Mountain - Plains - Ft Collins to W. Arvada, Golden?

Anyone out there taken 287 down? My wife is running a half marathon on Sunday and I am going up with the kids, thought I would bring my bike and ride home to Golden.

I thought I would take 287 down to 36 and jog west to catch Indianna the rest of the way.

Anyone take 287 through Loveland, Longmont etc. Decent shoulders?

Thanks,

While it has been 20+ years since I rode in the area I would suggest 287 to Longmont, 119 to Boulder, and 93 south past Rocky Flats to Golden. 287 just got more crowded and more worn by traffic as I'd get nearer to Arvada/Denver. I can not imagine it has gotten any better.

dont take 287, its terrible... take taft hill till it turns into wilson

wilson to 14th street

14th street WEST to CR 21

CR21 South to 14

14 W to 23

23 S to 23E (dont follow 23 when it turns east)

23 E turns into 83rd at the boulder county line

stay on 83rd till it ends at woodland

woodland W to 75th

75th veers into 73rd south of hygene (this is a beautiful stretch)

73 veers into 71st and then 71st intersects with 119

it sounds complicated but its basically jsut a series of "go south then go west" repeat

and its a really nice peaceful scenic alternative to the traffic and debris on 287.

Anyone out there taken 287 down? My wife is running a half marathon on Sunday and I am going up with the kids, thought I would bring my bike and ride home to Golden.

I thought I would take 287 down to 36 and jog west to catch Indianna the rest of the way.

Anyone take 287 through Loveland, Longmont etc. Decent shoulders?

Thanks,

Here's (http://www.routeslip.com/routes/31672) a rather direct route that parallels US287. I've haven't ridden it in about 5 years so things can change a lot but it used to be a good route.

i've never ridden that route, cycco, it looks interesting, i take shields from ftc to loveland everyday for work, i guess i didnt realize shields/taft runs all the way down to berthoud

thanks

i've never ridden that route, cycco, it looks interesting, i take shields from ftc to loveland everyday for work, i guess i didnt realize shields/taft runs all the way down to berthoud

thanks

It's not quite in Berthod but just to the west (although Berthod may have grown that way). You need to ride less than a mile on 287 to get to the turn off and 287 isn't that bad in that area.

Cyclocommute,

I hate to be worthless and helpless, but when I clicked on the route link, I got the nice birds eye view of the map but the routeslip preview didn't give me any directions, road names, etc. I can't even figure out how to drill down into the map to see the road names, god, I feel like my wife.

Any help is appreciated, it sounds like a nice option, relatively staightforward and direct.

Thank you,

Just found the the little button to expand the map and drill down, wheew, I worried myself there for a minute.

Thank you again.

Here's (http://www.routeslip.com/routes/31672) a rather direct route that parallels US287. I've haven't ridden it in about 5 years so things can change a lot but it used to be a good route.

Thank you!!!

The route from Ft. Collins to 36 was great, shoulders almost 100% of the way, sparse traffic (except through Longmont), and perfect weather combined for a great ride. Now if I can figure out a safer route south through Arvada on the West side, Indianna was not fun, tight two laner with no shoulder and maniacs cruising at 60 while I was going 8-10 up the hills riding right on the white line.

That stretch of 21 and N95 from just outside of Berthoud to Longmont was amazing, horse farms, fast roads, no traffic, was the highlight of the day.

Thanks for the tips, it made for a great ride.

Thank you!!!

The route from Ft. Collins to 36 was great, shoulders almost 100% of the way, sparse traffic (except through Longmont), and perfect weather combined for a great ride. Now if I can figure out a safer route south through Arvada on the West side, Indianna was not fun, tight two laner with no shoulder and maniacs cruising at 60 while I was going 8-10 up the hills riding right on the white line.

That stretch of 21 and N95 from just outside of Berthoud to Longmont was amazing, horse farms, fast roads, no traffic, was the highlight of the day.

Thanks for the tips, it made for a great ride.

Glad it worked for you.

One way to avoid Indianna (never a great bike road anyway) is to turn down Simms and go around Stanley Lake on 100th Ave and Alkire and back east on 86th Way. Then take Simms south. It's kind of a round about way but it's a little calmer. Or you could turn down CO128 over to Wadsworth. Wadsworth has a good shoulder but is kind of noisy.