Mountain biking around Austin goes from easy to very technical, because of the variety of terrain around Austin. Be prepared for rocks!
Pretty much every trail west of Mopac runs on top of limestone, which breaks into rocky chunks. Smooth trails are a rarity in Austin. The technical features in Austin tend to revolve around limestone ledges - the best example of this is the City Park Mountain Bike/Dirt Bike trail in West Austin - only open to mountain bikes and dirt bikes, this is the most technical trail in city limits.
For a more mellow ride, check out Walnut Creek Metro Park on the north side of the city - you can put together an 11-mile ride by following blue blazes on sign posts that has pretty good flow, and is perfect for beginning to intermediate mountain bikers. On half of the Walnut Creek Trails, your off-leash pooch can join your adventure.
Barton Creek Greenbelt is the longest ride within city limits. The trail goes 7 miles from Zilker Park downtown (where it connects with the Lady Bird Lake Trail) out to the Hill of Life, which is the only significant climb. The Hill of Life goes up 400 feet over limestone ledges in less than half a mile - if you can make it up without putting your foot down, you're doing pretty well.
Trails:
8 miles of single track wind through the lush Barton Creek canyon from Zilker Park to the Hill of Life. Lots of stream crossings if the water is up.
Walnut Creek Metro Park has about 11 miles of singletrack trails that are mostly shaded, pretty smooth, and make for a great mountain bike ride for beginner to intermediate mountain bikers. Follow the blue blazes on the sign posts for an 11 mile loop that takes you through almost all of the park.
Find a trail map at http://www.austinridgeriders.com/documents/Walnut%20Creek%20Metro%20Park_Kiosk.pdf from the Austin Ridge Riders.
The City Park Mountain Bike/Motocross Trail in Emma Long Metro Park is one of the most technical trails in Austin. The six mile loop is a one-way trail, so follow the trail markings carefully. This trail is not open to hikers or runners, except once a year for the Rogue Trail Series Loop race.
Slaughter Creek Trail in Southwest Austin is a new trail for mountain bikers, hikers, runners, and horses. The trail is a five-mile loop that you follow one way for horses and hikers, with the other way for mountain bikers, so user conflict is minimized. There are no extreme vertical changes - it is a very runnable, very bikeable trail.
A shorter version of the Barton Creek Greenbelt, with 2.5 miles of hiking or mountain biking. Lots of creek crossings make this a great trail for warmer weather. The trail can be difficult to follow, as the signs get washed out by the creek frequently. Generally speaking, it runs along the creek, but crosses the creek several times. It also runs along both sides of the creek in some places, making it difficult to follow.
The Homestead Trail in McKinney Falls State Park is the best trail in the park for hiking and mountain biking - at three miles long, it is not too long, but it is a lot of fun.
Description:
Circle C Metropolitan Park on Slaughter Creek is a City of Austin park along Mopac (Loop 1) by Slaughter and La Crosse in far southwest Austin. The main section of the park is along Slaughter Lane west of Escarpment, although the park continues east of Escarpment, across Mopac, all the way to Bowie high school.
The main features of the park at Slaughter and Escarpment are a huge soccer complex, a disc golf course, 4 or 5 miles of trails, and a playground.
The trails in this park are great for jogging or walking your dog, but don't really work for mountain biking. They only get interesting where they criss-cross the disc golf course - it's easy to get lost here, becuase the singletrack is basically the eroded paths of the disc golfers. There are a few nice stretches of single track on the west side of the park, but it never really flows together.
The park also includes the Veloway, although the Veloway isn't connected to anything else in the park, by design.
The Wolf Mountain Trail is a nice 7.5 mile lollipop loop in Pedernales Falls State Park. This is one of the easiest longer hikes in the Austin area, and is very suitable for beginning hikers or mountain bikers. Intermediate and advanced mountain bikers won't be challenged by the jeep roads on the trail.
Where can I get a mountain bike event schedule?:
Mountain Bike Races and Rides:
Where can I rent mountain bikes?:
Your best bet for renting mountain bikes is through Bicycle Sport Shop - http://bicyclesportshop.com/articles/mountain-bike-rentals-pg1450.htm
They carry a pretty wide selection of hard-tail and full suspension mountain bikes from Specialized, Trek, and other bike lines. They do not rent their bikes out for mountain bike races or adventure races though. You can reserve in advance, and that's definitely recommended.
Bike Stores:
Mellow Johnny's is famously co-owned by Lance Armstrong, and the store serves as a mecca for all things Lance, down to the Juan Pelota coffee stand inside the store.
The bikes for sale aren't just for Tour de France winners here though - Mellow Johnny's is trying to seriously encourage commuter cycling, and has some interesting options. They also carry mountain bikes, time trial bikes, race wheels, and a large line of apparel, shoes, and helmets.
Downstairs, Mellow Johnny's offers bike fit services and specialized spin instruction.
Location:
400 Nueces Street
Austin,
TX 78701
One of the largest bike shops in Austin, Bicycle Sport Shop South is on South Lamar just south of Riverside. They carry road bikes, mountain bikes, and a pretty large selection of accessories.
Bicycle Sport Shop also rents bikes - really nice road and mountain bikes. Call and reserve a bike in advance if you know you are going to be in town, really far in advance if there's a popular race that weekend.
Location:
517 S. Lamar Blvd
Austin,
TX
Bicycle Sport Shop North is one of the older, larger bike shops in the northwest part of town. The main store is Bicycle Sport Shop South, but this store has a pretty good selection, especially of nutritional supplements. The service department here can be less busy than the south location.
There aren't a lot of rides or events out of this store, but the Great Hills area on the other side of US 183/Research Boulevard is great for hilly road riding, and you can always head down Jollyville to Loop 360.
Location:
10947 Research Blvd
Austin,
TX
The Parmer version of Bicycle Sport Shop serves the Round Rock/Cedar Park/Avery Ranch area, and makes a good base for riding Parmer Lane, especially if you need to get new tubes or get a quick fix of something on your bike.
Location:
9900 W. Parmer Ln
Austin,
TX
Hammerhead Bicycles is not a big-box bike retailer - they focus on a few brands such as Titus, Ventana, BMC, Ellsworth, Knolly, and True Fab. Hammerhead also fabricates their own frames under the Hammerhead brand.
Location:
6706 Burnet Lane
Austin,
TX 78757
Bike Clubs and Training Groups:
The Austin Ridge Riders are the local, friendly mountain bike club. The Austin Ridge Riders are very, very active in building new mountain bike trail in Austin and the surrounding areas Central Texas. Some of the projects the club has assisted with recently include the Goodwater Trail in Lake Georgetown, Pace Bend out by Lake Travis, Muleshoe Bend in the same area, Slaughter Creek Trail in Southwest Austin, and Walnut Creek in North Austin!