Rob Stepnoski, the co-founder of Austin, Texas-based Freeride 512, can quickly pick a mountain biker from the city out of the pack by their low-slung, cat-pounce posture, a byproduct of squeezing under drooping juniper branches on the local trails.

You can even more quickly pick a member of Austin’s freeride scene out of the crowd because there are barely enough to make a crowd. But things in the rolling green ranchland of the Hill Country of central Texas have a way of growing quickly.

Even when late-springtime temps tickle triple digits, all it takes is one soaking rain for the iconic Texas bluebonnet, emblem of the Hill Country, to blanket every slope. In this alternately lush and unforgiving landscape, bike scenes and wildflowers both flourish overnight.

On a map, the geographic boundaries of Austin and its suburbs bear a striking resemblance to a silhouette of a bucking bronco and rider. The second-fastest-growing metro region in the United States, Austin has seen an explosion in cycling as both transplants and lifelong Texans jump headfirst into trails; Lake Travis High School, west of Austin, has more students on its mountain bike team than in its football program—a remarkable accomplishment in the land of “Friday Night Lights.”