Big Dry Creek - Standley Lake Area

This morning I took a ride up the Farmers Highline Canal Trail to the Westminster Rec. Center, picked up the Big Dry Creek Trail and rode to Standley Lake. As I reached the base of the Dam I was confronted by this sign:

Here is a close-up.

I recommend you avoid this area until Jefferson County reports the area safe.

Here is a link to the Jefferson County report of Plague in the area:
Click Here

On the positive side, The very dangerous crossing of the trail at Old Wadsworth has been replaced with a first class Underpass and it is now open.

Kaiser Permanente Moonlight Classic 2009

Last night, July 18th, 2009, I joined somewhere between 6 and 10 thousand other cyclists to ride in the Moonlight Classic. I participated in the Family portion of the Costume contest, had a great time, but did not win anything.



They said the course was 10 miles but my GPS says it was only 9. The weather was perfect and the course was, for the first time, closed to other traffic. Riders were released in waves of five or six hundred every few minutes. This did a nice job of spreading the riders out and reducing accidents.

The ride started at the State Capitol and proceeded east and south to the Cherry Creek Shopping Center and then back into downtown Denver, around town and back to the Capitol.



The group I was in was especially diligent in expressing their thanks to all the police who were blocking and managing traffic at intersections all along the course.





In my Uncle Sam costume, a birthday gift from Cassandra and Scott (my youngest daughter and her husband) I was a popular target for photographs and got lots of shouts from the crowds along the route.





I was unable to ride and get pictures at the same time so all my photos are from before the ride actually started.





I recommend this event for all levels of equipment and rider conditioning.

LINKS:
The Moonlight Classic Website
All my Photos of this event

Coal Creek Trail - Lafayette, CO Summer 2009

Quick Ride Summary: A short trail with a little of everything – Saturday, July 11th, 2009. The trail surface is Crusher Fine, well packed most of the time, and with some concrete trail surface in areas subject to erosion and for underpasses. The trail is seven miles long. At the east end it starts in Lafayette, CO., passes through Louisville, CO., and ends in Superior, CO. For a Saturday, the trail was not heavily used. The elevation gain over the 7 miles was 344 feet, an average grade of just under one percent.

All of the distances in the write-up are from the East end of the trail at 120th street. As always, you may click on the graphics and pictures to render them full sized and then use your browser’s back arrow to return to the blog. There is also a Links Section at the end of the article with links to all my pictures of this trail and links to other relevant websites.

Within 2 tenths of a mile the trail passed under some railroad tracks and then immediately over the creek. I stopped on the bridge over the creek to take pictures of the creek and darned if a vehicle didn’t go by on the railroad tracks. It was one of those pickup trucks with the special adapters for riding on rails.

At mile .5 the trail enters an area called Raptors Rapture. This is advertised as an area where Hawks, Eagles and other birds of prey nest and live. I looked up the definition of raptor and found that there is some disagreement about specifics, but in essence a raptor is a bird of prey which uses its large talons to capture and sometimes kill its prey. The owl is also considered a raptor.

At mile 1.1 the trail passes the trailhead where I parked my car. There are picnic tables and a restroom.

The Lafayette section of the trail is my favorite. The trail is wide, hard packed, with excellent maintenance, and gives a more rural experience along the creek.

In the Louisville section the trail is softer (more rolling resistance) with good maintenance, often more narrow and passes through neighborhood streets at times.

At mile 2.70 the trail leaves the creek ( to go around an area where right of way along the creek was not available) and climbs a not insignificant hill. At the top of the hill (Mile 3.21) are some amenities, a trail head, and a very nice view of the Rocky Mountains. The trail drops off of the hill and down into Louisville.

Across the street from the trail, at mile 4.21, is the Louisville Community Park. I didn’t go over to look, but it appeared to be quite nice.

At mile 4.5 the trail arrives back at the creek as it enters the Dutch Creek Open Space.

Passing through the open space and along the side of a golf course the trail enters a neighborhood at mile 5.3

At mile 6 the trail goes back to soft surface and at mile 7 it terminates at Grasso Park. This is currently the end of the trail.





LINKS:
All photos of this ride
Boulder County Coal Creek Page

Cherry Creek Trail (Lower)

Quick Ride Summary: A Nice Ride – Monday, July 6th, 2009. I started at the confluence of Cherry Creek and the Platte River and rode the trail up-creek for 18.5 miles until I reached the end of the completed and continuous trail; and then back to the car for a total of 37 miles. Sunny and 75 degrees, the trail surface is concrete and plenty wide most of the time. The trail is well maintained and heavily travelled.

