Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Fifty Plus (50+)
Reload this Page >

I am such Awesome Company . . .

Notices
Fifty Plus (50+) Share the victories, challenges, successes and special concerns of bicyclists 50 and older. Especially useful for those entering or reentering bicycling.

I am such Awesome Company . . .

Old 04-21-11, 05:30 PM
  #1  
Banned.
Thread Starter
 
DnvrFox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 20,917
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times in 10 Posts
I am such Awesome Company . . .

. . . when I ride by myself!!

I went north on the Cherry Creek trail today, on which I could literally ride 100 miles one way, but instead did a loop of the Cherry Creek Lake in Cherry Creek State park. (If I went south on the CC Trail, I would end up at about 20 miles in Castlewood Canyon State Park - a hiking and rock climbing venue).

It was a perfect day for riding - temp about lower 60's, wind was light and manageable, sun was shining, a few clouds floating around. I saw about 20 bicycles and 20 pedestrians over 3 hours. The ride was entirely on the CC Trail or on interior state parks roads the entire distance.

A great ride- stats:

Elevation gain - 0 - (I stopped at exactly the same elevation I started, amazingly)
Miles - more than usual
Length of ride - more hours than usual - about 3 hours
103 smiles

The first picture shows the marina and lake

In the second picture, you can see the Rockies about 30 miles east full of snow. They have had record snowfall, with over 40 feet of snow at Loveland Basin - while at the same time we have had record drought and fires.


The 3rd picture shows a brand new trailhead just opened this year.

Well, that's about it! Thanks for looking.

Last edited by DnvrFox; 04-21-11 at 06:13 PM.
DnvrFox is offline  
Old 04-21-11, 05:57 PM
  #2  
Senior Member
 
kr32's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Waldorf Md.
Posts: 2,045

Bikes: Cannondale Six Carbon 5 and Gary Fisher Wahoo

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Looks good!
kr32 is offline  
Old 04-21-11, 06:22 PM
  #3  
Senior Member
 
CHAS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Silverthorne, Colorado
Posts: 636

Bikes: Rawlings Drakkar, Specialized Roubaix, Pivot, Challenge Trike, Tandem

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I am in the mountains he is talking about. Snowed hard again today. Record snowfall, you bet. Time to drive down with the bike and find the trail DenverFox is writing about.
CHAS is offline  
Old 04-21-11, 06:27 PM
  #4  
Banned.
Thread Starter
 
DnvrFox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 20,917
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times in 10 Posts
Originally Posted by CHAS
I am in the mountains he is talking about. Snowed hard again today. Record snowfall, you bet. Time to drive down with the bike and find the trail DenverFox is writing about.
Head on down if you can get up to the tunnel amongst all the slipping trucks, and I will ride with you on that very trail. (We used to own a condo in Wildernest).
DnvrFox is offline  
Old 04-21-11, 06:32 PM
  #5  
Senior Member
 
CHAS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Silverthorne, Colorado
Posts: 636

Bikes: Rawlings Drakkar, Specialized Roubaix, Pivot, Challenge Trike, Tandem

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Thank you very much. I am sure that my current physical condition would only embarass me. Will contact you after I have ridden a bit.
CHAS is offline  
Old 04-21-11, 06:36 PM
  #6  
Banned.
Thread Starter
 
DnvrFox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 20,917
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times in 10 Posts
Originally Posted by CHAS
Thank you very much. I am sure that my current physical condition would only embarass me. Will contact you after I have ridden a bit.
I am known as a very slow rider. No worries with me. I enjoy smelling the cactus.
DnvrFox is offline  
Old 04-21-11, 06:52 PM
  #7  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 2,712
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 41 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Nice.
ModeratedUser150120149 is offline  
Old 04-21-11, 06:54 PM
  #8  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 18,138

Bikes: 2 many

Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1266 Post(s)
Liked 323 Times in 169 Posts
Nice looking trails!
2manybikes is offline  
Old 04-22-11, 12:16 AM
  #9  
Council of the Elders
 
billydonn's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Omaha, NE
Posts: 3,759

Bikes: 1990 Schwinn Crosscut, 5 Lemonds

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times in 1 Post
Nice... I can see you are pretty vulnerable to wind!
billydonn is offline  
Old 04-22-11, 06:10 AM
  #10  
Banned.
Thread Starter
 
DnvrFox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 20,917
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times in 10 Posts
Originally Posted by billydonn
Nice... I can see you are pretty vulnerable to wind!
Every tree we have east of the foothills is planted, and the pine trees in the mountains are all dying from the pine beetle - over 3 million acres dead.
DnvrFox is offline  
Old 04-22-11, 06:37 AM
  #11  
Senior Member
 
CHAS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Silverthorne, Colorado
Posts: 636

Bikes: Rawlings Drakkar, Specialized Roubaix, Pivot, Challenge Trike, Tandem

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Will have to get down there for a ride with you, DnvrFox.

