Mountain - Plains - DU anyone?

Hi everyone,

I'm moving from Seattle to Denver in the next week or 2 to attend graduate school at the University of Denver. I Just wanted to post up and see if there happened to be anyone else who is/has attended DU?


I found online that the school has a cycling team and club. Has anyone been involved with that group?


I have only visited Denver briefly. It looks like a fun place to live for a few years! I have heard that there is a fairly extensive trail network throughout the city as well... is that true? Anyway, I'm really excited to get to know a new area.

Bryce

I was in the San Juan Islands a couple of weeks ago. Great weather, beautiful country. It is a LOT - A LOT drier in Denver, though.

I graduated from DU - but it was for my doctorate in 1974.

I think things have changed a bit since then.

Yes, there is an extensive very well maintained trail network throughout the entire metro area.You should be able to get on the Cherry Creek Trail pretty easily - perhaps Buchtel east, ST. Paul north - there is a trail through the neighbrhood which will take you to Cherry Creek Drive South, and there is a bridge over Cherry Creek that will get you to the trail.

Here are some of the major trails - there are more.

http://members.aol.com/dnvrfox/denverbikemap1.jpg

I ride by DU every day when I head to work. Buchtel to franklin. Franklin north through wash park to the cherry creek. There are quite a few trails and good bike routes in Denver.
As for the cycling team, I encounter various members on my commutes from time to time. Nice looking kit and they usually drop me like a sack of potatoes without even trying. That is the limit to my experience with them.

I did my post-grad at DU and used to teach/work there as well. I now live closer to downtown, but there are some really nice neighborhoods around DU, and great cycling. Welcome to Denver!

Thanks for the great map DnvrFox! So far it's sounds like it's be a great place to be!

I used to live just east of DU off Monaco and Yale, great area. I have seen the DU team at cycling races. From everything I have heard about the collegiate cycling teams around here, they are very inclusive and I wish I had been biking back in my college days.

one of my best friends just moved to Denver, starting his PhD at DU this fall.
he actually asked me to check out BF to find some good shops there where he can find a used bike for not too much. any suggestions?

I have heard that cycle analyst off of pearl st is a good choice.
http://www.cycleanalystinc.com/

Cycle analyst is the best.

Light rail runs right to the DU campus.

DU's bike "program" - not the team or club - sucks. They have really inconvenient bike racks - not the inverted U Denver standard. The racks make it hard to actually lock your bike with a u-lock unless you use the ends of the rack or don't care about your paint job and use a U-lock and a cable. DU requires cyclists to use a U-lock or campus security will immobilize your bike - seriously. (No word on whether they boot unlocked cars or swipe unattended laptops.)

The terrain is flat and the weather is mostly fine for cycling. There's probably fewer than a dozen days a year that aren't ridable. Parks plows the major paths.

Denver's bike planner doesn't seem very effective. (A section of bike lane on Buchtel, where it runs past campus was removed. The lane continues on the east and the west. Weird.)

That confused me as well. The area they removed the bike lane is wider than the portion of the street that has it. Bizarre.
Then you have the 2 foot wide bike lane on franklin heading into Wash Park from the south.... pointless
I would toss the non downtown bike lanes and put sharrows in.

I bummed to hear that the campus is so difficult to bike to with the rack situation and everything. I actually don't have a place to stay yet, but I'm planning on being able to take advantage of the rail system anyway.

That's really cool that they clear the trails after snowfall. I was kind of wondering how the winter season would play out in that respect, but it sounds like you can bike pretty much year round there! Cool!

I don't believe it is that difficult. Each day I ride by DU I encounter plenty of college students on bikes.

I bummed to hear that the campus is so difficult to bike to with the rack situation and everything. I actually don't have a place to stay yet, but I'm planning on being able to take advantage of the rail system anyway. !

Yikes! I have obviously given you the wrong idea. DU is extremely bike accessible. There are great, low traffic streets in every direction. The light rail takes bikes. All the buses take bikes. And the trail system runs within a couple miles of campus. I have taken a car 3 days in 6 years!

Sorry.

Yikes! I have obviously given you the wrong idea. DU is extremely bike accessible. There are great, low traffic streets in every direction. The light rail takes bikes. All the buses take bikes. And the trail system runs within a couple miles of campus.

Sorry.