All of the distances in this write-up are from where I park the car and unload the trike. It is .17 miles from there to the actual trailhead for the Cherry Creek Trail, so if you have the need to be precise you may elect to subtract .17 miles from my numbers.

As always, you may click on the graphics and pictures to render them full sized and then use your browser’s back arrow to return to the blog. There is also a Links Section at the end of the article with links to all my pictures of this trail and links to other relevant websites.

The Platte River and Cherry Creek are running full due to a very wet spring.

The trail begins with two paths, one on each side of the creek. As you look up-creek the left side is for feet (walkers, joggers, pets, etc). The right side is for wheels (bikes, trikes, skaters and skateboarders).

The creek runs along side of Speer Blvd for part of the way and then is straddled by the road all the way to the Denver Country Club. As you can see, the creek and trail is in a canyon well below street level and continues this way for several miles.

In recent years, Lower Downtown Denver (LODO) has developed into an enclave for young people and thousands of lofts and apartments have replaced the urban blight that once bordered the first mile or so of the trail. This has brought additional trail usage up to the point where it is sometimes unpleasantly busy on weekends. This being Monday and a workday, I only have to contend with several hundred users during my ride.

The other big negative for this trail is the presence of innumerable bums and hobos. They are on the trail, under the bridges, in the parks and anywhere else you care to mention. The authorities pretty much rounded them up and moved them out for the Democrat convention. I don’t know why they can’t make that a permanent solution.

Mile 1.1 brings you to the Denver Center for Performing Arts and also to the Colorado Convention Center. At mile 1.3 the feet and wheels trails combine into one trail and requires one to pay more attention.

At mile 4.5 the trail is bordered by several large black tubes. They run for more than a mile. These are temporary sewage pipes made necessary by local construction. The crews assured me that they will be gone in 7 to 10 days.
The Denver Country Club blocks the trail at mile 3.6. So, the trail rises up out of the canyon and proceeds along the sidewalk of Speer Blvd. in front of the Club for almost two thirds of a mile. This is the most dangerous section of the trail. It is not particularly wide, it is two way, and auto and truck traffic is screaming by sometimes only inches from riders. Evidently the city didn’t feel the need to use eminent domain to keep the trail with the creek.

Next, the trail passes the Cherry Creek Shopping Center. Here, there is an upper and lower trail. The lower trail borders the creek and it was closed due to high water. The upper trail gives you a great view of the shopping center parking garages.

At mile 6 is the City of Glendale Creek Side Park. The park is beautifully maintained and has restrooms, water, electricity and picnic facilities. I invariably stop here for a snack and, if necessary, a health break.

At mile 6.45 the trail passes Four Mile House and Historic Park. I have never stopped there but it appears to display historic Indian and white settler artifacts of early Denver. Then at mile 7 the trail enters Garland Park, another nice park, for about a half mile.

Starting at mile 10 the trail runs along side of a golf course and the trail is as straight as an arrow for 6 tenths of a mile. At the end of the strait the trail intersects with the Highline Canal Trail.

You pass under Dartmouth at mile 11.3 and start climbing. The trail makes a peak then goes back down and under highway 225 and then you start up the face of the Cherry Creek Dam.

I choose to go over the east end (the most difficult climb).
Mile 13.3 is the top of the Dam at elevation 5686ft.

I follow the trail around the east side of the reservoir and ride on to the end of the completed continuous trail, reaching it at mile 18.5.
There is another long completed section of the Regional Cherry Creek Trail near Parker, Colorado. However, reaching it from where I stopped would require several miles of biking on the shoulders of busy streets and I choose not to do that.

Starting back, I elected to go around the west side of the reservoir and stop at the picnic area for another snack, before heading down the west end of the dam and back to the Cherry Creek Trail. It is all downhill from here.

For trail surface, maintenance, amenities and accessibility I give this trail 5 stars.

LINKS:
All Photo’s of this Ride
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
Colorado Convention Center
Cherry Creek Shopping Center
City of Glendale Creek Side Park
Four Mile House and Historic Park
Cherry Creek State Park

New Santa Fe Trail

Quick Ride Summary: DISAPPOINTING - Wednesday, June 17th, 2009, I rode from the trailhead at Palmer Lake, CO to Colorado Springs, CO where the trail connects to the Pikes Peak Greenway. The distance was 18 miles with a net loss in elevation of just over a 1000 feet. I do NOT recommend this trail for the casual rider or for any type of road bike. The trail surface was advertised as crushed stone but often deteriorated to mud holes with sections so steep I still slid downhill with all brakes locked. Little, if any, evidence of trail maintenance within the Air Force Academy grounds.



