I saw on the Shiner GASP web page today that the ride has been permanently cancelled. This used to be a 100(ish) mile ride from Austin to Shiner, with some beer and brats at the brewery after the ride, then it moved to an out and back from Shiner where they added 25 and 50 mile courses. And now, it is no more.
This is sad news. I rode the distance from Austin to Shiner four times, then skipped many a year after it switched to the out and back. In 2021 I rode the 50 miler when they moved the event to the Fall due to the COVID lockdown. In 2022 they had the ride on my son’s birthday in April, so I skipped it. I’d planned on riding 100 miles this year, but now that it’s permanently cancelled, that’s a non-starter.
They gave no specific reasons for canceling the ride, but I’d speculate that cost and insurance play a role, and maybe boorish behavior by some riders. Maybe traffic became an issue, though the out and back avoids the problems with traffic from Austin (even thought it started in East Austin and I never saw issues with traffic along that course). Possibly the brewery and its owners decided it was time. Who knows. All that matters is that a classic Central Texas bike ride no longer exists.
