Tons of Austin bike info.....fun and informative.. (San Antonio, San Marcos: appointed, sales)

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I piled everything you could possibly need here.....

first, a few places to find cheap bikes in Austin...
Austin, Texas Metropolitan Area Command: Deep in the Heart of Texas

austin bicycles classifieds - craigslist

Austinbikes | Bicycle Service And Sales | Orbea Scott Kirklee Moots Fuji Surly

Waterloo Cycles | Bicycle Shop in Austin, Texas | Bike Shop

Clown Dog Bikes

Visit a clean, bright & organized store near you!

Goodwill Industries of Central Texas - Main Page

Bike routes/maps submitted by bikers...lost of great stuff here..

http://www.austinbikeroutes.com/

Want to ride your bike to San Antonio, and grab a bite to eat at the RiverWalk?

Bicycle Route from Austin to San Antonio (or San Marcos)

Want to bike to Bastrop....?

The Best Bike Route Between Austin and Bastrop

Monthly Austin bike swap...

FrankenBike (n) - A free bike swap meet held once a month in Austin, Texas that is open to anyone who wants to buy, sell or trade bicycles and bicycle related gear or parts.>

Best Biking blog in Austin.....all the current road info and routes you need

Austin Bicycle Advisory Council (http://bicycleadvisorycouncil.blogspot.com/ - broken link)


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Now the bad news, per Lance Armstrong's quote:

"A city like Austin is growing so much, cycling is ruined there," he told U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, and other members of the group. "In just 10 years -- ruined.

In other words, Austin needs a motherload of work to bring the city to top-caliber BikeCity status.....a horrendous lack of bike lanes on major arteries, no protection for bikers in major x-way underpasses which can extent 200-300 ft, and lack of paved routes solely for recreation are cause for concern, particularly with 10,000-17,000 new vehicles added each year to the Austin metro.....yes, it gets more and more crowded for bikes......

Some particular local issues/problems from BicycleAustin...

