Bicycle riding is my favorite way to relax. I live in Austin, Texas, a city with a relative plethora of bike lanes as well as an extensive hike and bike trail system, so there are many good choices of places to ride.
One of my favorite rides is along the Shoal Creek hike and bike trail. Just north of downtown and the University of Texas campus, this is a gem of a public park and amazingly convenient. The trail meanders along Shoal Creek for a couple of miles, and in typical Austin fashion you ride alongside a frisbee golf course a good bit of the way.
While the summers in Austin can be wiltingly hot, the other three seasons are perfect for biking, with mild winters and gorgeous springs and falls. I enjoy getting out for longer rides, sometimes day trips, in the ‘tween seasons, and have discovered a number of pleasant rides in far east Austin, with a longer trip out to Bastrop one possibility (45 miles each way).
My bike is Trek Crossroads Hybrid. It’s getting on 15 years old now, but it is a great bike and perfect for my a few times a week recreational needs. I usually ride alone, but I do have a couple of friends who also bike and we get together once or twice a year for a ride. I haven’t done it yet, but one of my goals is to buy a pair of cycling pants and join Lance Armstrong and the Livestrong gang on one of their weekend rides around town.