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For stress relief, try the veloway
Since I ride on the city streets most days, I’m used to being focused.
I mean REALLY focused. You have to be, or you could become a greasy spot on the road.
But the other day I was cruising around in south Austin with lots of traffic, and I just needed a break. The simple solution was the Veloway. It’s a 3.2 mile paved loop that’s just for those on wheels and it’s a prefect reprieve for the auto-annoyed.
The setting is gorgeous. It’s a paved 23-foot wide lane that carves through oaks and yuccas, and in its short span, offers cyclists a chance to work on sharp cornering and some climbing. It’s open from dusk until dawn and there’s a water fountain for the unprepared.
But the best part is riding without worry. There’s no sucking in exhaust fumes, no weaving teenagers with learner’s permits, no drunken truckers and no stop signs.
Stress just melts away as you ride among the roadrunners and squirrels. I highly recommend it. Especially if you need to relax. That’s part of what makes cycling so good.
Comments
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By noah
September 9, 2008 12:01 PM | Link to this
How do you get there without driving or getting murdered on Mopac?
By Joe D
September 9, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this
I’m sure it’s great, but I don’t get that whole concept of putting my bike on my car to drive someplace where I can ride my bike in circles for awhile before putting the bike back on the car and driving home.
I could ride my bike there, but that would sort of defeat the whole point of going there to get away from the cars.
By Barbara Johnson
September 9, 2008 12:44 PM | Link to this
yes, but it also gets boorring after a few spins around it.
By Matt
September 10, 2008 7:25 AM | Link to this
If it gets too boring for you cyclists out there I could bring my truck to the track and drive around it. Then you’ll have that car action you’re missing.
By David
September 10, 2008 8:25 AM | Link to this
Want a little cheese with that whine??? Hey, maybe you don’t live as far away from it and appreciate the article..
By Rick C
September 10, 2008 11:00 AM | Link to this
Worthless. What happened was, the city secured a bunch of pork barrel tax money to build up Austin’s bike lanes, and instead they blew it all on this stupid circle so far out of the city that you have to drive your bike over to it. We shouldn’t be encouraging cyclists to use it. We should be boycotting it. We should be encouraging people to heavily use bike lanes in the city so that any cycling-related pork barrel spending gets used for that.
By Bryan
September 10, 2008 12:25 PM | Link to this
As a inline skater I would have to say that the Veloway is one of the best places I have ever skated, but it’s only 3.1 miles, not 3.2 (it’s a true 5k only if you stay on the outside edge of each corner).
By Richard
September 10, 2008 12:51 PM | Link to this
Hey Rick C get your facts straight. It wasn’t built by the city and is not a waste for the many that use it everyday. Take the article for what it was, a spotlight on a city treasure. As someone that uses it many times a week, I am thankful for this track.
By Tom
September 10, 2008 4:18 PM | Link to this
And if your lucky…you will run into some of your local friendly flat track roller derby Texas Rollergirls out on the Veloway skating their guts out ;-) Faster Faster Kill Kill Kill!!! www.txrollergirls.com