I have added a chart of the Percent Grade as an overlay to the elevation chart. You will notice the spikes in the grade that indicate very steep sections of the trail.


I started in Palmer Lake and the trail was quite nice and stayed on the railroad grade to Monument, CO. If the entire trail had been this nice I would be giving you a glowing report rather than reporting a complete disappointment in the overall trail.



There were shelters and other amenities at the Palmer Lake and Monument trailheads, and a nice shelter just before entering the Air Force Academy. There were numerious signs concerning the flora, fauna and geology of the region. In fact there were so many that they were actually intrusive.





This trail passes along a beautiful section of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, but the expected serenity of riding along was marred by continuous road noise from I-25 and the constant drone of the airplanes overhead at the Academy.


Just south of Monument the trail left the railbed for long sections. At one time the trail surface was so bad that I thought I had wandered off the main trail onto some side trail, but was assured by a rider coming the other way that I was still on the New Santa Fe Trail. The trail had huge erosion ruts and several times I had to dismount and push the trike around obstacles and up hills that even the two wheelers could not navigate.


Finally, the trail left the Academy grounds and was back on the railbed for a nice couple of miles before reaching Colorado Springs.

In summary, the scenery was great, but the ride was at times quite unpleasant. Unless something changes I will not ride this trail again. I took no pictures of the ugly parts of the trail.


You may see all the pictures I took on this ride by visiting my Picasa site HERE

George S. Mickelson Trail

Note of Exception: The George S. Mickelson Trail, Black Hills, South Dakota. This is obviously not a Colorado trail, but since it is not that far away, Colorado riders may find it interesting. It is also an excellent example of what can be done with retired rail lines of considerable length. The website for the 108 mile George S. Michelson trail may be visited by clicking HERE, or by clicking the title of this trail.

Quick Ride Summary: I made two rides, both restricted by weather. The first was on Tuesday, June 9th. I rode 34.57 miles with a net loss in elevation of 1580 feet. Temp. in the low 50’s. Started at noon after rain all morning and was chased by thunderstorms for the entire ride. Trail surface is gravel or crushed rock, well maintained considering the previous winter and the current rains. Most of the time rolling resistance was high, requiring effort to even go downhill. Trail was best suited to mountain bikes. The surface was occasionally marred by the tracks of large animals.

The second ride was on Thursday, June 11th, early in the morning. It was only 4.9 miles because going further up the trail would have meant traveling on slick, muddy dirt roads. We tried it but turned around, went back to paved roads, unloaded the trike and took what was available. It was cold.

Clicking a graphic will usually render it full sized. Then use the back arrow on your browser to return to the blog.

I have included my GPS trail map in both "road" and "satellite" versions, and have rotated the elevation map to match the direction of the trail.

In spite of the fact that I ride a trike that is more suitable to paved trails and roads and that riding the Mickelson was more effort than I had anticipated, this trail is FANTASTIC!

Except for where the trail parallels the road, the silence is deafening. I flushed 6 turkeys in the first mile and a half and was constantly spooking antelope, white tailed deer and regular deer all of whom sprung off like they had built in trampolines. The only person I saw on the trail was Fran who would race ahead of me to the next trailhead, in case rain would end the ride, and then walk up to trail to meet me and to enjoy the trail herself. The trailheads can be from 5 to 16 miles apart.

I came to a place with a shelter and sign called Sanator. It was once a regular stop on the rail line where a very large tuberculosis Sanatorium was located. You can see a picture of the sanatorium across the bottom of the sign.

Other locations still had the telegraph (not telephone) lines that paralleled the rail line. Mines, ranches and small communities were also frequent sights along the trail.

I have included the following video just to give you an idea of what it is like for hours at a time. I’m doing about 10 miles per hour and holding the camera in one hand.


The pictures included are not in any particular order except for the one of me at the start of ride # 1. All the pictures are available on my Facebook account. See the link later in the Blog.

There are frequent tunnels of green and deep cuts through the rock. As the trail exits the Black Hills, near the end of my 35 mile ride, you will notice the absence of trees and see that the cuts are now through dirt rather than rock. There the trail passes through large ranches with cattle and horses.

