It's Friday and I have the day off and the temps should be in the low 50's, this means time for another long ride. It took me a while on map my ride to figure out a route that I haven't done before and that would give me about 70 miles. I had time for about a 6 hour ride as I wasn't going to start until the temp hit 45* and that would be about 11:00am or so and the sun starts to set at 5:30pm. Can't wait until daylight savings time, only 2 more weeks to go.
Found my loop that I wanted to do, Started in Morrison and took the bike path down to Chatfield Rez. Went thru the Rez to the south end over by the Marina and then hooked up with the Highline Canal Trail. It wasn't marked but I kind of knew where I was going. I crossed 2 sets of Railroad tracks with a bit of hike a bike in there. I was on the cross bike so I didn't have the really low gears I needed to get up the steep grade to the tracks. The highline was pretty muddy in spots, boggy in others and completely dry for sections. I had originally planned on doing a longer section on the highline but decided after this first short section that it wasn't worth riding in the muck. I stuck to the paved bike path and changed my course for the day.
Rode down to Parker on the E-470 path and then hooked up with the new Cherry Creek Regional Bike path. I had fought headwinds and cross winds up to this point so it was so nice to have a wonderful tailwind to blow me to Cherry Creek Rez. The map along the route showed me that the path was complete all the way to Cherry Creek, I was so excited. The roads around this area are very busy and I did not want to get on them. Wow, what a surprise when my path ended right at Arapahoe Rd. Without having to back track a few miles I was committed to ride on Arapahoe Rd. for about 2 blocks with the heavy traffic. Thank goodness I was on my cross bike as I rode the dirt shoulder (what little of it there was) and got off as soon as I could. Found the path once again and I was on my way. It took me 3.5 hours to get to Cherry Creek and I was feeling good. It was 3pm and I knew I had a good 2.5 hrs. to get back to my car..plenty of time.
I then proceeded thru the Rez and got on the Cherry Creek bike path that took me all the way to downtown. This took me just about an hour as the wind was winding down and other riders to help keep me motivated. I stopped at a hotdog stand and bought 2 bottles of water. At 4.5 hrs. into this ride I had only consumed 2 bottles of water, 2 bars and 2 gels. I felt good so I wasn't too worried. Took 3 sportlegs and headed south on the South Platte Bike Path down to Bear Creek. Another 30 min. later I hit Bear Creek path, took my last gel and knew this was my final section. I ride this section when I commute to work so it was a pretty easy ride, only 1 hour to go. I was starting to feel it in my neck and legs feeling a little tired but overall pretty good. Got into Bear Creek Rez. with plenty of light but figured I would stop and pee, put my flasher on the back of the bike and turn my mini headlight on. Finished the ride at 5:30, right at 6 hours with about :20 min. total of stopping. I know I could ride this faster now that I know where I am going. Some of todays ride was route finding.
Total mileage was 83 miles according to map my ride. I don't have a computer on the bike yet but Andy did inform me that it was in the garage waiting to be mounted.
Mileage: 83
MPH: 13.7
Bike Path, Park Roads: 80 miles.
Pee breaks: 2 (cherry creek, bear creek)
Food: 3 Macrobars, 3 CarBoom gels
Water: 4 bottles
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