Also, just up the road is Washington Park, a gathering place for bicyclists who seem to enjoy riding round and round and round the 3 mile loop, and a bit further on the CC trail near Wash Park is Confluence Park, a famous gathering place for bicyclists at the Starbucks at the REI Flagship Store, where Cherry Creek and the Platte River intersect, along with two major bike trails.

That confused me as well. The area they removed the bike lane is wider than the portion of the street that has it. Bizarre.
Then you have the 2 foot wide bike lane on franklin heading into Wash Park from the south.... pointless
I would toss the non downtown bike lanes and put sharrows in.

It's not as if it the city just didn't re-paint the lane; that segment was physically erased. Though it's conceivable that some bike lane might someday need to be removed, removing a bike lane just seems like a waste of money unless there is some big safety hazard. And removing just that segment was weird.

And I wouldn't mind see sharrows either.

Maybe the idea was to get cyclists onto the sidewalk? But that doesn't make any sense.

Denver may have been one of the first cities with a bike planner but Denver has moved past the point of needing an engineer. Now we need an engaged advocate for cycling as transportation.

Well, we made it to Denver 2 days ago finally. I love it here so far!!! DU's campus looks very cool. I can't believe all the bike trails. Everywhere I drive it seems like we pass another trail.

We still haven't found a place to live though. I thought it would be a little easier to line something up once we were here, but it's turning into a disaster... 2 nights in a hotel at DNC rates = very bad timing

Well, we made it to Denver 2 days ago finally. I love it here so far!!! DU's campus looks very cool. I can't believe all the bike trails. Everywhere I drive it seems like we pass another trail.

We still haven't found a place to live though. I thought it would be a little easier to line something up once we were here, but it's turning into a disaster... 2 nights in a hotel at DNC rates = very bad timing

Things should ease up tonight. Or stay a bit away from downtown. I.e., Super 8 Motel in Castle Rock or similar. I checked for tonight:

Super 8 Motel
AAA
1 night (1 Room): USD 58.39
Taxes: USD 4.39

* Total: USD 62.78

Wow, that was bad timing. Things will be back to normal now.

plugging in 2 night stay starting tonight
hotwire is showing 2* in tech center south for $29
and $36 in tech center south for $36

$38 for 2 star in cherry creek

generally i find i can bid 10%-20% below hotwire price on priceline name your price
and get it

good luck
both hotwire and priceline take same day reservations up to about 6pm locl

We're in a Days Inn somewhere near the DTC I think. Our first 2 nights we're $250 a night, but tonight it went down to $72. I think we finally found a place to rent in Centennial on Dry Creek Rd this morning so we'll be moving in tomorrow I think!

Are you not planning on cycling to campus? Not sure how easy that will be from Centennial.

It shouldn't be too bad. One could ride over to the light rail and take it up. There are a variety of routes the OP could take if he wanted to ride the entire way. My work is off of orchard and i-25 so parts of it could be similar to mine.

Dry Creek is a long street, and it would depend on the cross street.

I'm thinking Holly north to Quincy, west to Dahlia, north on Dahlia to Iliff, west on Iliff to DU.

I'm not sure if I'll by cycling directly the whole way all the time or not... I'll have to try it out and see how long it takes but if it's over and hour I'll probably just ride the light rail. I live just 2 blocks from the light rail, so I'll be able to jump on that easy with a bike and cycle down a few blocks to my building from the university stop.

I'm not sure if I'll by cycling directly the whole way all the time or not... I'll have to try it out and see how long it takes but if it's over and hour I'll probably just ride the li
ght rail. I live just 2 blocks from the light rail, so I'll be able to jump on that easy
with a bike and cycle down a few blocks to my building from the university stop.

Cross street?

It shouldn't be too bad. One could ride over to the light rail and take it up. There are a variety of routes the OP could take if he wanted to ride the entire way. My work is off of orchard and i-25 so parts of it could be similar to mine.

Wow, and you are NW. I guess you put in some serious commuter miles.

Wow, and you are NW. I guess you put in some serious commuter miles.

Not as much as I used to. Last year I was putting in around 200 miles a week commuting. I started hating the ride.
Lately it has been around 130-150 miles a week commuting plus fun rides. I work from home 2 days a week.

Nice easy way to get base miles in. Next year I want to hit 10,000 miles for the first time and commuting helps out.

Cross street?

Dry Creek and Quebec

Nice easy way to get base miles in. Next year I want to hit 10,000 miles for the first time and commuting helps out.


Nice, I think you're more of a man that I am! I hope you can hit your goal, that's quite an accomplishment.

