For the last two years we have not only been helping run Kealing Middle School‘s Bike Club, but we have also provided the bike ride component of their Parks and Rec Elective Class taught by Alex Hendrix and Cara Crouch.
Last year we loaded up a trailer with the ten bikes, two for instructors and eight for the two groups of eight students. This year, with the majority of the Pedernales Protected Bikeway (an all-ages all-abilities bicycle facility) we were able to cut out the middle man and use the bikes as transportation down to Lady Bird Lake and the Expedition School.
One group prepped the bikes and rode while the other group walked to the CapMetro bus stop. Both groups then met up at the Expedition School where the bike group then continued around Lady Bird Lake on the Butler Trail and the new Boardwalk. While the bus group put on life jackets, grabbed paddles, and headed out onto the lake itself.
We were able to ride pretty much all the way around the lake, first crossing to the south shore via the I-35 bicycle and pedestrian wing, onto the Boardwalk, listening to the bats roosting under Congress, past Auditorium shores, across Barton Spring and then a rest stop under Mopac. Then we returned on the north side of the trail, checking out Pfluger Bridge, both rowing centers, and then back to Fiesta Gardens for a late morning lunch. The two groups swapped and we heading out with the second crew round the lake by bike.
At the end of the field trip one group walked to the bus to take the bus back to campus and the rest of us took the bikes back to campus via pedal power. The route wasn’t as the bird flies but even with the non-direct route to utilize the new youth friendly facilities, we still beat the bus back to campus!
A quick talk about the route and the ride before heading out:
Nice quiet neighborhood road to Rosewood Park:
A short jog on Rosewood to get to the Boggy Creek Trail:
Boggy Creek Trail leads us to the Pedernales Protected Bikeway:
Almost to 7th street separated from the vehicles by a concrete buffer:
Getting ready to cross Cesar Chavez and almost to Butler Trail around Lady Bird Lake:
Success, exploring Butler Trail by bike:
Waiting for pedestrians coming across the Barton Creek bridge:
Taking a break in the shade under Mopac:
Cooling off at the steel shell sculpture bathroom which has out door showers:
And last but not least, out on the water:
