Commuter Page | Good Life Cyclist

Denver's Urban Bike Trails

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:15:46 -0700

Denver has an amazing bike / multi-use trail system.

I have explored some, but definitely not all of Denver’s 650 or so miles of urban bike trails. I am amazed at how well the greater Denver bike trail systems are maintained throughout the year. My commute to work is on a series of 4 trails. The Lee Gulch trail is one of them and can get washed out during periods of heavy rain. I have seen large sections get washed away and within 4-5 days the trail is re-built better than before. Yes the Denver area is definitely a bike-lovers paradise; it seems to always be rated in someone's top ten list of most bike friendly cities.

Like here

here

and here.

I wanted see how far it would be if I looped a few of my favorite urban trails together into one big loop. So, I set off on a chilly 34 degree Saturday morning in the dark. Was I worried about being seen by motorists? No, because I was on a beautiful urban trail system far away from Denver's traffic.

The loop I put together ended up being about 74 miles. Knowing that Denver has 650 miles available, there is a lot more exploration to be done.

This is my route. I even added pictures from the exact point they were taken(click on the little circles to see).

denver urban trail system at EveryTrail

The route I did was all on well kept bike trail except for the section south of Cherry Creek Park. There is no trail system that connects that part of town to the C 470 trail. You have to hop on a road. Luckily the roads are wide and traffic is light in this area. I was unfamiliar with that section of town and I was a bit misdirected coming out of Cherry Creek Park.

If I could do it over again I would have gone this way instead:

View Larger Map

About 65 miles into the day I was ready to stop and grab some lunch. I found an amazing pizza place - Lil Ricci's New York Pizza, just off the C470 trail on Ken Caryl Ave.

If you want to start bike commuting in Denver you are probably within a few miles of a trail system which will take you where you want to go. This website is a great resource for mapping out possible urban bike trails for pleasure or bike commuting in the Denver area.

I am grateful I live in a community where I can hop on my bike, ride out of my garage and within a few miles be on a trail which I can take downtown, to work, to a plethora of parks and into another amazing system of off-road trails west into the foothills and mountains beyond.

It is good to live where I live.

Fall Commuting

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:27:04 -0600

It has been beautiful bicycle commuting weather here in the Denver area these past few weeks. I've experienced clear skies and sunny mornings. When the sun finally peeks over the horizon at 7:10 a.m. it helps the cool 45 degree mornings feel not so cool.

I love my commute: No cars here, just beautiful trail and trees.

My what big wheels you have.

More beautiful commuter trail.

Some nice fall color to look at.

My Bicycle Commute:

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 21:32:10 -0600

With my busy schedule, my commute is the main way I am able to get in my training hours. I get about 3 hours of training time round trip - 23.5 miles each way. I've been able to average about 2 days a week.

I'm lucky enough to live within a mile of a great trail system. Denver has one of the best in the country. Denver constantly ranks in the top 10 best bike friendly cities in the US.

My route:

Once out of my neighborhood I take the Bear Creek Trail to the Platte River Trail then get on a gravel short-cut called Lee Gulch Trail, this drops me onto the C-470 Trail, which takes me within a half mile of work. I love this route, it's safe from motorists, well maintained and not crowded.

If you have Google Earth, click on this link.

Then click on Google Earth under the map, you can then follow my route via a birds eye view.

Click the play tour button once in the Google earth program - it looks like this. If you don't have Google Earth, download it here for free.

My Commuter:

My main bike I use to commute is my cyclocross bike. The great thing about a cross bike is you can run 23c road tires or bigger tires with knobbies. The cross bike is fast like a road bike but has more frame clearance for bigger tires to get you through the mud and snow plus cantilever brakes which won’t clog up with mud and crud.

This last weekend I put the cross tires back on, it's cross season again! I'll keep you posted on this front.

I'm surprised how consistent my commute times are from day to day, usually within 3-5 minutes. The two things I've noticed that can add time is stop lights and wind. My route crosses 4 busy intersections. Twice in three years I have hit every intersection while it was green, and those two times happened within a week of each other.

It was almost like a religious moment, the seas parting and letting the environmentally conscious bicycle commuter be delivered harmlessly through the clogged intersections filled with evil CO2 polluting heathens. Either that or I got lucky.

I'm starting a commuting page here on the Good Life Cyclist. I will post comments, thoughts, commute times etc. Maybe even a forum where you can comment on your own “good life” commuter stories. Stay tuned! If you have an idea on what you would like to see, drop me a message.

Until then, keep your commuting life good.