Try a Bike Tour of Austin

Biking over 10 miles through Austin’s parks, city streets, and state Capitol complex thrilled me on my recent bike tour of Austin.

I am a huge fan of walking tours, which I typically book on the first day I arrive in a city (check out my posts on historic Montmartre neighborhood in Paris, street art in Berlin, and James Joyce’s Dublin). But for some reason, I never thought of touring by bike. I won’t make this mistake again! I want to do both.

From the moment my guide and I started cruising down the bike path, I felt like a kid. Peddling an old-fashioned bike by “Terri Power” instead of letting my eBike do it for me felt great. 

First, we rode through a city park, weaving past the pedestrians and joggers. Since it was a Saturday afternoon, the park was full.

Childhood Memories

I was shocked by how childhood memories of biking in Rock Creek Park in Silver Silver Spring, Maryland, as a 9-year-old on my “banana” bike, flooded my mind. It’s funny how our brain stores long-ago memories of childhood experiences.

I recall author Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time as he savors a bite of madeleine cake dunked in tea.  

Proust travels back to childhood by dipping his madeleine cake in a cup of tea. No sooner does the shell-shaped cookie dunked in tea reach his tongue than he shudders because something extraordinary is happening to him.

“An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin.” (Marcel Proust)

In Search of Lost Time

Tasting the madeleine unlocked memories of comfort spent at Aunt Leonie’s house for Proust. Riding a bicycle excavated girlhood memories of freedom flying down woodland trails for me. (See my long-ago post on “eBiking in Washington D.C.” about girl power.)

What I think is most intriguing is that the sight of the little madeleine had recalled nothing to Proust’s mind before he tasted it. And so, as adults, seeing a bike or pair of skates won’t instantly put us back in our old neighborhood. We have to do the activity.

Bike Tour of Austin

But I digress. Whether riding a bike on a city tour floods your memories with happy summers spent exploring as a child, I can guarantee you that taking a bike tour as an adult is exhilarating.

I booked my “Austin in a Nutshell Bike Tour with a Local Guide” on Viator. It costs $64.84, including the bike and helmet rental. The operator is Barton Springs Bike Rentals and Tours.

Five people were booked for the 3:30 p.m. tour, but I was the only one who showed up on time, so my guide, Toby Boyd, gave me a two-hour private bike tour. (Toby was the best guide ever!)

Zilker Park

There is something about exploring a vast section of the city on a bike that exhilarated me. Gliding down the woodland paths of Zilker Park, keeping an eye on any toddler that might dart in my path, slowing down to cross a bridge, kept me in the moment.

We could have spent an entire day here with 358 acres to explore in Zilker Park. But Toby had a lot of places to explore on our bike tour of Austin.

Barton Springs Pool

We stopped first at Barton Springs Pool, billed as one of the Crown Jewels of Austin, on our bike tour of Austin.

Three acres in size, the pool is fed from underground springs. The average temperature is 68-70 degrees so that residents can swim year-round. The pool has seen record-setting numbers of visitors, nearing 800,000 in recent years.

“Over the years, Barton Springs Pool has drawn people from all walks of life, from legislators who have concocted state laws there to free-spirited, topless sunbathers who turned heads in the 1970s.” (AustinTexas.gov)

We watched the swimmers from above, looking through a fence. This pool is longer than a football field. I’d love to return and float on a raft at this pool.

Lady Bird Lake

Next, we stopped at a promenade to park our bikes and look over Lady Bird Lake. Although the former First Lady initially rejected the city’s entreaties to name the lake in her honor, she finally agreed before her death.

On this sunny Saturday afternoon, people lazily float in their kayaks on the tranquil lake. Dogs sit on benches, waiting for their owners to get off and walk. 

We rode our bikes parallel to the tracks of the Barton Springs children’s train, which chugged slowly through the forest. I wanted to photograph the laughing children but wisely resisted the impulse.

Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Statue

Our next stop was the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Statue at Auditorium Shores on Lady Bird Lake, erected in 1993. The city chose this location because it was the site of numerous Vaughan concerts.

On August 27, 1990, Vaughan and four others died as a result of a helicopter crash in Wisconsin. They had been performing at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre. 

It has become one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions.

Going “Batty” in Austin

My absolute favorite stop was Ann W. Richard’s South Congress Bridge. While we didn’t see any bats, it is one of the most visited city attractions. About one and a half million bats live at South Congress Bridge home from March through September. (But up to 100,000 bats are present year-round.)

