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Bike path by the lowest bidder... September 21, 2008Leave a comment ;)
I'm not one to complain, except for good reason. I think having a bike path that parallels a major highway is a good thing! Great planning by the city fathers (and mothers). It keeps the riff raff off the major interstates too! But I would think they might think twice about contracting the job to the lowest bidder, because it might be in an attorney's best interest when his client/biker friend falls through the crack that runs dead center down the middle of the path. I'm thinking the cyclist could find a good lawyer in China (I know one now) because that is probably where he would end up given the size and depth of the crack! Actually, I was warned about the crack for another cyclist headed on the same direction around C-470 on the west side of Denver. I left the Golden Hotel around 0730. Earliest start so far this trip. Jay Roman from South Dakota Gearup was here to film some of my travels and he had the camera rolling as I headed down Washington Street. We were lucky that we used part of yesterday to scope out the best route from Golden to Castle Rock. I slowly climbed the hill leading out of Golden and easily found Rooney Road where it parallels C-470. I followed it for a bit and then eventually found the bike path wandering through Bear Creek Park. The path was well marked and easy to navigate. I followed it clear around C-470, alongside Chatfield Reservoir and on to Hwy 85 to Sedalia, CO. Along the way I met the Held family scoping out a huge frog just below the bike path. I continued on down Hwy 85 to Sedalia. It was there that I met up again with Jay and my good friend Rolf Fredrick. Rolf and I have know each other since the day we starting training in Officer Candidate School. We spent time together in CA, assigned to P-3 squadron's operating out of Moffett Field. Rolf went on to a career with American Airlines and is a Captain on the MD-80. He even brought his hat along! Too bad I couldn't convince him to wear it on the ride. We left Sedalia and headed down County Road 105 toward Palmer Lake. I thought the traffic would be minimal on a Sunday, but I was sadly mistaken. Every motorcycle gang and Sunday driver was using this road to practice their driving skills (or lack thereof). It was a winding, undulating road with little to no shoulder and made for some interesting moments. Like when a bright red motorcycle went screaming down the road at about 80 mph. Just a couple of feet from my bike! Sunday drivers! Geezzzz... Rolf had been doing a lot of riding lately, so I gave him the wheel (handlebars) of my Trek and let him feel what a 90 pound touring cycle feels like. Not a responsive as his road bike and a lot more forgiving on the bumps. Even with the traffic, it was a much better route than trying to find a way along the frontage road. We eventually negotiated our way onto the Air Force Academy (even with Rolf wearing his Navy riding jersey). We had to show support for the Navy contingent stationed at the USAFA because the Navy / Air Force game is Oct 4th! Rolf needed to get the bike back to the bike shop by 6:00 so we decided to try the dirt bike path that runs along the creek and ends up right outside Criterium Bikes on Monument Creek. Great riding even though it was dirt and we were on street bikes. we parted company there for the day and I went off to meet my folks and use my Dad's motorcycle to take my daughter Amanda to dinner! Great time with my youngest! It was fun to haul her around on the back of the Yamaha! Zoom zoom... She a VERY talented singer and guitarist. At 14 she has absolutely ZERO stage fright and can get up in front of 400 people and sign without batting an eye! I took her to Scotland recently where she had the opportunity to play a guitar in front of perfect strangers and she did a fantastic job! I am extremely proud of how accomplished and confident she is, especially at her age! Keep up the great work Amanda! Tomorrow I will speak at Fox Middle School and get ready to depart the Colorado Springs area on Tuesday morning. From here I will head east and southeast to my home in Guthrie and then down to Ada for the Chickasaw Festival. It seems that the 8th graders at Fox have been working on some pressure related problems. Using the formula, PV=nRT, what do each of the variables in the equation represent? Looking at this equation without using numbers, what would happen to the pressure if I increased the T and kept all else equal? Would you expect the pressure to go up? Could I keep the pressure the same by changing the increasing the volume as the temperature increased? How is this related to my tires? See you tomorrow! I think I will sleep in a bit... More Images: ;)
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Just wanted to let you know how fun its been to follow your trek, the pictures are great! I have some friends that are now equally as interested, and tonight someone asked me for the link to your blog page.. haha! I'm so glad my dad made it out there... looks like lots of fun, take care and good luck!