Denver Area Trails

June 5, 2016;

Plum Creek Trail and Cherry Creek trail;

After visiting with grandkids, I was fairly late getting to my hotel at Castle Rock, and tired. Got dinner at a Subway, showered, and went to bed ..... tomorrow will be another day. So it was!  

The Front Range, Denver and vicinity has a wealth of multi-use pathways and trails, it would take me a week to explore them all, maybe longer. I knew there was a little trail at Castle Rock and wanted to ride that in the morning, then later on to Franktown to explore the Cherry Creek Trail. So, starting off from my hotel, I found an access point just two blocks from the hotel, hidden behind the local veterinary shop.  Turning on to the trail, this is what greeted me. Prettier and better maintained than the road.

 At every turn, another surprise and pretty view of Plum Creek.

 Castle Rock bluff, the namesake of the town.

 Another shot of my bike complimenting the local scenery.

 Past the veterinary shop and on up to the north, the trail gets prettier the further north you go. There were also more locals to stop and chat with.

 There were hills on the north end.

 And tunnels

 More hills and pine forested trail

 And several Magpies that followed me looking for a handout.

 The old tree didn't make it. But did make for a reason to stop and take a picture.

 Castle Rock bluff from the north side.

  
I rode on past my exit point and rode into town to visit a drug store, (sunscreen forgotten) and a bike shop, ( tire boot forgotten) I will probably not need a tire boot unless I didn't have one. Then I found a nice coffee shop with outdoor tables and a bunch of cyclists to chat with, next door was my ace dicovery for the day, a super great sandwich shop and bakery. Rode around a bit more visiting with firemen behind the fire station, several locals who liked my "Hotter'n Hell" jersey, and ended up talking for 20 minutes. Then it was back to the bike path, and back to the hotel where I loaded the bike up and headed for Franktown. The trailhead was a couple of miles north of Franktown, and it was there I accessed the Cherry Creek Trail, and headed north. This is a very nice trail, although much heavier used than Plum Creek, it was nice to ride. More open landscape, and the trees are more deciduous varieties like cottonwoods. 

 An open urban trail, always within sight of homes, at times, their backyards mere feet away. I tried to convey a more country look by not taking pictures of peoples backyards, but concentrating on more open spaces. This trail goes on for something like 40 miles one way, which was more than I wanted to do today, so at the 20 mile point, I turned around and headed back.

 Pretty Cherry Creek also made better by the addition of my bike.

 Found two riding companions, each for about 20 minutes of riding, first, a fairly fast gentleman on a racing type bike who came up behind me and started talking ..... my HHH jersey attracting  attention again. We rode and chatted until he turned off on the 470 Trail, and I went straight until I got my 20 miles in. I get started on these trails, and I could go on forever. I had a big ride tomorrow, however, and I was starting to have enough riding already. The second rider I got to ride with was this pretty young lass on a mountain bike ..... also pretty darned fast ..... or maybe this old guy was just pretty darned slow. Anyway we rode and chatted back south until the Parker Trailhead where she got off to go to her car. Fun gal!

 When I got back to Castle Rock, it was time to head on down to the fairgrounds and pick up my packet. So, I unloaded my bike off the car, and rode on down to the fairgrounds and back.

 It was a long day riding, I swung off into town to Maddie's on 3rd street, and had a very cold very good Weitzenbrau (wheat beer), it went down so fast, it needed to be refilled. Served in the authentic 1/2 liter glass, just like they served it in Germany.

The Denver area trail system is really super, the people using it were friendly and pleasant, and I really enjoyed my visit to the trails here. I kind of wished I would have arranged to stay a little longer to check out more. I think it's the best way to get around in a large city like Denver, especially when one is from out of the area.  Denver has many miles of trails, and most connect urban areas with the center of the city, giving access to shopping areas as well as food and drink. 
Total miles of fooling around riding pre-ride was 57 ..... I hope that will be good enough to get acclimated before the big ride tomorrow.