Austin is home to one of the largest colonizations of bats. “They’re called Mexico free-tailed bats and they come up from the cave system in Mexico each summer to have their babies. They’re about the size of two golf balls. They come out at night … They eat half their weight in insects,” explained Toby. (Click this link to see the full video on my YouTube channel.)

The bats fly at 60-plus miles per hour and 2-mile high flight patterns. They eat all the insects in their path. The bats’ feeding frenzy means insects don’t plague Austin.

You can scan a code to learn more about the flight times and viewing tips to see the bats. You can also tag @AustinBatRefuge to follow or donate to help Austin’s bats.

Austin American-Statesman Bat Observation Center

Toby let me linger at the Austin American-Statesman Bat Observation Center so I could read all the educational signs describing the bats. 

There are close-up photographs of the Mexican free-tailed bat catching a moth. The center also posts warnings:

“Never handle a bat! Do not touch a bat or any wild animal!”

I learned from the “Things You Should Know About Bats” sign that bats are not blind. (Bats use biological sonar to hunt fast-flying insects.) Bats are not flying rodents. (They are mammals.) Bats are not dirty; they groom their fur like cats. And bats are not bloodsuckers. (Only three of more than 1,250 bat species feed on blood.)

City Biking

After we left the bridge, we rode through the city. I soared past street art, outdoor cafes, and dog walkers. My guide never asked me to ride my bike in traffic. We used the bike path system to ride across East Sixth Street, a National Register Historic District. There are six blocks of turn-of-the-century Victorian commercial buildings.

I enjoyed seeing the trucks set up to sell food downtown. Since the Texas Book Festival occurred during my stay in November, the city closed off several streets from traffic. I saw attendees eating tacos at cafe tables, dogs napping in the sun, and book lovers streaming in and out of big tents.

Austin State Capitol

Our next stop was the Austin State Capitol building. Residents and visitors were sprawling on quilts and meandering down paths on the lawn outside the building. It was built on rusticated Sunset Red Texas granite and topped off with a cast iron dome and Goddess of Liberty statue.

I was surprised to learn that the Texas Capitol is taller than the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The building stands 14.64 feet taller than the nation’s Capitol. (You know the saying that “Everything’s bigger in Texas.”)

BUT, there is no Confederate gold buried under the oldest tree on the Capitol Grounds.

“No historical documentation exists that substantiates this often-told legend. In addition, the Capitol Grounds Restoration graded, excavated and restored the acreage around the Capitol during the 1990s. No gold or other treasure turned up during this extensive work.” (State Preservation Board)

You can book guided tours of the Capitol to learn more about its myths, including secret tunnels and people buried on its grounds. The tours are available Monday through Friday between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., and the last tour departs at 3:30 p.m. There are also self-guided tours.

Texas African American History Memorial

I was particularly interested in the Texas African American History Memorial. Ed Dwight sculpted this 27-foot high, 32-foot wide memorial, which the Texas African American History Memorial Foundation erected in 2016.

The memorial honors June 19, 1865, when African Americans were freed from slavery.

“The central portion of the memorial dramatically depicts Juneteenth in Texas: June 19, 1865 when African Americans were freed from the bonds of slavery.”

Numerous African American heroes are represented, including Texas Revolutionary fighter Hendrick Arnold and leaders such as Barbara Jordan. 

Rio Grande Neighborhood

We wheeled our bikes over to a historic neighborhood at W. 11th Street and Rio Grande. Once the home of Austin’s elite, the neighborhood now boasts a lot of lawyers’ offices. My guide talked about several historical buildings, including the Pease School.

Then we slowly wound our way back to the bike store by a circuitous route through bike trails off W. 6th Street, under tunnels, and past the new Austin Library. I loved the contrast between “old” Austin’s Power Plant and “new” Austin’s skyscrapers.

Exercise & Culture

Meeting a local who can teach you about their city’s famous attractions, best restaurants, hidden away gems, and help you exercise seems like the perfect way to spend your first day on your vacation. I highly recommend trying a bike tour.

I’ll leave you with a few favorite quotes about the joys of biking.

“Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bike.” – John F. Kennedy

“Cyclists see considerably more of this beautiful world than any other class of citizens.” – Dr. K.K. Doty

“You are one ride away from a good mood.” – Sarah Bentley

“It is the unknown around the corner that turns my wheels.” – Heinz Stücke

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