After almost three weeks staying next door from my long-time base of Travis County, I’ve concluded that deespite it’s many faults, Austin, Texas isn’t as bad as it is out here in the suburbs. Maybe the grass is always greener on the other side, but sometimes, the green, green grass of home ain’t all bad, either. Familiarity breeds contempt, but with no protected bike lanes and little connectivity between trails, the quote “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t” applies. (from Trish Doller, The Devil You Know). Some thoughts on this subject follow. PICTURES IN A LITTLE BIT.
The first clue that Cedar Park isn’t bicycle friendly is that there is no public transit. There’s a train to the next suburb, Leander, but the citizens and more likely its politicians chose to let it pass right on through without stopping. So, if you’re biking and you get a flat, or the road’s too dangerous (I’m looking at you, Parmer Lane), or your light dies, or you’re tired, or it’s pouring rain, or it’s 109 degrees, or you want to bus to work and bike home, you’re SOL. If you don’t know that abbreviation, it means Shit Out of Luck. Don’t ask me why it’s not SOoL.
The next one is that if and when you do find a bike lane, there are no bollards or street turtles to keep cars from plowing into you. They are few and far between, and often not the regulation 14 feet, either. Also, they’ll just stop when the road narrows, or funding ran out.
Third is the speeding cars down aforementioned Parmer Lane. At the town line, it turns into Ronald Reagan Boulevard. (Fun fact: The anagram of his full name, Ronald Wilson Reagan, spells INSANE ANGLO WARLORD.) The speed limit is 65 mph, and although the shoulder is wide and people do ride it, if a driver or cyclist makes one mistake, that’s all she wrote. I used to ride it more myself when I was doing charity traiing rides, but those were with a group. The Peddler Bike Shop’s second locatoin is nearby, an they advised me not to do it. I have a few times, because it’s the main way to get across town, but so far, I’m surviving.
The main clue that Cedar Park, Texas sucks for cyclists is this: YOU HARDLY EVER SEE OTHER CYCLISTS! The exception is the Brushy Creek Regional Trail, which is nice. But it’s 6.75 miles to nowhere. There are some mountain bike trails, but that’s for other blogs and other types of riders. On Parmer, I’ve seen the occasional road riders and several utility riders–poor folks without cars. But for most casual riders, it’s the trail or nothing.
The saving grace is sidewalks. One can ride for miles on those. Of course, they’re dangerous, especially at night. And sometimes, they disappear. Google Maps satellite view is my friend. But the quality of sidewalks up here is actually pretty decent.
This is all understandable and not surprising, because this is a growing area that still has very rural roots and flavor. Without much planning or a cycling lobby, it’s all cars, cars, cars. (And of course, trucks galore.) But get off the main roads and you’ll find neighborhoods that are decades old, wooden fences that look like they held cattle, and even pet goats. The newer developments might also have a few bike lanes but you’re basically riding in loops or dodging kids on balance bikes.
To give you an idea of how the two contrast, after starting this post I found this video that perfectly demostrates my point. It’s titled, appropriately, “Why Biking in the Suburbs Sucks.” It contrasts Cedar Park with Mueller in Austin, a neighbor I recently lived in. (Credit to Cardinal North on YouTube.) Yeah, it’s pretty horrible out here.
But I will say the trails and more rural environment have their pluses. It’s quieter. You don’t have to lock everything. There’s more wildlife. Sure, it’s Trump and Bible country, but if you stay away from those subjects, people are nice. So far no one in a conveniece store has looked askance at me in my clown suit (aka cycling togs) and said in their best Southern drawl, “You ain’t from around these here parts, are you son?”
As a Texan who has studied three other languages and speaks one of those very well–and English without much accent (unless I want to), I can legally make fun of my neighbors. But there are aggressive drivers. One yelled at me in Spanish as I was crossing with the light at a sidewalk, and I replied in kind in his language; he replied with a friendlier phrase in English as I kept going.
In fact, I was pleasantly suprised to learn that this suburb of 84,000 is quite diverse. Thanks likely to Apple and other tech companies, there is a lot of diversity in the population. Many South Asians live here. Down the road there’s a Hari Krishna Temple and My neighbors are Muslim. And many of them bike or walk the trails and sidewalks.
So, compared to all of that, Austin is a far cry better. It’s still not paradise for cyclists. In fact, it sucks, compared to what it could and should be. Yes, there are trails that are removed from cars and that actually go places. A new extension to the favorite Southern Walnut Creek Trail goes to Manor, Texas. Why one would want to go there is anathema to this fathlete, but whatevs. Buses with bike racks are there for the above scenarios. Drivers are used to seeing people on bikes, so maybe a little less murdery. And of course there are more bike lanes, many of them protected. So, chapeau to Austin to not sucking as much as one would think when compared to Cedar Park and Leander.
The good news is that there’s movement afoot (ha!) to make things suck less out here. A new group has formed to give input into a mobility plan. Active Transportation Advocates of Cedar Park (https://www.wyld.net/atacp/) has this to say:
“We are local residents passionate about having the option to get from here to there without a motor vehicle. We are walkers, bikers, runners and rollers.
Maybe you walk. Maybe you run. Maybe you’re a Mom, Dad, or grandparent pushing a stroller while walking the dog. Maybe you need to get to school. Maybe you bike for recreation but don’t want to drive to the trailhead and back. Maybe you bike to HEB for groceries. Maybe you use a scooter, roller skates, recumbent trike, or unicycle. Maybe you’re in a wheelchair or use a cane or crutches or a walker. These are just some of our active transportation users in Cedar Park.
We want and need safe, user-friendly paths, trails and sidewalks which are useful for both transportation and recreation. We enthusiastically support the Cedar Park 2021-2023 Strategic Goals with the current draft adopted September 23, 2021 here and look forward to being involved as stakeholders in making Cedar Park even better.”
Starting October 12th, people can give input into where you’d like to see improvements for pedestrians, cyclists at this site: https://www.cedarparktexas.gov/mobility. Preferably you live in the area, because they will probably ignore you if you’re from elsewhere. We’ll see where that goes.
Fortunately, my gym has a branch here, and I can go to sit on a trainer every day if I like. Also, I’ll be heading back to Austin soon enough. If I don’t die on Parmer Road first. Regardless of where you drive, walk, use a wheelchair or stroller, or bicycle, stay frosty out there, my friends!
