Denver/Boulder Bike To Work Day 2008 (Redux)

Okay... So I rode the first part of my proposed commutes on Sunday morning, and have decided to revise the route. It was rainy and cold on Sunday morning at 5:45 am, and nobody was on the roads, but I saw enough to know that I want no part of riding on portions of that route.

Primarily, the "bad" part was Washington St. north of I-70. First, it's very industrial. Second, the "shoulders" are much narrower than the satellite photos led me to believe. Most of what I thought was paved shoulder was either covered with gravel and/or sand and/or broken glass, or was nonexistent. Third, there's a big construction area on Washington a few blocks south of where I would turn off it under the first commute option (72nd), and I really don't want to deal with all the traffic and debris that would cause. Given this, I clearly can't choose option 2, either, because it would require me to be on Washington St. for a very long time. No thanks.

Fortunately, there's a third option that will, I think, be a much safer option, with more designated bike routes, dedicated bike lanes, and off-street trails as well as smaller, lower traffic streets. Much safer, and not really any additional mileage. This commute takes advantage of the Sand Creek Greenway, which is paved west of Quebec. Ideally, I'd catch the trail near my house, but it's all soft surface east of Quebec, and I'm not going to ride my road bike on soft surface trails. I'd catch the trail right at Quebec and 46th, but it's neither easy nor safe to get there by bicycle on the roads, so I've had to be a little more creative.

What I'll do is take the dedicated bike routes west through my neighborhood toward downtown Denver, and then head north at Dahlia. I'll catch the Sand Creek Trail at Dahlia and 56th, and head northwest. Sand Creek intersects with the Platte River Trail at around 64th Ave, and then heads due north to about 70th. At 70th, I catch the Dry Creek Trail west to Sheridan Blvd. heading north. Sheridan has a dedicated bike lane and/or an off-street bike path all the way up to 120th Ave. At 120th, I'll head west again using smaller, less-traveled streets until I get to McCaslin Blvd. in Louisville. McCaslin has dedicated bike lanes, which will get me up to South Boulder Rd., where I'll head west agains for a very short time to 76th St. I take 76th north to Baseline Rd., where I do a short western jog to 75th St. At 75th I head north for several miles, crossing Co. Hwy 7 and finally reaching Jay Rd. At Jay Rd. I head west again to Spine Rd., and then ride north on Spine Rd. to Longbow Dr. and the Covidien headquarters.

All in all, it's about 41 miles one way. I expect it to take me at least 2.5 hours.