There is no better way to see Boulder then by bike and there just might not be a better time to see it then late October with leaves turning, the temperature just right hoovering in the mid 70’s, a home game feel in the air at CU and lots of time to just cruise along at a mild pace.
We gathered at the Amante’s Coffee Shop location in downtown on Walnut to soak in the early morning sun, sip a little coffee and marvel at the fact that the Rockies were really going to go to the World Series! Seems everyone becomes a baseball fan when the local team is in the Series. One tip on parking, the parking decks are FREE on Sat and Sunday but on street parking is not on Sat and you will get a ticket as one of our members unfortunately found out.
From downtown we cruised north up 9th ave. This is a good hill to get the legs warmed up and one of my favorite tree’s, a rare red maple, sits on the top of the hill blazing red as a distraction from the steepness of the hill. Apparently that didn’t work so well with our group, but, I tried. The top of the hill is Mapleton St. a fitting street to cruise up this time of year lined with classic turn of the century homes and the boulevard lined with what else— maple trees. Predominantly seeing only yellow leaves makes for the big deal when you do come across more then one tree of a different color. We take Mapleton east up to 4th and then head north. Fourth street might very well be the most pedestrian friendly stretch in all of Boulder. Typically you’ll see more runners and cyclists then cars. Heading north past all the newly renovated homes we wander up to Linden Street and the entrance into the Wonderland Park region of Boulder.
Wonderland Lake is one of my personal favorites and with all the varieties of colors it makes for a great easy cruise so much so that we decide to circle the lake just to take it all in. From Linden you jump on Wonderland Lake Rd and can take that around to the entrance to the lake or take a quick left about 100 yards up and take the bike trail that winds down to the lake. After taking in the views we head east working our way around the NE perimeter of the Boulder. Here’s where it becomes necessary to take a few busy streets but they all have designated bike lanes. We went under Broadway on the bike trail and meandered down Redwood St to 19th. Heading north on 19th to Violet then east to 28th and head SE to Jay Rd. 28th is by far the busiest street on this route so use caution. Heading east on Jay there is a good bike lane. We cut off at the Orange Orchard Subdivision taking a left to avoid some ot the Jay Rd traffic. This is a great subdivision with very large lots and all the streets named after fruit trees, apple, cherry, plum and no, orange trees do not grow in this region if your wondering.
After meandering through Orange Orchard we get back out on Jay via 47th. At this point you can head south on 47th and work your way through the bike trail system out to the Boulder Creek trail. We elected to continue heading east on Jay to Gunbarrel. Yes, there is a Gunbarrel Colorado and where that name came from is a different story. We take Jay out to Spine crossing through the Diagonal Hwy.
Spine is the first light and you take a left and head for Celestial Seasonings headquarters and processing building. We take a right at Celestial Seasonings passing Powderhorn Condominiums on the left till we reach the dog park (off leash). Winding through the park head east to a trail that meanders through a lovely forested area and eventually dumps out at Twin Lakes. We take a quick tour of Boulder Country Day School ( a lovely campus by the way) and then head back toward Boulder.
Taking 63rd east we wind through an amazingly pastoral setting with great colors and picturesque farm houses. This turns into 61st and the Boulder Airport is just to your right so you might see a few small planes taking off over your head. This will take you out to Valmount Rd and take a right heading east. Take this for about a quarter of a mile to the bike trail on your right. This connects to the Boulder Creek bike trail system. From here you can head east taking the trail literally all the way around the east and south sides of Boulder. This trail eventually dumps out at Hwy 93 which you can then take the frontage road east up the hill to Broadway and work your way back through the CU tailgaters to Downtown and the starting point. Since we had gone 16 miles by this time (note the trip east and south will take on another 10 to 12 miles) we decided to head back to town on the Boulder Creek trail. This is one of my favorite sections of the trail. Wander along the creek, crossing it several times on bridges the into the thick of the CU tailgaters getting ready for the game. With the smell of barbeque’s in the air we all headed back downtown hungry and happy. This trail will take you right back downtown where you can stop at the Farmers Market or take advantage of the multitude of restaurants in Downtown Boulder. Here’s to another great day spent on the Bike!
Donald (October 20)