UPDATE JULY 6, 2009

Well, I need some folks to step up to the plate who have sort of - umm - disappeared. And the following is suggested.

LET'S MAKE THE CARAVAN INN OUR MEETING POINT.

(Nora and I are going to Glenwood in 2 weeks, and we will tie down more specifically locations, etc.)

1. The Ride is August 31, starting early (I would like to be "on the trail" by 7:30 am,

Other planned events included a dinner or two. There was someone on the listserv who was arranging that, and had suggested a place, and given them call. However, I don't remember exactly. Are you there? Or do we need to start from scratch?

Anyway, let's plan on a dinner Sunday night - 08/30; 6:00 pm and

Monday night 08/31, 6:00 pm. We can easily find a place, if the person who volunteered doesn't respond.

I would suggest that folks who are interested and haven't done the trail bordering the Colorado River leave from Glenwood early Sunday morning the 30th and take the round trip. The engineering is spectacular, and so far, we have had a very wet June, so, hopefully, the Colorado River will be running high. Many rapids to see, there are folks running the river in their rafts, etc. The highway and trail are likely the best example of highway construction in the US of A. Very much imbedded into the spectacular environment of the canyon. This would be a 33 mile ride or so, and would be a great warmup for Monday's ride. I would suggest leaving again, about 7:30 am. The very first part of the trail is not so pretty, and at times I drive to the first rest stop and start from there.

2. Maps of ride



The Glenwood Canyon Recreational Trail simply follows I-70 through the canyon.





3. Liability - yes, and Delphinus and qcpmsame were working on it. I sent them a PM last week, but no response. Are you there? About $10.00

The ride will be in Glenwood Springs, CO from

Saturday, August 29th through Wednesday, September 2nd, with the OFFICAL ride on Monday, August 31, 2009.

( For ride and Glenwood Springs info, please see the ride thread at
https://www.bikeforums.net/fifty-plus-50/486301-annual-50-bike-forum-ride.html )

Folks can come anytime during this time period (or longer). This allows for anyone who could only come for the weekend to still meet with a lot of BFN 50+ folks, and would allow for bicycling the official ride on other than a weekend. We could even have a dinner on Sunday, the 30th AND something after the ride on Monday the 31st.

I think with that schedule, we meet EVERYONE'S needs, in one way or another.

Here is how it all added up (USE ^F5 to be sure you are seeing the latest update) - revised table 03/15/2009:

D-Fox - Please add my wife and me. It's a probable (my youngest is starting his senior year in HS then, and we start school in mid - August, which could be a problem. By the way, my 53d birthday will be 9/1/09, so we need a 53-miler that day.

Sounds great, DF. I've marked my calendar.

Even with extra days before and after, I'll be able to make the Ididaride (Adirondack Mountains, NY) or Lancaster Covered Bridge Metric (PA) both the same day on Aug 16, and the Highlander Tour (Finger Lakes, NY) on Sept 11 & 12.

Now, I wonder what my Club Hypoxia buddies are doing before and after...

Thank you, DnvrFox, for taking the lead on getting this planned. Now that there is a date set, we can start making plans and working out the logistics of making this happen. I think this will be a lot of fun.

Now to figure out the best way to travel. Transporting bikes halfway across the country is not something I've ever given much thought.

Please change my total number to "2".

outfreakinstandin. thanks.

I have had this thread made into a sticky, as I anticipate that over almost a year, it will not receive many additional posts, and may get lost at the bottom of the pile.

I would like newbies to be able to see it and participate if they like.

Thanks for doing this Dnvr.

Now I can mark it on the calendar and start making plans

I can make any of the dates along with my wife as long as we know far enough in advance to try to schedule our time off. Not sure how to add my info to the chart.

DF, please change my number attending from "2 or 3" to "2". It will just be my wife and me. The kid will be too involved in school and marching band at that time to make the trip.

i already changed it. Try ^f5

Is November 21st far enough ahead of time?

I'll add you to the list tomorrow.

My wife does not ride. I'm trying to talk here into coming along, I'm sure there will be others that might not ride.

Well, it wasn't changed when I wrote that.

Thanks. But I think now the number is going to be zero. I was trying to bite off more than I could chew.

My wife and I are definite maybes.

My attendance is unlikely, but if I came, would anyone in the party be riding at a very leisurely pace. I don't like to participate in group rides because everyone wants to ride at a faster pace than I do. And, as I've written many times, I am prone to making frequent stops. Which would surely be the case at this beautiful locale.

I see the ride one-way is 44 miles. In all likelihood, I would take about 4.5 hours to cover that distance. Whereas many others even at what they consider to be a casual pace, would take 3 hours or less.

I would hate to slow everyone down. So if I did come, I would expect to see everyone at the social activities, but no so much on the ride itself. Unless there was another overly pokey person. Not that I mind riding by myself, as it has been 17 months since I rode with anyone else.

I will ride with my wife on the "social ride." She does not ride fast, and takes a lot of stops. I figure we may all start together, but then go at whatever pace we want. Also, no way she will do 44 miles one-way.

You would be VERY welcomed to join us.

DF, can you add my name to the list? Put me down for 1. I'm officially 50 in May.

Sure - you'd be welcome even if you were only 49 in May

There's about a 50-50 chance (oh, make it a 50+ chance) I'll be on sabbatical in August 2009--if so I am so there! If not, no can do.

I'll find out in December.

We'll be standing by.

When I was in Higher Ed, I never heard of a sabbatical for bike riding. What a great institution!

I intend to take my time and see things along the trails. I'm not coming all the way to CO to ride fast

I haven't learned to take pictures while riding, so I'll be doing a lot of stopping, too.

Or I could ride half-way, turn around at 22 miles, and then finish about the same time as those doing 88 miles.

Talking it over with Red Rider and we think this may just be a doable thing. RR used to live in Glenwood and would really like to visit the scene of many of her more youthful haunts. I will be finished with my special project at work and should be able to get enough vacation time to drive out, ride and drive back. If we come, we will bring the "Bluejay" tandem and all are welcome to suck wheel as needed. We can also slow down to enjoy the scenery as well. There are many things that may happen between then and now that may change our plans. We will continue to monitor this and keep you guys posted if something comes up to change our plans to attend. Looking forward to putting faces to all these names.

The way it's looking for me now is that I'll take the Amtrak to Grand Junction, arriving on Monday August 24.

I want to ride Colorado National Monument and Grand Mesa for a couple of days. And who knows, maybe ride down the road to Utah, just to tick it off the list.

Then I'll ride to Glenwood Springs to meet up with everyone on Friday August 28. I'll leave from GSC on Tuesday September 1.

Unless someone can talk me into something different…

Thanks tsl, I'll keep my eye on this thread & see what I'm doing. Hopefully I can make it as well.