Recreational & Family - Serendipitous Morning Ride

Sometimes I love to just go exploring, so at 6am this morning I got out the Mtn Bike and headed north along the trail.

The trail is not completed all the way through to the state park yet - there are finished sections and unfinished sections still waiting to be tied together. But, progress is being made.

Anyway, I had to do some cross country biking to get from one section to another, going further than in the past.

Well, lo and behold, going around a corner, I discovered an Ecological Park. Now, I have lived here 2 years, and explored a lot, and ridden the area for five years, but had never seen this before. It has neat gravel paths, a number of ponds, places to sit and view nature, a gazebo, and connects directly to a finished section (about 1 mile) of the trail. You can also drive to a parking lot. It is fairly new.

Amazing what you can find if you just go out with an "exploring" concept in mind, and not a "how many miles can I get in" concept.

Not a big deal, only did 12 miles, took about 1.5 hours because of the cross country - BUT, a LOT of FUN and it left me with a smile!!

Anyone else have serendipitous happenings?

DnvrFox...what a beautiful morning ride. Early morning is my favorite time of day to take a ride. I love to go into Goldhead State Park which is about .7mi
from my home. I buy a year pass and go in through the back gate. Have to do a little twisting to get the bike in, but no big deal. I often see deer along with rabbits, squirrel and birds. I usually ride straight thru to the front gate, but there are other roads that you can go into the camping areas on. It's also fun when I go later in the day to go by the playground to watch the kids play. When it is warm enough, there are also some swimmers and boaters in the lake, but the water is way down right now. There is a lovely ravine which you can walk down into with a flowing creek at the bottom with lots of lush plant growth...very shady and cool. It is so soothing to the soul and spirit to visit quiet natural areas. Of course, I live on a lake in the woods to start with, so it's a good thing I like it quiet. I love my space and peace. Not that many miles from the busy towns when I desire to change the pace.

Early morning is my favorite time of day to take a ride. I love to go into Goldhead State Park

Having access to nature and close bike paths is a requirement of any place that I live. It is my rejuvenation after one heck of a hard week with 150 6th graders during 8 periods of instruction, problems and planning.

We don't need passes for bikes into state parks, but I get one anyway for my car. Senior rate is about $10 per year and one pass is good for all the SP's in Colorado.

Thanks for sharing!!

Oh yeah-

Check back in the posts I did when I posted the pictures I took when I went to the Botanic Gardens in Chicago back in March or April. That was an unexpected pleasure! Wonderful bike trail right in nature, with lots of scenic eye candy.

There was also another post I did sometime in March or April also when I stumbled onto the Skokie Sculpture Garden. I loved all those statues and the artwork along the bike path, and the best thing about it is that the paths are almost deserted, as everyone loves to ride/walk/rollerblade/stroll along the lakefront.

As a result of both of these experiences, I got a book on all the trails in Illinois, and I would love to try and find out what other gems there are out there that I'm not aware of!

Good job, Denver!

Koff

As I've posted in another thread, I was riding a rail-trail today, when the wagons of the Fox Valley Horse-Driving Association came from the other direction. It was quite an unexpected spectacle. :)