Dry Creek and Quebec

Just West of Quebec and Dry Creek is the Homestead Elementary School. FYI, the Willow Creek Trail goes right through the open space just to the west of the school, going under Dry Creek. Going south/southeast on the trail takes you by a stream, across Mineral and under County Line Road and just after County LIne you can either go to your right up to the north frontage road of C-470, or go left, under C470.

Going right - Go across the Frontage Road (I forget the name) and jump the curb (for some reason, no curb cut) and you will be on the C-470/E470 trail which will take you MILES in either direction, heading out to Parker, or circling west to the Platte River Trail (various names along the way) and further west to the Bear Creek Trail and further north to the Clear Creek Trail, or north on the PRT to a variety of trails.

Going left under C-470 takes you out to the Lone Tree Library, golf course and park, and you can find your way around and through the golf course and go a couple of more miles south.

Just west of Quebec on Dry Creek you will hit Holly. Take Holly north to Quincy, west to Dahlia, north through the neighborhood on Dahlia, crossing Hampden to Iliff, west on Iliff to DU. I used to do about this route when I bicyle commuted. I lived for almost 30 years near Quebec and Arapahoe, just north of Quebec and Dry Creek. This should mostly be a lightly traveled route. It really isn't that far. DU is about 2300 south (depending on where on campus) and about 2300 east. You are at about 8000 south and 7000 east. So, theoretically, 60 blocks north (5 miles or so) and 50 blocks west (4+ miles) for about a 10 mile ride.

Also, the Willow Creek Trail crosses Arapahoe and become the Little Dry Creek Trail, crossing Holly and winding through the Georgetown sub division on the north west side of Holly and Arapahoe. This eventually joins the Highline Canal Trail in one of the prettiest spots around the Denver Metro Area. Go north on the Highline Canal Trail through Greenwood Village and Cherry Hills village and wonder at the mansions, who lives in them, and what kind of drug money it took to build them!! This would be better with a hybrid or mtn bike, but is doable on a road bike. Gravel/paved trails.

From where I used to live, it is listed as 7.75 miles.

Dnvrfox just mentioned a portion of my commute. I start further east and north but for the most part the part from dahlia to DU is on my commute. I believe Holly has a few decent hills but that commute is very easy with nice low traffic streets. Though they tend to not plow dahlia worth a darn in winter.

Nice, I think you're more of a man that I am! I hope you can hit your goal, that's quite an accomplishment.

With enough time just about anyone can do it. I'm just a bit more loopy than many.

When you have time you should try riding in the foothills or the mountains if you have a decent bike. Lookout mountain is a fun ride.
I would recommend a geared bike. A roadie is good but you can do it on just about any bike.

When you have time you should try riding in the foothills or the mountains if you have a decent bike. Lookout mountain is a fun ride.
I would recommend a geared bike. A roadie is good but you can do it on just about any bike.


I just got a new ride before moving here and purposefully put a compact 50/34 with 12-26 on the rear... I haven't ridden too much in the hills, but I hope that gearing will get me there!

Thanks to DnvrFox for the route recommendations. I'll have to try it out next week before classes start.

Thanks to DnvrFox for the route recommendations. I'll have to try it out next week before classes start.

The "hills" on Holly are not particularly challenging but are noticeable. The hills north of Orchard can almost be coasted up by the downward momentum. There are bike paths - if you want to use them - on the sides of both Holly and Quincy. But the street is smoother and faster, and the traffic is relatively slow and mild, depending on the time of day.

They are annoying on a fixed gear but not so much on a geared bike. Even when running my FG I could stand up and climb them.

No one has mentioned the Denver Bicycle Touring Club. That was a great non-racing club back when I lived in the area. There were many racing teams as well. Collegiate and non-collegiate.

When you are ready for hills, hit this ride (http://herodot.us/2008/06/09/deer-creek-canyon-high-grade-road-cycling-loop/). The link is a ride description on my blog. My wife and I are off to do it today. It is one of my favorites and you can ride to its starting point fairly easily.

I went to DU, '96-'00 or so. I didn't bike back then, and I REALLY regret that now--that would've been a great town for riding. I really love Denver, though.

I found online that the school has a cycling team and club. Has anyone been involved with that group?



I'm not from Denver, but we do race against them. If you are looking for someone to contact about joining their team, the place to go is here: http://rmccc.org/Rmccc%20Teams.php.
The RMCCC website lists Grant Goerzen as the man to talk to. Hope this helps.