBuster, RadioShack, a haircut place, a pizza place, a bank, Mangia Pizza, Panda Express, and a few other stores.

The point is this place is huge, and the bike rack? It shouldn't be the palm trees near the entrance, although someone was using one. Past the exit doors, I found it! It is a meager 3-bike holder. It was next to a giant stack of plastic outdoor chairs.

Round Rock leaders and some of its citizenry are working on some city plans to make some areas more pedestrian/customer-friendly. You can see their presentation report here. I'm glad they're doing all that work and thinking of the future. Someone has to do that stuff.

Some cyclists will probably want bike lanes in that plan. Me, I'd like to see more bike racks at the various business malls around town.

Weekend Riding is the Best

I like Round Rock Donuts, but I hate to wait in line for them. Yesterday, around 9:30 in the morning, before my kiddos woke up, I thought I'd surprise them with a half-dozen warm donuts.



There is no traffic on the weekends; the evenings are even better, but I'm not much of a night rider. I can take the most direct route because the roads are open.

When I pulled up, there was a line out the door to the curb. That's about 12 people outside, and that means there's another 15 inside. I just didn't feel like waiting so I went home and we had waffles.

WebCam Workshop

I'm writing this part before I ride.

Right, so I have to go to a workshop at Walsh Middle School, but the neighborhood has complained that too many teachers are parking on their streets. RRISD set up a bus commute from Cactus Ranch Elementary, which is not too far from the middle school. I guess Cactus has more parking available.

Either way, I'm going to ride my bike. Here's my route:


View Larger Map


Today's not so bad because it's just an afternoon session. Tomorrow I'll be there all day. I wonder how bad traffic will be in the morning -- Sam Bass and Old Settler's merge and I don't remember if there's a shoulder on the road. At least I'll be making a right turn on Wyoming Springs within 1/4 of a mile from the merge. We'll see.

Update: I left at 12:15 and arrived at 12:45. Not bad, but Old Settler's/3406 has no shoulder to ride on. As soon as I went over HWY35 there's another light and the traffic picks up its speed fast. If you're not comfortable with 4-8 inches of road, I don't recommend using this one.

It was hot. What am I saying? I was hot when I got there. I couldn't cool down, but I was well-prepared. In my bag I had stashed an extra shirt, a towel, deodorant, my wallet, and notebook and pen. The only thing I need to get now is one of those battery-operated, portable fans.

When the workshop ended, I knew I wasn't going to take the same route back. I improvised and came up with this:

View Larger Map

Here's the beauty of a bike. Behind this business plaza is Memorial Park, so I rode through the park -- a relaxing, historic part of Round Rock.


Traffic was light from here, so I took the most direct route from Mays directly to Old Bowman. I surprised my dog when I got home. I guess he was expecting to hear an engine.