Denver-Boulder Bike to Work Day - Success!

The Ride In

Well, I did it. 81 miles round trip and a total of about 5 hours and 15 minutes riding yesterday to and from work.

The morning ride was a real blast, although I had one minor mishap on the way and probably provided a chuckle to many people waiting at a red light at the Sheridan Blvd exit ramp on US 36. I left at 5:15 am, and arrived at work at just before 7:45, so it took me just about 2.5 hours, as predicted.

The Sand Creek, Platte River, Clear Creek and Little Dry Creek trails were all quite lovely (okay, Sand Creek wasn't so lovely through Commerce City, unless you consider oil/natural gas refineries lovely) and easy to ride. It took me about an hour to navigate these trails and exit onto Sheridan Blvd at 76th St.

I rode Sheridan's sidewalks/paths north across US 36, where I had my "accident." As I rode across, the sidewalk gets really narrow, and then there is a quick left turn at the east side of the exit ramp. Well, I couldn't negotiate it quickly enough, and I flopped right over in front of a line of cars. I just picked myself up and went on my way without even a glance back... I'm sure they were all amused.

I continued North on Sheridan to 120th. It was all pretty easy stuff. At 120th, I turned west and headed back toward US 36. From there, I followed small, less-travelled streets along US 36 until I got to Superior, where I headed north on McCaslin Blvd. After a steep climb up McCaslin, it was ll pretty much downhill to Gunbarrel where my office is located. I was tired when I arrived, but it sure was a nice ride in.

The Ride Home

The ride home was more difficult, but I still had a great time. I left around 5:00 pm and essentially followed the same route in, except in reverse... except I made one turn too early, and went a bit out of my way to get back on track. Also, I ran right over some broken glass, and got a flat, so I had to spend a few minutes changing out the tube.

To add to the challenge, there was a wind blowing out of the southeast (I was headed generally southeast) at about 15-20 mph, and storm clouds were rolling in. I got a few raindrops in Westminster, at about the location I had fallen during the morning commute, but nothing major. No, I didn't fall again on my way home.

By the time I got back on the Sand Creek trail, I was pretty much ready to get off the bike, but I still had a few miles to go. I pulled into the driveway about 10 minutes before 8:00 pm, so the ride home took a bit more time. I attribute most of that to the flat and the wrong turn. Otherwise, I would have been pretty much right at 5 hours round trip.

Epilogue

I really enjoyed doing the commute. It's not practical, of course, to do it every day (or even every week), but it was nice to leave the car at home. I kind of wish we lived closer to Boulder so I could do this more often. Of course, now that Laura's back at work in Downtown Denver, moving to Boulder is even less practical than before.

I'll definitely do this again next year, although, I plan to get into better shape before BTW Day next time. If I can swing it, I may do it again this year, if Laura is amenable... okay, probably not. :)

Pre-Commute Ride

I got out this morning to do a pre Bike-to-Work Day ride. Tomorrow is my ultra-commute (~82 miles round trip). Because I haven't ridden since early last week, I decided to get out and do an easy ride this morning to loosen up the legs.

I got up around 5:00 am this morning and headed up to the office in Boulder at 5:30. Normally, I'd swim at the Boulder Reservoir across the street, but I wanted to ride today. So, I hopped on the bike and took off on the route below. This is basically the bike route for the Boulder Peak Triathlon, sans the grueling climb up to and over Old Stage Hill Rd.

5430 Sprint Triathlon - 2008

I knew I was out of shape, but da-a-a-a-amn!!!

	<-- Check out tubby exiting the water. Run, fat man, Run!!!! -->
	<-- Hmmm... Somebody needs to swim more. Swim: 750m Time: 14:48 (1:58/100m) Rank: 332/1068 Exiting T1, I've found that rubber banding ---> shoes on the bike does little to improve my times
	<-- Still exiting T1 Time: 1:45 - Doh! :-0 On the bike. I think this is just before the --> return trip into the Reservoir area. There weren't many photographers on the bike course.
	<-- At the bike finish line. Shoes are off here. Bike: 17 mi Time: 46:32 (22.2 mph) Rank: 132/1068 Now heading out of T2... looking a bit tired, --> Mr. Perkins.
	<-- Another shot out of T2. Lot's of Transition pics this year. T2: 1:15 - why so slow? >:-( The fat man runneth! Looks like those legs --> are barely working at the finish.
	<-- Thank goodness they got like 100 pictures of me on the run. Woohoo! Look at that blubber fly! I need to lose --> a little weight.
	<-- Lookin' sharp. Not like I'm going to collapse after a freakin' 5k or anything. Run: 5K (3.1 mi) Time: 27:40 (8:56/mi) Rank: 609/1068 Overall Time: 1:31:59 Age Group Place: 49/106 (solidly middle of the pack!) Overall Place: 267/1068

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.

Denver/Boulder Bike To Work Day 2008

So, I've decided to try a commute from home to work on the designated Denver/Boulder Area Bike-to-Work Day on June 28,. It'll be a lo-o-o-o-o-o-ng ride (time wise... only ~40 miles on the bike), but I fully expect it to take at least 2.5 hours. I have two route options, which I may try to check out over the next couple of weekends.

Route #1

This route has some of everything, and is probably a bit safer (not to mention a couple of miles shorter). From Stapleton, I'd be on the Denver city bike routes through the City Park area until I reach Washington St. The route would put me on Washington St., which has a shoulder but no bike lane, for a short period of time, and incorporates mostly off-street trails, streets that are designated bike routes or have a designated bike lane.

I would wind through the suburban areas of the Denver-Boulder turnpike (US 36) until I reached Colorado Hwy 7, and then north and west to Gunbarrel. A map of Route 1 is shown below.

Route #2

This route is a little more direct, but longer (by ~3 miles) and almost exclusively on streets and roads with shoulders, but no bike lanes. Moreover, these streets are not designated bike routes. I'd follow the same path as before from Stapleton to Washington street. This time, however, I'd stay on Washington for several miles as it parallels I25 north. At the intersection of I25 and Colorado Hwy 7, I'd head west on CO 7, starting out much further east than where I'd pick it up on Route #1. At 75th St., I'd pick up the same route from Route #1 and head into Gunbarrel.

I'm leaning towards choosing Route #2 simply because there are fewer places where I might get lost. Also, I think there would be fewer stops I'd have to make, which might make the overall trip faster, despite the extra 3 miles. On the other hand, because it's Bike-to-Work Day, there will be aid stations and mechanical support on many of the designated bike routes. Since Route #2 is primarily not on these designated routes, I wouldn't get that support.

I'll ride some of both routes this weekend, and see which one I like best.