Glenwood Canyon

On April 23, 2009, I arose at the crack of dawn, packed my trike and gear and headed for Glenwood Springs. Glenwood Springs is 165 miles west of Denver on Highway I70. It is at the western end of Glenwood Canyon, one of the scenic wonders of Colorado and the site of the most expensive 20 miles of Interstate highway in the nation. For 16 miles of that Interstate they tacked on a bike path. Both the Freeway and the bike path cling to the northern bank of the mighty Colorado River. The railroad claims the other bank.

I arrived in Glenwood Springs at about 10:00 a.m. and found a parking space. (It is easer to find parking in New York than Glenwood Springs). I mounted up and headed out.

The first 1.5 miles of the bike path are on a road surface directly adjacent to the break-down lane of the freeway and is about the ugliest thing you can imagine. Then the freeway enters a tunnel and the bike path crosses over the freeway and drops into the canyon to follow the river.

The very best parts of the ride turned out to be when the road enters a tunnel and the bike path and river go off on their own. All of the sudden it is quiet and stunningly beautiful.

The river is running almost full from the spring runoff.

For the next mile or so the trail follows a road through a very rare residential area on the banks of the river. I noticed that one was for sale. (I couldn't help but dream a little)

Now going through miles four and five I find that the trail is much steeper than portrayed in the Trail documentation. I just came down an 8% grade. On the way back there is no way that I or my motor can pull that hill. I will have to walk it. The scenery continues to be spectacular.

Going from west to east through the canyon there is a rest stop every few mile so that drivers can stop and admire the view. The bike path rises up to each of these.

On one hand it is nice because there are rest rooms, water and shelter. On the other hand they are full of people and a distraction from the river.

Each of the rest stops has a name (Grizzly Creek, Hanging Lake, etc, except for the first one, which is called No Name.

When the path is right next to, or attached to, the freeway it is very noisy with the traffic on one side and sometimes the roar of the river on the other. Much of the time, the river side of the bike path has no railing and with my vertigo this is a bit of a problem for me.

Yes, that is the roadway above my head. When you see white water it means that the river is running very fast and it means steeper uphill pulls.

The places that rent bikes in Glenwood Springs also offer a shuttle service to take you and your rental bike to the eastern end of the trail so that your experience of riding the trail is mostly downhill.

I had lunch at the Hanging Lake rest stop (about mile 11 out of 16) and grab a 30 minute recharge on the bikes battery (a full recharge takes 5 to 6 hours). I found an outlet in the mens room (evidently provided for electric shavers) and so I wheeled the trike into the restroom and parked it while I had lunch. Since I'm sitting outside with a bike helmet et al, everyone who went into the restroom knew it was mine and had to stop and visit.

Before lunch I was thinking the elevation gain was too much and I would have to turn back soon. But, a little food and rest, and a talk with myself about driving 165 miles to do "a part" of the trail (I don't think so).

You don't see the usual GPS map and elevation map in this trail blog because deep in the canyon one rarely gets GPS or Cell coverage.

Anyway, I soldiered on and with the help of a very brisk tail wind, made it to the eastern trail head. At this point the trail had come out of the deep canyon and everything looked much more arid and much less spectacular. I visited with some other cyclists and then started back because huge thunder storm clouds were gathering over the canyon.

Coming back you would think it would be a piece of cake, what with being downhill and all. But now I was dealing with 20 to 30 mph headwinds being generated by the thunder clouds, with gusts to 40 and 50 mph. Going downhill and pedaling like hell the wind would still bring me to a standstill. Well that is what the motor is for and I used it some to counteract the wind, but felt I had to save most of it for that god-awful hill at the No Name rest stop. (I was glad I did! At the No Name hill I used the motor to move the trike up the hill while I walked alongside).

On the way back I was in good company with some folks enjoying the bounty of the Colorado River.

I arrived back at the car, none the worse for wear. I loaded up and headed for Denver. The return trip was uneventful.

I wouldn't want to do this every day, but wouldn't have missed it for the world. I will do it again this summer.

Hilary