I ran across this relic, about my age, lying alongside the trail.

On the second ride, in order to see more wildlife, I took it much slower, and quieter. Consequently I rode past a small herd of deer that did not spook, but rather just stared at me curiously.

The trail passes many mines of everything from gold to pegmatite and mica.

The trail also passes through a few town including Hill City, Custer, and Edgemont.

I recommend this trail to riders of all skill levels. But note that the trail map comes with an elevation profile of the trail for a reason. This is a mountainous area and the trail is rarely flat. It you don’t choose wisely, you can be pulling a hill for more than 20 miles. I chose segments that were, on the average, downhill and I still had to climb hills of 2 to 3 miles in length.

One pays a fee to ride the Mickelson. It is three dollars for a day or fifteen dollars for an annual pass. Day passes may be purchased at most trailheads and the annual pass may be ordered on their website. Copies of the Mickelson Map are also usually available at each trailhead.

If you want to see all of the photos I took, click HERE to go to my Facebook album of this trip.

Or, better, click HERE to see them in my Google Picasa album.

Or here is a slide show with all the pictures:


I will go back and finish the trail at some point in the future.

Clear Creek Trail - Springtime

Quick Ride Summary: May 30th, 2009. 36.43 miles round trip. Elevation change 502 feet each direction. Most of that elevation change comes in the last 3 miles as you approach Golden. Weather: sunny, temp. mid 70's, wind 5-10mph from the east. Trail surface is mostly smooth concrete with some sections in Wheat Ridge well maintained blacktop.

Double Clicking a graphic will usually render it full sized. Then use the back arrow on your browser to return to the blog.

Trail Notes: No construction on the trail. The trail section adjacent to Highway 58 is entirely complete. Normal maintenance is a regular activity (mowing, patching etc.) At two points the trail still spills onto streets. One, only about 250 yards long in a neighborhood and the other about a mile long to access a secondary trail in order to get under Kipling street.







Misc Info: Expect to encounter horses and lamas in the Wheat Ridge area.

Trail Tale: On almost every ride something interesting happens. Only a few miles into this ride I came upon an older man (older than me) who was leaning against his bike with his head down. I stopped and inquired about his condition. He said his shoulder hurt and he didn't know why. Upon examination, his arm (of the sore shoulder side) was all scraped up and bleeding. I got him off the trail and administered first aid. He had undoubtedly fallen but did not remember it. He would not permit me to call paramedics or relatives. He was wearing a helmet and appeared to be otherwise OK. Soon, he was on his way and so was I.


I started on the Platte River Trail at 70th Street and the river. Riding 2 tenths of a mile south brings you to the Clear Creek trail head. At mile 1.3 you come to the first of 11 overpasses which include 2 normal roads, 3 major freeways and miscellaneous on ramps, flyovers, etc.

At the end of another mile you come out of the underpasses and reach Twin Lakes (where I usually start my Clear Creek Rides)

The spring runoff is underway and Clear Creek is running much fuller than usual. Some of the underpasses are closed due to high water and so street level crossings are sometimes necessary.

Here is a video of what the creek looks like at about mile 5.

Most of the ride is very pleasant. As the trees and bushes fill out they screen off many of the offending sights and sounds (freeways and junkyards and the like). Here is what the trail looks like at mile 8.

At mile 13 the trail exits onto streets in order to access a trail that goes under Kipling Street. I usually take this opportunity to visit my favorite health food establishment, Winchell's Donuts. I scored a chocolate covered cruller and a custard filled round thingy. My diabetes thanks me for the glucose.

Just west of Wadsworth the trail pass a small isolated park that is had to find from the road and thus is not overrun with people. The area has some mature trees and is quite nice. Mature trees are uncommon on today's Clear Creek. Most were cut down by the gold rushers for fuel, sluices, and shelters.

This section is very popular for obvious reasons.

And, as mentioned earlier, a popular area for horseback riding.

At mile 14.5 the trail passes under I70 and heads to Golden on a course parallel to highway 58. Much of this portion of the trail has been relocated and is new. The lush trees are left behind and the flora more grassy.



The trail begins some serious climbing and in about 3 miles tops out where I took this picture.


Then it is downhill into Golden. The trail reaches Washington Street where this sign greets you.















Now, I turn the trike around and do it all again, seeing all of the green from the other direction. It was a great ride in both directions. I end this with a couple of pictures for those of you who might have wondered how I get my trike from place to place to make all these great rides.