0 comment Friday, August 8, 2014 | admin
On Tuesday I was running some light errands: mail knife to brother, pay last quarter's tuition, eat lunch... I was traveling pretty light and had all my necessities in the pockets of my riding jacket. When I finished everything up that I had to do, I decided I'd blow off the schoolwork I was procrastinating on, and go for a spin. Now, I'm really familiar with the Cherry Creek bike path route to the Cherry Creek Reservoir, and since I was already at DU, 1.5 miles South of the path, I figured I'd just head East on Yale or Dartmouth to get over to it.
I really didn't know where they connect, but I figured it was inevitable that they would. Sure enough, after meandering around on Dartmouth, connecting to the Highline Canal, going back under I-25, riding Highline Northwest for 2 miles, turning back Southeast on Yale again, and the up to about nine intersecting streets, all called Dartmouth (Ave, St, Pl, Cir, Ct), I found myself going through a park, and then spit out right at Cherry Creek about a mile below the dam.
On my way up the dam, it was rush hour, and since the path runs right next to the freeway, I ended up passing some cars while I went uphill in my granny gear. I actually took cell phone video, dutiful blogger that I am, but will not punish you, dear reader, with the jarring results. I had an oil tanker in my sights the whole time and I kept about even with him, of course, I'm breathing really hard, the video is extremely shaking, and the wind is blowing hard into the mic, trust me, it sucks. Let's just say, cycling is faster at rush hour, and there must be something ironic about pacing an oil tanker up a hill while on your bike.
So I get into the state park after my meandering course, and I'm going to go look at the res and turn around, when I see a rider in a DU Cycling kit zing by on the TT course. When you see someone who is wearing your colors, it's like a gang, and you have to go see who it is, I guess to make sure they ain't "frontin'". I didn't exactly catch him, rather turned around so he would catch me. It was Todd, a law school guy who I've met once or twice that raced two years ago on the team. Anyway, we get to talking, and before you know it, we're around the other side of the reservoir, 8 miles along.
We're both headed down Cherry Creek, so we ride together, spooking a girl's cross country team with totally incoherent shouting of things such as "biker's back" and "on your left! Your LEFT! YOUR OTHER LEFT!" on the way down the dam. I was really stoked that I was able to keep up with Todd on his carbon Fondriest while riding my steel Trek 520 with touring everything on it, though his was a little quicker on the uphills.
All told, I did about 40 miles from the start of my errand run, all in normal clothes, normal shoes, and on a normal bike. So take that cycling marketers! You can go far and fast in just about any well-maintained rig, you don't need to be buying titanium water bottle cage bolts to be a better cyclist.
One last thought, I LOVE SPRINGTIME!!!
I really didn't know where they connect, but I figured it was inevitable that they would. Sure enough, after meandering around on Dartmouth, connecting to the Highline Canal, going back under I-25, riding Highline Northwest for 2 miles, turning back Southeast on Yale again, and the up to about nine intersecting streets, all called Dartmouth (Ave, St, Pl, Cir, Ct), I found myself going through a park, and then spit out right at Cherry Creek about a mile below the dam.
On my way up the dam, it was rush hour, and since the path runs right next to the freeway, I ended up passing some cars while I went uphill in my granny gear. I actually took cell phone video, dutiful blogger that I am, but will not punish you, dear reader, with the jarring results. I had an oil tanker in my sights the whole time and I kept about even with him, of course, I'm breathing really hard, the video is extremely shaking, and the wind is blowing hard into the mic, trust me, it sucks. Let's just say, cycling is faster at rush hour, and there must be something ironic about pacing an oil tanker up a hill while on your bike.
So I get into the state park after my meandering course, and I'm going to go look at the res and turn around, when I see a rider in a DU Cycling kit zing by on the TT course. When you see someone who is wearing your colors, it's like a gang, and you have to go see who it is, I guess to make sure they ain't "frontin'". I didn't exactly catch him, rather turned around so he would catch me. It was Todd, a law school guy who I've met once or twice that raced two years ago on the team. Anyway, we get to talking, and before you know it, we're around the other side of the reservoir, 8 miles along.
We're both headed down Cherry Creek, so we ride together, spooking a girl's cross country team with totally incoherent shouting of things such as "biker's back" and "on your left! Your LEFT! YOUR OTHER LEFT!" on the way down the dam. I was really stoked that I was able to keep up with Todd on his carbon Fondriest while riding my steel Trek 520 with touring everything on it, though his was a little quicker on the uphills.
All told, I did about 40 miles from the start of my errand run, all in normal clothes, normal shoes, and on a normal bike. So take that cycling marketers! You can go far and fast in just about any well-maintained rig, you don't need to be buying titanium water bottle cage bolts to be a better cyclist.
One last thought, I LOVE SPRINGTIME!!!
Labels: Moment