Not all of the trees are dying, but 70-90%. Have gotten used to seeing brown trees.
CHAS is offline  
Old 04-22-11, 06:42 AM
  #12  
Banned.
Thread Starter
 
DnvrFox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 20,917
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times in 10 Posts
Originally Posted by CHAS
Will have to get down there for a ride with you, DnvrFox.

Not all of the trees are dying, but 70-90%. Have gotten used to seeing brown trees.
OK, MOST (70-90%) of the trees are dying. Wow, that makes me feel better The other 10-30% - are they pine, and will they survive long-term?
DnvrFox is offline  
Old 04-22-11, 07:37 AM
  #13  
Senior Member
 
Retro Grouch's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: St Peters, Missouri
Posts: 30,225

Bikes: Catrike 559 I own some others but they don't get ridden very much.

Mentioned: 16 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1572 Post(s)
Liked 642 Times in 363 Posts
Originally Posted by CHAS
Not all of the trees are dying, but 70-90%. Have gotten used to seeing brown trees.
That doesn't sound good.

I remember when Dutch Elm Disease went through the midwest. We went from living on a "green tunnel" of a street to no shade at all in a single year. I had a friend who planted 12 new trees in his yard, all different varieties. He wasn't going to get wiped out like that ever again.
Retro Grouch is offline  
Old 04-22-11, 05:39 PM
  #14  
Banned.
Thread Starter
 
DnvrFox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 20,917
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times in 10 Posts
Just announced that Breckenridge has had 511 inches of snow this winter - a record since Breck started tracking it 28 years ago, and there is a winter storm warning for this weekend. It may take awhile for the snow to melt off those wonderful 40+ miles of Summit County bike trails.
DnvrFox is offline  
Old 04-22-11, 09:37 PM
  #15  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 2,712
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 41 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Warming has created a real spruce beetle problem where hundreds of square miles of trees are dead. Then last winter there was a rain turning to ice storm creating a layer of ice next to the ground that has kept the snow from melting as much as normal. So, lots of evaporation and not much melting so looking for a big fire season.

Guess climate change is real and we are experiencing it. The only arguments are what is causing it and whether there is anything we humans can do to change the course of events before our species can't live here any more.
ModeratedUser150120149 is offline  
Old 04-23-11, 03:37 PM
  #16  
Aluminum Convert
 
jbman100's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Aurora/Centennial Co
Posts: 230

Bikes: Bianchi Via Nirone 7.

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
If I may ask where do you usually get on the trail? My daily commute is along the trail, however I catch it at the east entrance of the park when commuting and off of Orchard and Parker roads when I'm not. My commute is from the park to downtown. I'm going to have to try the south route from Arapahoe Rd here soon. I'll ride with you anytime, I don't care how slow you think you are. Miles are smiles. Plus I need to scope that area for some good photo opportunities. Cherry Creek Park is getting old. The high speed roadies are taking over
jbman100 is offline  
Old 04-23-11, 05:04 PM
  #17  
Banned.
Thread Starter
 
DnvrFox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 20,917
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times in 10 Posts
Originally Posted by jbman100
If I may ask where do you usually get on the trail? My daily commute is along the trail, however I catch it at the east entrance of the park when commuting and off of Orchard and Parker roads when I'm not. My commute is from the park to downtown. I'm going to have to try the south route from Arapahoe Rd here soon. I'll ride with you anytime, I don't care how slow you think you are. Miles are smiles. Plus I need to scope that area for some good photo opportunities. Cherry Creek Park is getting old. The high speed roadies are taking over
I live right on the Cherry Creek Trail just south of E470 and a bit east of Jordan. Please look to the lower right of the map. I would love to explore with you the trails to the south. There are some new connections just finished this past year on Tallman Gulch Trail.

From my house south to the start of the dirt road in Castlewood Canyon SP is about 17 miles, all of it by cement trail except for a mile from Scott Road to near Pradera/Stagecoach road which is packed dirt/gravel, but fully passable on a road bike; and about 2.5 miles of very little used paved Castlewood Canyon Road.

