Hi there all!

Just moved to Austin, and Texas seems a lot harder to find somewhere to ride than New Mexico was..

looking to get to know the locals.. what pubs/bars do all the dirt riders hang out at ?

and anyone interested in carpooling to the next ride ?

New Mexico.....lots of public land......Texas, not so much. We like to go to New Mexico to ride off road (mainly in the summer). There's some national forest riding down in the Houston area. You need to keep an eye on this forum to see when there are family day rides planned. They are awesome and involve a lot of work to prepare and they ARE weather permitting. We can't tear up the properties when they're too wet and ruin the trails. Obviously we've had a lot of rain lately. There are several off road parks and ranches that we get to ride weather permitting. There is an off road park out near Marble Falls and a small city of Austin park and another off road park up north of Georgetown that provide some more rocky terrain riding and are less prone to be effected by a lot of rain. There's several MX tracks in the area that are fun and one has trails to ride (weather permitting). That's what I did yesterday, old man motoX practice. A lot of people like to race the cross country (TORCS) and enduro circuits to get access to a lot of different ranches that are not usually accessible for recreational riding. There's always a class for all skill levels. What part of Austin are you in?

Don't know of any dirt bike bars in the area. There are a couple off road riding places that are open most to every other weekend. Although all this rain is putting a dampner on things right now. The closest is Powell's Ranch MCP they have a facebook page you can go to to find out when they're open. Another is CTOR and it's a membership type of place out near Salado but you can call them to day ride. Get the number off their web page to arrange a visit. The only other that I know of is Crooked Creek near Waco. They are open every other weekend. Check their web page for when they plan on being open. If it's been raining the best draining of them is CTOR. Both Powell's and Crooked Creek will hold water for a while but when it's tacky, both are really nice and fun. Murphys MX out by Bastrop has a couple nice tracks and a rather short trail to ride. Austin Dell Valley MX is a very nice place to ride MX also. When AMSA is not having a family ride day, I tend to mix it up going to the above places. If you're into hare scramble racing, TORCS is a great bunch to run with and if you're into enduro racing TSECC is another race group lots of local guys run in. They have a enduro and XC group.

Hope to see you at a ride day soon when it finally dries up a little around here.

Steve

what they just said! next time we have an amsa ride come out lots of good people.maybe you could tell us where to ride in new mexico besides cloud croft?
i hear theres good places around taos.
bobby l

Airbob covered it pretty well, but negated to mention Hidden Falls to the west. Its open Thurs-Sun (unless you have a membership) and you can ride there in most any weather conditions. I've ridden it numerous times during & after the rain. Its chunky rocky technical riding. But that also means that there's less mud and it drains well.
http://www.hiddenfallsadventurepark.com

A good number of people in my riding crew also ride mountain bikes. Its another way to get your 2 wheel off road fix in, in a different manner.

Welcome to Austin. Hope you didn't drive the home values up in my neighborhood!
-CJB

Welcome to Austin. The three places that we go ride are:
1) CTOR (http://ridector.com/) - 30 minutes north of Austin. $20 a day to ride or $300 a year. 1,000 acre ranch. They have a lot of trails and it is only dirt bike and 4 wheelers. Great place to ride with all skill levels. Check out the videos on the site to see what it is like. We are members out there and love it since we can camp overnight and get our camping and dirt bike riding fix at one time.
2) Hidden Falls Adventure Park (http://www.hiddenfallsadventurepark.com/) - 45 minutes west of Austin. $20 a day (I think) to ride. 3,000 acre ranch. Tons a trails (I think it has 80 miles of trails). A lot of single track and creek beds to ride in. Very rocks and can be rather technical. This is where they host one of the enduro races. Love this place, but it can get super dusty and has a lot of other traffic since it is open to 4 wheel drive vehicles as well. If you like rocks this is your place.
3) Murphy's MX Park (http://www.murphysmx.com/) - an hour and a half southeast of Austin. $25 a day to ride. Great motocross track (day and night track plus a kids track and a few trails). Amazing dirt and forgiving for a motocross track.

There is also Del Valley Motocross (http://www.advmxpark.com/) - 20 minutes southeast of Austin near the Circuit of the Americas F1 track. $25 a day to ride. Serious motocross track (big jumps and fast riders). This is where a lot of motocross races are held around the area. I am not that good or that fast so I tend to stay away from Del Valley, but if you know how to ride well you will have a blast.

What sort of riding are you looking to do? Is it just you or do you also have kids that ride? Just curious to help guide you in the direction to go. As for the best bar to hang out at, I usually just do it out at the track at the end of the day after the riding is done. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.

Nice! You guys are awesome!

Yea, living off of william cannon now, but I was in South Eastern nm.. Between Carlsbad/artesia theres tons of riding areas.. Mostly sand dunes/trails.. But If you're in Hobbs, stop by Jerry Stevens cycle shop and tell him you want to know what "Marathon" is all about.. So much riding all around Some of us would ride straight from our houses and catch trails just outside of town.. Nm was so LAX about off roading.. I miss that.

But the only technical stuff I've ridden was Cloudcroft.. Still got a cracked headlight from "bob sled" oops..

I'm still a newer rider, but I do enjoy some semi- technical trails.. Not interested in MX at all.. And no kids..

Ctor sounds like the best fit, but id be open to any invites.. Got my own truck, bike, gear just need the friends!

Oh I also got a trials bike.. Dunno how to use it though -,-

Ok, I'll chime in here. A couple updates to Chris's post. Murphy's is $30 but no fee for spectators. Del Valley's scoring tower just blew over and destroyed it. So their current schedule is unknown.

I live in Buda, and it takes me 35 minutes to get to Del Valley and 40 minutes to get to Murphy's. These two mx tracks are roughly 15 minutes apart.

I've ridden at Cloudcroft many times and you won't find anything like that around here.

Another place to check out for just trails is Powell's Offroad Park. It's fairly new and in the same area (Cedar Creek) as Murphy's they have a Facebook Page

Definitely check out the AMSA family days. Just park anywhere and introduce yourself to anyone around you. Very friendly crowd. If you're into mountain biking there's groups that do that too.

If you are into competition, there's TORCS (hare scramble) and the enduro series. Both have forums on here. TORCS next race is May 21/22 in San Antonio at Zars ranch. Which is a cool place to ride.

Don't forget City Park. Technical dirt bike riding . 450cc or less . In town . Just off 2222 and 360. Next to Emma Long park.
Bring your trials bike every Wed afternoon. Group trials ride.

The mud creek off-road park in Jacksonville closed(source) but City Park is still kicking it!

That is a bike shop I have not heard about in a long time. How is Jerry these days, I spent the summer of 2009 in Hobbs, yes with the dirtbike, rode the desert around there and got invited by Jerry and John, one of his riding buddies at the time to go up to Cloud Croft with them and had an excellent weekend in the mountain.