Tour de Texas
Mount your steed and start... pedaling From big climbs to big descents, from rural farm roads to scenic byways these ten rides are a cyclist’s dream.
(Page 2 of 2)
The Canyoneer
THE ROUTE: From Canyon down into the canyon.
DIFFICULTY: 3
DISTANCE: 40 miles
HIGHLIGHTS: The good news: While shooting down the steep, eight-hundred-foot descent just past the entrance to Palo Duro Canyon State Park, you’ll enjoy incredible vistas of the bright red, yellow, and orange hues of the canyon. The bad news: What goes down must come up. You’ll probably need to find your granny gear to labor back up to the Llano Estacado. With any luck, though, the stunning landscapes of one of the state’s most pristine regions will inspire you to take on the endurance test. If not, there’s always another strategy: Arrange for a friend to drive down into the canyon to pick you up, an option cyclists call “riding the sag wagon.”
FULL DISCLOSURE: Be aware of the unpredictable weather. Storms can blow in without warning.
Click here for directions.
The Waterfall
THE ROUTE: From New Braunfels up to Canyon Lake and back.
DIFFICULTY: 1–2
DISTANCE: 48 miles, with 28- and 72-mile options
HIGHLIGHTS: Our second Hill Country selection is an old favorite; the San Antonio Wheelmen have been riding this way for more than thirty years. After heading out toward Canyon Lake, you’ll return along the River Road, which follows the Guadalupe as it flows down to the coastal plains. The two-lane highway winds past limestone bluffs and towering cypresses toward Gruene, where you can detour to Gruene Hall for some R&R before the journey back to the start point. If you’re looking for a bigger challenge, try adding the loop that climbs over the Devil’s Backbone (see “The Devil’s Backbone”) along RM 32 and zooms back down Purgatory Road.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Avoid this route on summer weekends, when the River Road is full of tourists and tubing shuttles.
Click here for directions.
The Lake Corpus Christi Cruise
THE ROUTE: A tour of one of South Texas’s most popular lakes.
DIFFICULTY: 3
DISTANCE: 45 miles
HIGHLIGHTS: Nearly twenty miles long and with shoreline in three counties, Lake Corpus Christi is the centerpiece for this challenging ride from the Corpus Christi Bicycle Club. Why the high difficulty rating? The route will make you forget that you ever thought of South Texas as flat, and the occasionally blustery conditions can kick up a fierce headwind. But you’ll be rewarded. Between Dinero and Swinney Switch, on Farm-to-Market Road 534, you’ll cross branches of the gorgeous Nueces as it flows into the lake. There’s a store in Swinney Switch that makes for a nice rest stop before you head back south.
FULL DISCLOSURE: When I went, Live Oak County had resurfaced FM 3024 from Swinney Switch to the county line—some six miles—using a coarsely graded asphalt that made for a bumpy ride.
Click here for directions.
The Exurban Escape
THE ROUTE: A loop through the small towns of Collin County outside Plano.
DIFFICULTY: 1–2
DISTANCE: 65 miles, with a 55-mile option
HIGHLIGHTS: Although the Metroplex seems to sprawl a little farther every day, slowly filling the rangeland between Lewisville and Lavon lakes with subdivisions and shopping malls, this route will take you back a few years by exploring the remaining open space in the far reaches of Collin County. After leaving Plano and heading into the countryside east of McKinney, you’ll wind around Lavon Lake and maybe stop in the little town of Princeton for refreshments before riding through the farmland north of New Hope. “It’s a very pretty ride,” says Rusty Nail—his real name, I swear—of the Plano Bicycle Association, adding that it’s worth lingering on the section between Stacey Road and FM 546, where large cedar elm trees form a sheltering canopy.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Watch out for dogs along those back roads, warns Nail.
Click here for directions.
The Alpe d’El Paso
THE ROUTE: An up-and-down screamer over the Franklin Mountains in El Paso.
DIFFICULTY: 3
DISTANCE: 26 miles
HIGHLIGHTS: Ever wondered what Lance’s quads feel like on the legendary switchbacks of the Alpe d’Huez? Try riding Woodrow Bean Transmountain Drive. During the 10.7-mile section between U.S. 54 and Interstate 10, the route zigzags up 1,145 feet and then zips straight down, roaring over the jutting, weather-beaten spine of the Franklin Mountains. Stop at the rest area at the route’s apex to enjoy the view; you won’t want to take your eyes off the road on the way down. This ride is not for beginners. The steep climb can take up to an hour, and the fast descent requires confidence and skill. But the buzz you’ll get when you reach the top and look down over New Mexico is worth every ounce of lactic acid in your legs.
FULL DISCLOSURE: These are urban roads with heavy traffic, including big trucks. Stay well inside the big shoulder on
the ascent.
Click here for directions.
The Brenham Back Roads
THE ROUTE: Pedal through the rural terrain south of the Central Texas town of Brenham.
DIFFICULTY: 1
DISTANCE: 38 miles, with a 27-mile option
HIGHLIGHTS: A popular family pit stop halfway between Houston and Austin on U.S. 290, Brenham is best known as the home of Blue Bell ice cream. This ride will help you justify that double dip. The route—from Chris Marsh, of the Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club—is perfect for beginners because it gently ambles along country roads that carve through the lush green farmland and rolling hills of Washington and Austin counties. It’s especially beautiful in the spring, when the roadsides are a blur of wildflowers.
FULL DISCLOSURE: The last five miles are a bit of a slog through the heavier traffic on Texas Highway 36; try to avoid this route during the weekday rush hour. Also, there are no convenience stores along the way, so fill up an extra water bottle and pack a snack.
Click here for directions.
The South Dallas Detour
THE ROUTE: A route from Lancaster through the countryside south of the Metroplex.
DIFFICULTY: 2
DISTANCE: 51 miles, with a 5-mile option
HIGHLIGHTS: “Everybody rides from Lancaster,” said the woman in the store in Rockett where I stopped to get some Gatorade. (When you look at the map, you’ll see that I was lost.) This popular tour, an adaptation of the Greater Dallas Bicyclists’ Lancaster Rally route, runs through small towns, rural neighborhoods, and farmland in Dallas and Ellis counties. The flat cornfields around Lancaster give riders a chance to warm up their legs for the ups and downs through Ferris to Bristol, where you should take the optional five-mile loop for a great view east over the fields and woods of the Trinity Basin. The real test comes on the sharp turns and steep climbs along Rutherford Road and around Smith Cemetery Road. From there, the ride flattens out some as you pass through rural suburbs, where brick McMansions perched on treeless mounds dwarf their older neighbors.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Once again, beware of dogs. I encountered several aggressive canines on the Bristol loop. And be careful on FM 813 from Bristol to Palmer, where there’s no shoulder and heavy traffic.
Click here for directions.
The Piney Pedaler
THE ROUTE: A double loop out in the woods north of Palestine.
DIFFICULTY: 1–2
DISTANCE: 49 miles, with a 24-mile option
HIGHLIGHTS: No hustle and bustle in sleepy Palestine. Surrounded by thick forest, this pretty town makes a perfect start and finish line for a journey into the Piney Woods. Empty, shaded back roads are perfect for cyclists, and the deceptively rolling terrain will give your legs a good workout. The section along FM 321 from Neches west to FM 315 has some longer, steeper climbs. This, my second pick from Chris Marsh’s collection, is a great introduction to the beauty of East Texas.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I was caught needing fluids because I could not find the store marked on the map (at FM 315 and FM 837). Lesson: Always bring plenty of water (consider two bottles for longer rides) and a snack.
Click here for directions.
Pages: 1 2
My Library