#1: PARKING IN BICYCLE LANES It is legal for cars to park in most bicycle lanes in the City. So why even call them bike lanes? If cyclists can't use them, then what's the point? I addressed the previous Council about this issue, but the Council didn't express any interest in addressing it. Eric Mitchell wrongly stated that it was already illegal for cars to park in bike lanes. Gus Garcia, Willie Lewis, and Bill Spelman's representative (Mike Blizzard) said on my radio program that they supported car-free bike lanes, but so far there's been no action from Council. Due to non-action by the Council, other bicycle advocates have been working with Transportation & Public Works to establish car-free bike lanes. But even if they succeed in getting cars banned from more bike lanes, another problem that remains is enforcement. I see cars illegally parked in the bike lanes in my neighborhood on Rio Grande and Nueces nearly EVERY DAY [two of the few bike lanes where it's already illegal for cars to park]. The police usually come if I call them about it, but they don't take the effort to ticket cars unless someone calls it in. On this issue, the council deserves blame and not credit.
#2: FAILURE TO FUND THE BICYCLE PROGRAM The Council has historically under- or non-funded the Bicycle Program. Here's the opening from a late 1997 letter by Rick Waring, former Coordinator of the City's Bicycle Program: "Dear Mayor Watson and City Council members: I am extremely disappointed. The 1998 budget you approved has zero dollars in allocations for bicycle and pedestrian program needs and service provision. Frankly, this is one of the reasons I resigned my position [as the City's Bicycle Coordinator]. We initiated and built the program without a budget for three and a half years. With the election of your progressive council, I was certain that finally City leaders would show their commitment and provide badly needed funding for bicycle and pedestrian access and safety. You did not, but I should not have been surprised; Austin has a long history of lip service without real commitment to bicyclists and pedestrians. Witness allowing parking in bike lanes and lack of maintenance of existing bicycle facilities." [The complete letter appears at the end of this email.] Here again, the council deserves blame and not credit.
#3: CREATING THE HELMET ORDINANCE AND FAILING TO FULLY REPEAL IT A couple of years ago the City Council created what was probably the most unpopular ordinance in Austin history when it enacted the bicycle helmet ordinance. But the council didn't just ignore the will of the people, it ignored the facts -- that on average, only 1-4 cyclists die in Austin each year, that some of those who die were wearing helmets ANYWAY, that many more pedestrians and motorists die than cyclists and THEY don't have to wear helmets, that motorcyclists are not required to wear helmets, etc. Disturbingly, the council felt it was more important to try to force the use of a piece of equipment that *might* help us once we've been hit rather than PREVENTING US FROM GETTING HIT IN THE FIRST PLACE (by getting cars out of bike lanes, by funding the Bicycle Program, etc.). Also disturbingly, the council was completely unconcerned that its local police was using the helmet ordinance as an excuse to arrest cyclists left and right and throw them in JAIL. (And for comparison, when was the last time you heard of a motorist being not just ticketed, but taken to JAIL for not wearing a seatbelt?) And despite the fact that at the time 70% of the no-helmet tickets given to kids were given to black & Hispanic kids, the council kept the helmet ordinance intact for kids when amending it. An advocate from the League of Bicycling Voters informed me that councilmember Slusher refused a compromise on the helmet ordinance which would have kept the ordinance but removed the penalties, since Slusher insisted on having a punitive ordinance. I also witnessed Slusher misleading the citizenry at the helmet ordinance hearing and tricking them into giving up their speaking time, promising that a "repeal" was imminent, when in fact the council intended not to repeal but rather to amend, and kept the law intact for kids. Here again, the council deserves blame and not credit.
#4: POLICE HARASSMENT I've lost count of how many cyclists I've met who were ARRESTED for minor traffic infractions. Not just ticketed, but ARRESTED. Just recently my friend Jennifer Sigman was arrested and taken to jail for riding her bicycle on the sidewalk downtown. The police in this City have no accountability to anyone. The council's compromise earlier this year was basically worthless since it did not provide for a Citizen's Review Board. This is a major failing of the council. Here again, the council deserves blame and not credit.
#5: MOTORISTS WHO HIT CYCLISTS DON'T FACE CONSEQUENCES About half of the serious car-bike collisions in Austin are hit & runs. The council's continuing treatment of cyclists as second-class citizens only reinforces that same mindset in motorists and makes them unconcerned about hitting or even killing us. These hit & run motorists don't face any consequences because nobody knows who they are and they're never caught. But even when the motorists are known, often nothing will happen to them. Police officers routinely fail to ticket or charge drivers who injure cyclists even when the drivers are clearly at fault. And even though the Tom Churchill case made it to a grand jury, the grand jury failed to indict the motorist although he was clearly at-fault. The council could set an example for the police and grand jurors by treating cycling and cyclists with respect, but through antagonistic action (e.g., the helmet ordinance) and lack of action in other areas (e.g., cars in bike lanes, funding for the Bicycle Program), it helps foster the attitude that cyclists don't matter. Here again, the council deserves blame and not credit.
#6: THE YELLOW BIKE PROJECT One of the reasons cited in the Bicycling article for ranking Austin in the Top 10 was the Yellow Bike Program. Of course, the Council deserves no credit for this because the Yellow Bike Project is not a City program, it's a private non-profit organization. And the Council's helmet ordinance nearly killed the whole program before it even got properly established, with police officers arresting people who tried to use the free yellow bikes without helmets. The Yellow Bike Project was able to secure a shop space from the City in exchange for providing the City with bicycles for employees to use, but the Yellow Bikers had to go through a year of the City's red tape before they could actually move into the space.
#7: THE VELOWAY After not spending money for nearly a decade which had been authorized by voters to build bike lanes and make other biking improvements, an earlier City Council threw most of that money away on the Veloway, a recreation & racing loop outside the (then) City limits, which does absolutely nothing to aid cycle commuting in the City.

Enjoy the maps and links/info.....and safe riding to all of you!


Extra Bonus..how NOT to get hit by cars while biking in Austin ...
http://bicyclesafe.com/