Lone Star Bicycle Route
A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had found a map from 1976 for the Lone Star Bicycle Route. With the rain today I decide to complete the project. In the 33 years since it was published I thought there would be many changes in the route and/or the route designations. As I plotted the route on Bikely.com I was surprised that the original route is still intact except for just a couple of road numbers.
I plotted the route in two parts and have added the links to the Bike Ride Maps page. The page link is also at the top of the page.
From the back of the original map, “The Lone Star Bicycle Route was researched and developed by the Texas College Bicentennial Program and the Texas Cycling Committee. It provides a scenic, safe and reasonably direct route across a large sweep of southern and southwestern landscape. Following paved rural roads and hard-surfaced urban bikeways, the Lone Star Route is designed for cross-country, regional and local travel. For the cross-country bicyclist, the Route connects with major transcontinental routes on either end.
In 1976 bicyclists Brian McCarron and Phil Burden made a 9,000 mile tour of the United States. Their tour included the Austin-Amarillo portion of the Lone Star Bicycle Route. Brian’s evaluation: ‘Both Phil and I felt that it was well routed with excellent camping options. The farm roads we followed offered fantastic scenery with good road surface and virtually no traffic.’ Average riders should be encouraged by Brian and Phil’s tour. Neither rider had extensive bicycle touring experience prior to their trip.â€
The back of the map cautions bicyclists between Amarillo and Austin to expect periodic heavy winds, steep hills and long distances between towns. Tire eating stickers may also be present.