Question

Michelle (via email) asked me a great question today:


Why is it that on your SA Bike Rides site, there aren't any bike rides in San Antonio??? It's all surrounding cities. Aren't there places to ride here? That's why I went to your site.

~Michelle





Hi Michelle!

This is a great question!

The short answer is that I haven't gotten any of the San Antonio rides up yet.  I've got a few in progress, but I haven't completed the maps yet.  The Mission Trail on the south side of town is one in particular that's coming soon.  I've got several variations of that route that should serve all skill levels.  There are also some rides starting from the Blue Star and La Tuna areas that are fun and safe that I have in progress.  I am currently planning several rides that start from Bullis County Park out Blanco road.

The long answer is a little more nuanced.  San Antonio has exploded with growth the last 10 years or so.  There were once some really great rides in town, but now most of those roads make me nervous to ride on.  I'm working on coming-up with routes in town that I'm comfortable sending people out on and that are fun to ride.  It's difficult to generate an urban route that doesn't put people in significant danger, either from traffic or from questionable neighborhoods.

The park-n-ride at I-10 and 1604 used to be a great place to ride from.  There were good rides going in all directions and I rode from there several times a week.  Now that The Shops at La Cantera and The Rim have been built, those roads are just too crazy.  Some of the people that used to start from there have now moved the ride starts to Leon Springs near Rudy's, but those roads as well are just too crazy with traffic these days.  I'm thinking of mapping some rides from off of Babcock and Chase Hill Blvd. near UTSA, because some of the back roads around there haven't gotten unreasonable yet.

There also used to be some good rides that went through the Stone Oak area, but you can barely even drive a car through there now, much less a bicycle.  It's kinda sad.

The areas with good possibilities are Kirby and on out east, and some of the areas on the south side of town.



And later I replied:



I've been doing some more research, and I think I found the trails you are referring to. The cit of San Antonio has them listed on their website here: http://www.sanantonio.gov/creekways/. I've ridden the trails off Bandera behind OP Schnabel Park, which are probably the ones that the guys at Ride Away were referring to. There are some neat trails back there, but I can't vouch for the skill levels they require. I have reports of the trails between Huebner and Blanco road from a friend that says they have both paved and unpaved trails. They may be exactly what you're looking for.