I’ve never biked in Texas, but the routes even a short distance west from Palo Alto are excellent. You need to be willing to go uphill, though :). LAN party house v1 would have been maybe 15 minutes from where Page Mill starts to get spectacular, not to mention spectacularly steep.

In the modern e-bike era, the hills are more accessible, too.

Oh I biked down Page Mill and into the hills a lot, that was my main bike route. And yes, it was great. But there was really only one part of those hills that was close enough to get to without driving first. In Austin I have a few more options nearby.