Hear “San Antonio”, and two things usually come to mind: Riverwalk and Alamo. True, they are the top two tourist attractions in Texas, but to really experience San Antonio, get on a bike, and explore…
If you happen to travel to San Antonio without your bike, no worries. There are multiple options for the wheel-less rider. This year, the Alamo City inaugurated B-cycle (http://sanantonio.bcycle.com/) , a bike rental system. Automated kiosks are located at popular tourist attractions throughout the central city. If you’re not a member of B-cycle, simply swipe a credit card, purchase a 24 hour membership for $10 (7 day [$24] and annual [$60] memberships can be purchased online), select your bike, and the dock will unlock your ride. A quick seat adjustment, and you’re on your way. If you return the bike to any dock in less than 30 minutes, there is no charge (beyond the daily membership fee). Each additional 30 minute segment is $2, up to a maximum of $35. With a bit of planning, you could easily cover the bulk of the central city and hardly incur a segment fee. Don’t expect to do any racing on a B-cycle. The machines are built strong, with a heavy step-through frame, mudguards, generator-powered lights, and a 3-speed hub transmission… plus a utility basket and bell.
San Antonio B-cycle
To find your way around, visit San Antonio Bikes (http://www.sanantonio.gov/oep/sabikes/mapsTrails.aspx) for maps focusing on the inner city. If road riding is more your style, check out San Antonio Bike Rides (http://www.sabikerides.com/) for rides in the surrounding countryside. If navigation is not your best suit, you can always hire a guide. San Antonio Bike Tours (www.sanantoniobiketours.com) specializes in small group tours (8 riders maximum). They uses super stable and comfortable recumbent tricycles, making them “the laid back way to see SA”.
A perfect exploration ride in San Antonio can combine history, scenery, and cusine… all in a 5 mile round trip. All you need is choose your starting point and direction. Since the Alamo is the iconic symbol of the city (and there’s a B-cycle station right across the street at the Visitor’s Center), after spending a while viewing the shrine, museum, and visiting the gift shop for your souvenir coon skin cap, it’s time to saddle up and ride. Now the choice, north, or south?
San Antonio Museum of Art
If north is your decision, take Alamo St north a few blocks to Brooklyn Ave. Turn left, cross Broadway, and go about ½ block to the entrance to the Museum Reach of the River Walk. Take a leisurely pace to enjoy the view and avoid the walkers and joggers. You’ll see a working lock and dam, river taxis, and art work at each bridge. Interpretive placards are located along the Reach, describing both the art and historic highlights of this stretch of the river. San Antonio was once known as the “Milwaukee of the South” for it’s large number of breweries, but today there are only a couple of microbreweries in the city (one on our Southbound ramble). With historic preservation a civic priority, San Antonio has preserved and repurposed two of the larger old breweries along the Museum Reach. The former Lone Star Brewery now houses the San Antonio Museum of Art (http://www.samuseum.org), with its extensive collections of Pre-Columbian, Spanish Colonial, and Latin American folk art. The Pearl Brewery complex (http://atpearl.com/) currently anchors the Museum Reach, until its future expansion to the Witte Museum and Brackenridge Park (about a mile north — bike paths are complete, but there is road work on Avenue B that can impede bike traffic). The Pearl complex is a true mixed-use development that features shops, apartments, a Culinary Institute of America cooking school, offices of the American Institute of Architects, and several restaurants. On Saturdays, the Pearl hosts a farmers’ market with multiple vendors offering fresh produce, artisanal meats, breads, and other locally-produced foods. If you’re too hungry to wait, no worries — food trucks stand ready with tempting treats, or you can sidle over to one of the restaurants (check out the CIA Bakery Café http://atpearl.com/food/restaurants/cia_bakery_cafe/ for soups, salads and pastries or La Gloria http://atpearl.com/food/restaurants/la_gloria/, featuring street food of Mexico).
The Alamo in San Antonio
After you snack, if you’re cycled out, leave you B-cycle at the Pearl station and catch a river taxi back downtown. It’s less than 3 mile back to the Alamo. On the way back, after departing the Museum Reach a Brooklyn Ave, go a few blocks east and catch the Hays Street Bridge. This eastern jog will take you to Sunset Station, the Alamodome, and Hemisfair Park, where you’ll reconnect with Alamo Street. Turn right, and in a few blocks, you’re back at the Alamo.
But all in San Antonio is not north… If instead, you choose to go south on Alamo, you’ll enter the Southtown Arts District, which also includes the King William Historic District. Cruise the streets of King William to see how the elite of San Antonio lived in the late 19th and early 20th century. Though most of the homes in King William are privately owned, tours are available at both the Steve’s Homestead (home of the San Antonio Conservation Society) and at Villa Finale (http://villafinale.org/ – “The First National Trust Historic Site in Texas”).
Blue Star Art Complex
In addition to it’s architectural gems, Southtown is home to many art galleries and shops, anchored by the Blue Star Arts Complex (http://www.bluestarbrewing.com/neighborhood/complex1.html), which includes galleries, performance spaces, apartments, and a brewpub. The First Friday Art Walk (on the first Friday of each month) anchors at Blue Star, and thousands of art aficionados stroll up and down South Alamo in search of the perfect piece of art, and perhaps the perfect IPA.
The Mission Reach of the Riverwalk, the stretch from Blue Star south to Mission Espada, is currently undergoing a major upgrade, turning what was once essentially a drainage canal into a more naturally appearing river. To date, the Reach is complete to approximately one mile south of Mission Conception, providing dedicated bike paths along the river. Access to Missions San Jose, San Juan, and Espada is easy via street level routes, all with marked bike paths. When the Mission Reach project is complete in 2013, you will be able to travel from downtown San Antonio to Mission Espada (approximately 7 miles) on a dedicated bike path system.
Bullis House Inn
After all that cycling, sightseeing, and eating, you’ve got to be tired… so, where to lay your weary head? Being a convention town, San Antonio has plenty of chain hotels and motels, but if your idea of lodging is not to share a building with 1000 medical supply salesmen (not that there’s anything wrong with medical supply salesmen in our hotels — somebody has to pay for the Spurs’ new arena), there are options. King William is home to a number of unique B&B’s, most in historically significant homes, giving you the feeling of living the life of an early San Antonio mover and shaker. If your budget is tight, try the Bullis House Inn (http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/usa/san-antonio/30006/) a guesthouse with a hostel next door. If you really want to meet the locals, you should check out Couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.org) – register with the system, write your profile, and search for locals who will let you sleep on their couch (sometimes it’s a couch, sometimes a guest room). Couchsurfing is a great way to meet local people and learn about an area from a native’s perspective.
Once you see it from a cyclist’s perspective, San Antonio reveals itself as much more than simply the Alamo and the Riverwalk, with a unique charm and culture. From art to cuisine, the city is vibrant with it’s festivals and events (there’s always a fiesta in San Antonio… come on down and explore!
