Austin, Texas & Mountain Biking — Community.
If you build it, they will come.
There is way more to the first piece that I wrote not too long ago. I knew that the Austin metro area mountain biking scene is hugely underrated. It is true; the location is home to these people, we are riding on their creations. The citizens of Austin deserves our utmost respect when it comes to using these trails, their design, their work, and their passion shared with all of us.
A more in-depth piece about Austin’s MTB community that holds it all together. Trail advocating and maintenance by riding them like Austin Ridge Riders club and Trail Party. Bike shops large and small all have a 100% contributing factor to the cycling scene in Austin.
AUSTIN RIDGE RIDERS
Austin Ridge Riders Mountain Bike Club is the largest and most active club in the Austin metro area. A non-profit whose goal is to promote safety and environmental awareness for off-road cycling.
1) What year was Austin Ridge Riders established? 1987
The Austin Ridge Riders mission is to develop trails by promoting trail stewardship in cooperation with local land managers, improve mountain bike awareness and access, and bring people together to build a strong off road cycling community.
2) How many members do you currently have? Currently 340
3) How long would you say the time frame is from a trail idea into actually building the trail for the people to ride them actively? As short as six months to as long as a couple of years. This is based on the number of layers of government / Land Manager approval that needs to be completed. We have had some trails take 3–4 years from concept to open for use.
4) What is your most successful program in the organization that has progressed Austin mountain biking? Trail Advocacy and education. Working with all the land managers to keep the existing mountain bike trails. Working with land managers on the development of new mountain bike trails.
5) What is the biggest news to come for the future of Austin’s mountain biking trails? ARR recently used a generous grant from REI to fund heavy equipment construction of Phase One of the Flow Trail area at Reimers Ranch Park (in cooperation with Travis County Parks Department.) The Flow Trail includes berms, rollers, drops, jumps, and rock integrated into the landscape. The first Flow Trail has been built and is open to riders. Additional flow trails are being planned.
6) How involved is ARR with Austin’s Urban Trail planning and implementation? ARR’s primary focus is on building and maintaining natural surface trails. We typically do not have a large role in the Urban Trails program. However, ARR does plan to propose additional natural surface mountain bike trail off the Southern Walnut Creek urban trail in Northeast Austin.
7) What do you do guys think about Tesla’s new Terrafactory coming to Austin, and what does it mean for the trails in the area? At this time, it’s difficult to comment on how Telsa’s presence in the Austin area will affect area trails. We are always looking for ways to provide the Austin/Central Texas MTB community with more opportunities to enjoy the sport we all love. Perhaps Telsa could do for Austin what the Walton Family Foundation did for Bentonville’s MTB scene?
TEAM TRAIL PARTY
Team trail party, a group that has a significant factor for progressing and stoking out the Austin MTB community. A gravity focused driven group with intentions of building trails, hosting events/clinics, and going all out with bikes. A trip out to one of their events is a must!
1) What year was Team Trail Party established? TTP was created in 2014 on the way back from an early Enduro race.
Based out of Austin, we are riders and builders at heart. In 2014, we started organizing enduro races. The races were conceived as a means to fund new trail construction in Central Texas and build a stronger backbone for an already vibrant mountain bike community.
From these efforts, we have built 12 new progressive trails in Central Texas and steadily increased our races to seven proposed races in 2019, anchored around our signature race series, the Texas Enduro Cup. — Team Trail Party.
2) How many members do you currently have? We have 20–25 core members that are involved with all facets of our operations and another 30–40 jersey holders we all consider family.
3) How long would you say the time frame is from a trail idea into actually building the trail for the people to ride them actively? We have a great team of experienced builders and volunteers. When the trail is actually planned and approved we get after it and finish quickly. We’ve been able to put quality trails together as fast as any trail crew I’ve ever seen.
4) What is your most successful program in the organization that has progressed Austin mountain biking? I’d say the Texas Enduro Cup race series. It’s built more trails, gotten more people involved in gravity racing, and created more friendships than anything else we do.
5) What is the biggest news to come for the future of Austin’s mountain biking trails? Not so much news, but between Spider Mountain and Reveille Peak Ranch, Burnet TX is becoming a small MTB destination. We have lots of plans we will be letting out this fall.
6) How involved is TTP with Austin’s Urban Trail planning and implementation? We do not work with the urban trail development program at this time.
7) What do you do guys think about Tesla’s new Terrafactory coming to Austin, and what does it mean for the trails in the area? Aside from the obvious creation of jobs for our area, there will be a badass line of trucks to get our bikes to the trails.
Be sure to check out the TTP website and social media for race events, clinics, and build days coming up this fall.
I’ve had the pleasure to interview these influential organizations that contribute to Austin’s mountain bike scene, how these organizations provide collaboration, a way to unite a community under an interest. Reach out, see how you can get involved, and become a member!
Bike Shops
These shops are one of the most significant contributing factors in Austin, large and small all have their influences on the trails in the area, if it were not for them, Austin would not even have the trails it has today. Each of these bike shops specializes in a brand or 2, they’re mostly all different from each other, and that is something to keep in mind. If you get a flat on the trail, these shops will serve you right, make sure you have a backup tube, and a CO2 canister to get you right back on the trail.
Bicycle Sport Shop — There are four of these shops scattered around the Austin area, they carry an extensive line of items and several different kinds of bikes.
Mellow Johnny’s — A shop right in the middle of downtown Austin, owned by Lance Armstrong.
Texas Cycle Werks — If you get a flat on Barton Creek, hike your bike back up the hill and fix your flat at TCW and thank this shop for being close to the greenbelt.
The Peddler Bike Shop — There are two of these shops in north Austin serving the Cedar Park and Hyde Park neighborhoods.
ATX Bikes — Right smack in the middle of the South Austin Trail Network (SATN), if you get a flat, thank these guys for being so close to a sprawling network of trails.
