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Are we there yet? September 20, 2008Leave a comment ;)
Nope, but we are getting closer! Half-way to Cape Canaveral! Just crossed the 2000 mile mark in Boulder, CO. How the miles fly by when you are having fun! Well, maybe not that much fun today. I have the scrape marks on my right rear pannier to show you just how close I came to the guard rail trying to become one with the shoulder and not one with the traffic! I left Fort Collins this morning in bright, warm sunshine! Quite the change from yesterday in Walden. Funny how a few thousand feet in altitude can make such a difference. I have been so lucky that most of my travel to date (with the exception of a couple of cities) has been on the open road and not much traffic to contend with as I ride. Not so for the Front Range of Colorado. Pretty much one continuous city from Fort Collins down to Castle Rock. Staying off the main roads was my primary objective, but it added a few miles to my trek. My intent was to make Larkspur, just south of Castle Rock, but I did not take into account the many detours I would have to take just to get from Fort Collins to Boulder. I did stop in Longmont and asked for directions from a local bike shop, the Bike-N-Hike. Rick Emerson, the owner, as well as Brian and Dave were super courteous and got a kick out of my website. They carry Trek bicycles too, so I praised their product line! It's always nice to get the straight skinny from local cyclists on the best routes around the city. I followed their directions and found the ride from Longmont to Boulder much more appealing than staying on the main drag. I wandered out by Vance Brand Airport, through Niwot and back along the Diagonal to Boulder proper. From there I had to do a lot of weaving and route finding along the many bike paths that line the city. I eventually found my way out Hwy 93 toward Rocky Flats and up and over the mesa to Golden. In a little over six hours of pedaling time I covered almost 74 miles and was totally wasted from battling traffic along the VERY NARROW shoulder of Hwy 93. I found that I didn't take that many pictures as I was too focused on where I was going, not what the scenery looked like. I did pop a few shots of Longs Peak, Eldorado Canyon and the Flatirons. By the time I arrived in downtown Golden I was spent. A strange thing occurred between Boulder and Golden. I went from the world's narrowest shoulder to the world's biggest. I even took a photo to prove it! So now I have a comfy bed and warm shower to make up for my stay in the park the other night! Just for fun, use Google Earth and see if you can determine what hotel I stayed in tonight. I will head out tomorrow EARLY and make the remaining 70 miles to Colorado Springs before the traffic gets too nutty. I'm half-way home and want to maximize my chances for success! Ride smart! Speaking of smart... Boulder is home to what company that is deeply involved in the space program? Their engineers and scientists are responsible for developing the hardware that has given us the wonderful photos that you see from the Hubble Space Telescope. Let's do some research and find out who this company is and how they got their start. Sometimes problem solving is as much about research as it is about actual numerical manipulation. More Images: ;)
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3 Comments
Sep 21, 2008 7:40 am - Jim Bridenstine wrote : Stay safe out there, John. I'm looking forward to you making it to Florida. Jim Bridenstine
Sep 21, 2008 12:30 am - Dee wrote : Hello John, I'm glad you made it thru Boulder in one piece. My nephew and his wife live there, they are both Geologists. I hope you will be having better weather now. Stay Safe. Keep the wind at your back. Dee Add a comment: |
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John! Just back from a short 358 mile bike ride from DC to Pittsburgh. Nothing like what you are doing! Just got all caught up on your blog. Great stories and great images! Happy B-Day! Glad you stopped by Adventure Cycling! Looking forward to catching up again after I return from Fincke's launch in Kazakhstan. Hope to see you in Florida! Cheers - Bill