The map is a bit old, and the CC Trail is now finished to Arapahoe Road. I don't love riding Jordan Road, so I have a sneaky detour through the soccer fields and across a rickety bridge over Cherry Creek.
DnvrFox is offline  
Old 04-23-11, 05:13 PM
  #18  
Senior Member
 
CHAS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Silverthorne, Colorado
Posts: 636

Bikes: Rawlings Drakkar, Specialized Roubaix, Pivot, Challenge Trike, Tandem

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Have been on the path near Bear Creek Park. It was so poorly made that my bike made a ker-thunk on very joint between the concrete pads. No other bike was on the path there. I was so bad I got off and pushed my bike to the road. The people who designed and built that should be sued and whupped.
How much of the path is like that?
CHAS is offline  
Old 04-23-11, 05:20 PM
  #19  
Banned.
Thread Starter
 
DnvrFox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 20,917
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times in 10 Posts
Originally Posted by CHAS
Have been on the path near Bear Creek Park. It was so poorly made that my bike made a ker-thunk on very joint between the concrete pads. No other bike was on the path there. I was so bad I got off and pushed my bike to the road. The people who designed and built that should be sued and whupped.
How much of the path is like that?
Parker keeps its trails immaculate, with a full-time trail crew. The trails in Cherry Creek State Park are excellent. The section in Bear Creek Park over Mt. Carbon is about the worst, particularly going from east to west to the top of Mt. Carbon. From there east, it is new due to golf course expansion. It is OK through most of Lakewood (and pretty), but when it gets to Sheridan then for a bit east, it is narrow and cramped - the road was built and then the trails was squeezed in. Almost all of the Platte River Trail is good to excellent. The Clear Creek Trail is mixed - asphalt and cement, but mostly pretty good. They redid a whole lot of the C-470 trail just this year under the ARRA. The Cherry Creek Trail is good, but crowded. They put in crossings at Monaco and Holly recently, so you don't have any cars. There is a tight section along Speer Blvd and the Denver Country Club. Generally, almost all the trails are really good.

Last edited by DnvrFox; 04-23-11 at 05:25 PM.
DnvrFox is offline  
Old 04-24-11, 02:23 PM
  #20  
Senior Member
 
CHAS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Silverthorne, Colorado
Posts: 636

Bikes: Rawlings Drakkar, Specialized Roubaix, Pivot, Challenge Trike, Tandem

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
The trees that have survived the beetle got lucky or something. They look just like the dead ones looked before the beetle.

Thanks for the info on the trails. Have not taken my bike down there since that experience.
CHAS is offline  
Old 04-24-11, 04:34 PM
  #21  
Wheezy Rider
 
Connell's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: 8,750'
Posts: 293
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 9 Post(s)
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Hi guys,
I'm up in the foothills, but often come into town to ride my touring bike on the urban trails. Up and down the river is one of my favorite rides and I often park at Hampden Light Rail, ride down to Chatfield, then up north of Golden and back into town that way. Or the same thing counter clockwise. That's 70+ miles almost all on trails, but depending on how much time I have, it's also fun to head back along Bear Creek from Morrisson and cut the distance dramatically.

If Spring ever gets here, I'd be up for a meet and an explore.
Andrew
Connell is offline  
Old 04-26-11, 11:31 AM
  #22  
Aluminum Convert
 
jbman100's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Aurora/Centennial Co
Posts: 230

Bikes: Bianchi Via Nirone 7.

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I rode this trail yesterday from Arapahoe to a couple miles past Stroh road and back to the car. Would have went farther but the weather started looking bad and I didn't want to get caught in it. Went I went 470 I could actually touch the underneath from my bike it's that short. Was worried about my head for a minutes or two.

I have also ridden what I call my loop. Cherry Creek Park to Chatfield to REI and back to Chreey Creek. It's about 68 miles round trip. I hate the C470 part.
jbman100 is offline  
Old 04-26-11, 12:32 PM
  #23  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,268
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 118 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 50 Times in 25 Posts
One thing I like to do when riding alone is leave all my worries and cares in the ditch alongside the trail. When I get home, the important ones are still there, waiting for my attention. However, many are left behind where they belong. It's a good way to sort things out and definitely lightens the mental load you carry around all the time bk.
bkaapcke is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Aim2bFit
Great Lakes Rides and Events
17
06-26-18 05:45 AM
B2mac
Great Lakes
6
03-02-15 02:13 PM
MillieKY
Great Lakes
2
04-04-14 08:59 PM
TromboneAl
Pacific Northwest
5
08-22-10 03:44 PM
TJKnight
Southwest
5
02-11-10 07:15 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.