Headed there for the long weekend with the family. Any advice for cycling routes ? Any groups ride there?

Put the bike down and enjoy the weekend.

With the traffic and alcohol, I wouldn't recommend you ride.

Once you get north of town, the shoulder are decent, but I'm not sure how long of a ride it is.

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With the traffic and alcohol, I wouldn't recommend you ride.

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Don't forget all the high schoolers and college kids that'll be texting and driving.

Maybe rent a couple of fat tire cruiser bikes for you and your fam and ride up and down some beach paths? You obviously won't get the same exercise but it's better than nothing and it's probably much safer.

As a local, I strongly advise against it. Although there are some good roads in that area, accidents are frequent. Throw in the 4th and its no bueno. There are two group rides I know of but both are 30 miles away. I would rent something and pedal the shoreline.

[This message has been edited by walter kovacs (edited 7/3/2013 6:46p).]

I was planning to get over the causeway as quickly as possible since there didn't seem to be much on the island. I plan to be off the bike while the drunks are still sleeping. What are the group rides you know of? I'm not completely opposed to riding around Harlingen.

both groups look like they're having saturday rides. first link is a shop ride. second is a club.
http://bicycleworldrgv.com/about/rides-events-calendar-pg377.htm

http://www.riverrockets.com/clubrides.html

Thanks for the links...I'll check them out.

We got here a few minutes ago. I was hoping for a better shoulder or bike lane on the causeway. Definitely not riding across that. We're going to drive over to Pt. I and ride from there. I found some rides on MapMyRide that suggest some type of organized ride around here. We're going to stick to those roads mostly.

I wasn't at the hotel 2 minutes before a guy saw me with the bike and I now have a riding buddy for tomorrow.

I did two rides down there, a forty and a fifty miler. Fantastic roads, no worries about traffic. Drove from SPI to Port Isabel and parked at Wal-Mart. I wouldn't have minded riding the causeway before seven o'clock, but by nine thirty bikes should certainly stay off.

All in all, if you find yourself headed that way, bring the bike.. and enjoy some wide open, smooth, flat, and windy riding.

did you ride highway 48 or 100?

Day one was out and backs on 100 to Los Fresnos... about 42 miles total.

Today we did 48 to Brownsville, FM 550 to Los Fresnos and back on 100 (with 5 mile detour) for about 48 miles.

Saw several other cyclists out, especially today.

We also saw some other guys riding on SPI itself (cyclists, not tourists). I'm not sure what their route was, but they were coming south by the Hilton Garden in on some high end Pinnerellos when I saw them.

Walter...BTW, thanks for the guidance about roads and rides. I was looking forward to getting some miles in this weekend and it would have been hard to steer me clear. This was the tail end of 17 days of near constant family time and I haven't been able to ride any of the last two weeks.

I have to worry about drunks where I live too...rural and near a lake but I don't get nearly the shoulder to ride on here that you guys have down there, so all in all I felt it was an upgrade for road conditions.

I'm curious, do you ride and just stay off the bike on holiday weekends, or were you just broadly suggesting to stay off the bike in that area?

FTAC of 2000
Formerly AgDDS2B.

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I'm curious, do you ride and just stay off the bike on holiday weekends, or were you just broadly suggesting to stay off the bike in that area?

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Holiday weekends on those roads. Highway 100 has been vastly improved over the past few years but that stretch of roads is notorious for fatal car accidents. In the past week there was at least one. 5 victims in a head on collision. The mornings are usually safe but the evenings are a gamble. It's actually safer to ride that road in a big group so you get noticed. The valley has a strong roadie presence but the best shoulders are all on high speed roads.

edit: those guys on the pinnies were probably doing intervals. not sure what else could be done out there. everything is an out and back.

[This message has been edited by Walter Kovacs (edited 7/7/2013 12:50a).]