Denver
I slept in a bit this morning, watched stage 5 of the tour de france, then hit the road towards Denver. Boo rode with me for the first 35 miles. I rode a total of 80 miles in 5 hours 54 minutes. It was pretty amazing. The last 30 miles of riding were entirely on bike paths traversing the entire city of Denver.
After getting past the outskirts of Ft Collins, some nice countryside with the front range in the distance on the way to Denver.
We turned onto a stretch of hwy 287 which is still under construction. There was a truck parked at the corner, and I asked the fellow who worked for the construction outfit working on the road if we could ride on it. He said "sure" and started asking a bunch of questions, turns out he is a cyclist, and gave me some great pointers on the smartest way to find my way across town.
Boo got her first flat tire on her new bike. A nice big thorn.
We rode another 4-5 miles on this deserted road. Fun to ride on such a wide road with zero cars.
We stopped for lunch in Longmont, where Greg met us, Boo had ridden her longest ride, and her legs were felling it, so I continued on solo. After a harrowing freeway crossing (lots of ramps and merging lanes, zero shoulder, very stressful) I cruised downhill into the outer suburbs of Denver. It started to sprinkle, though not enough to drench me.
Now I'm on one of many bike paths that twist through Denver.
Mostly these paths were underneath the level of the roads, following different creekbeds and riverways.
Riding next to the Platte river, many crossings, lots of industrial underbelly, trainyards, even a sewage treatment plant. Relatively clean and pleasant, though.
Of course, tons of birds hanging out in the marshy river bed.
First glimpse of downtown.
An old wrecked bridge.
The bike path detoured at one point for about a mile through some nice parks.
In general, signage has been very good.
As I approached downtown, things got a little sketchy down in the water way. Some shady pedestrians, I chose to get up onto the streets. The girls called, and we met at one of our favorite japanese restaurants here in town.
A great sunset on the way to our hotel.
After getting past the outskirts of Ft Collins, some nice countryside with the front range in the distance on the way to Denver.
We turned onto a stretch of hwy 287 which is still under construction. There was a truck parked at the corner, and I asked the fellow who worked for the construction outfit working on the road if we could ride on it. He said "sure" and started asking a bunch of questions, turns out he is a cyclist, and gave me some great pointers on the smartest way to find my way across town.
Boo got her first flat tire on her new bike. A nice big thorn.
We rode another 4-5 miles on this deserted road. Fun to ride on such a wide road with zero cars.
We stopped for lunch in Longmont, where Greg met us, Boo had ridden her longest ride, and her legs were felling it, so I continued on solo. After a harrowing freeway crossing (lots of ramps and merging lanes, zero shoulder, very stressful) I cruised downhill into the outer suburbs of Denver. It started to sprinkle, though not enough to drench me.
Now I'm on one of many bike paths that twist through Denver.
Mostly these paths were underneath the level of the roads, following different creekbeds and riverways.
Riding next to the Platte river, many crossings, lots of industrial underbelly, trainyards, even a sewage treatment plant. Relatively clean and pleasant, though.
Of course, tons of birds hanging out in the marshy river bed.
First glimpse of downtown.
An old wrecked bridge.
The bike path detoured at one point for about a mile through some nice parks.
In general, signage has been very good.
As I approached downtown, things got a little sketchy down in the water way. Some shady pedestrians, I chose to get up onto the streets. The girls called, and we met at one of our favorite japanese restaurants here in town.
A great sunset on the way to our hotel.
posted by Ian at 7:17 PM
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