Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Tour De Denver

Yesterday (3-9-2010)My friend and I decided to go for a nice little ride. Nothing big maybe 15 miles or so.. HA!! We started at my friends house and went to Invesco Field, which on the way took us by that creepy building long I-25! From there we went to the downtown REI to meet up with the Cherry Creek Trail. Headed down that trail awhile through downtown Denver until my friend had a flat. Luckily we were able to track back to REI get a tube and fix it! Back on the trail we go. From there we took Cherry Creek to roughly the DTC area. Connected to High Line Canal trail which we found out is under construction till April 1. .So add a few detours here and there. The initial planned ride route changed due to time and we ended up taking Colorado to Evans (at night.. fun fun) back to Bear Creek Trail then back to my friends place. All in all the trip totaled 54.68 miles, all pavement/blacktop and so I dubbed it the Tour De Denver.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh178/aaronwart/Bike%20rides/Tour%20De%20Denver/3-10-2010/DSCN1991.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh178/aaronwart/Bike%20rides/Tour%20De%20Denver/3-10-2010/DSCN1993.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh178/aaronwart/Bike%20rides/Tour%20De%20Denver/3-10-2010/DSCN1994.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh178/aaronwart/Bike%20rides/Tour%20De%20Denver/3-10-2010/DSCN1995.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh178/aaronwart/Bike%20rides/Tour%20De%20Denver/3-10-2010/DSCN1996.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh178/aaronwart/Bike%20rides/Tour%20De%20Denver/3-10-2010/DSCN1997.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh178/aaronwart/Bike%20rides/Tour%20De%20Denver/3-10-2010/DSCN1999.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh178/aaronwart/Bike%20rides/Tour%20De%20Denver/3-10-2010/DSCN2001.jpg

Had a great time!

Beanz - I think you may enjoy this ride!

Is there much road riding down there in Denver? I see people on the trails and sidewalks all the time down there, but not much road riding until you get out of town. Just wondering. You get a ticket here for riding on the sidewalk...

Is there much road riding down there in Denver? I see people on the trails and sidewalks all the time down there, but not much road riding until you get out of town. Just wondering. You get a ticket here for riding on the sidewalk...

I honestly don't know. I am not much of a road rider. However there are a ton of MUPS/Paths all over the city as I found out yesterday! It was by far the most pleasant experience I have ever had downtown.

Sounds like a fun ride.

Im actually looking for work in the Denver area. Im hoping to move to Colorado at some point.

You don't have to be a "roadie", and ride like a speed demon to ride on the road. Lots of people commute to work here in Fort Collins, and almost all of them ride on the road. We have plenty of MUPs as well, but most of them are too dangerous to ride on if you ride much over 10mph. There are too many walking families with children, puppies/dogs, older people out for a stroll, etc.

We also have bike lanes everywhere. In the 90s, the city started designating lots of the wide road shoulders that used to be used just to pile snow when snow-plowing the roads, as designated bike lanes during the rest of the year. Riding became so popular over time, that they started adding "real" bike lanes to busier 4-6 lane wide roads all over town. There are so many bike lanes now, that it is actually easier to tell people where there ARE NOT bike lanes, than where they can find one.

The only people around here that ride on the sidewalk are children, and novice riders that have not been stopped by the police yet. Well...it seems like if you ride under 10mph, the police looks the other way, but if you go any faster than that, you get a $45 ticket after that first warning.

Likewise, most people that ride on the MUPs tend to be newer riders that just moved to town, and are afraid to use the bike lanes on the road.

Traffic in Denver is a lot different, though. It is not that aggressive compared to most cities of that size, but I can imagine that you would have to worry a lot more about getting into an accident than you would someplace like Golden, Bolder, or Fort Collins.

Beanz - I think you may enjoy this ride!

Wow, again nice pics. Looks like a nice place!:thumb:...But that river looks like a candidate for an easy overlfow!:D

I myself would have to have a picture running up those stairs and dancing at the top like Rocky,....if I make it up!:p

Is there much road riding down there in Denver?

yes, tons.

yes, tons.

I am all ears, where?