Bike to Denver - An Unexpected Journey

I had a pretty rough day on Friday. As much as I love my job, sometimes there can be trouble in paradise. It was so rough that it was on my mind all weekend and dragging me down. Which is a shame because today, June 3rd, is supposed to be great: It’s Sharon and my 24th wedding anniversary! 24 awesome years with an awesome woman. WOOT! I even took the day off from work today to celebrate with her, however all the celebrations were muted. Thank you work. Ugh.

I needed a win. I needed something so crazy that I could say, “Despite that crap, I did this!” I needed that feeling that I could focus on something big, crazy, and somehow still achievable today. I thought for a second and suddenly some uninvited voice in my head said, “Hey, why don’t you Bike to downtown Denver?” Wait, what?

The Problem

You see, I live in Louisville, which is about a 30 minute freeway drive to downtown Denver. I occasionally bike to work in Westminster, which is about 8-10 miles away depending which route I take. I can go the shorter route, but the hills are steeper and longer. Or I can go a longer route, which have less steep hills, but still hills. Either way I’m stuck on a path that has me sucking wind like a dying bagpipe. It takes my slow butt just under an hour to bike there. It’s brutal. Oh yeah, then after working 10 hours, I get to bike home too. Hills both ways. How is that even possible?

Also, I’m not exactly the poster child of health either. Just a month ago I weighed in at 250. I’ve been actively trying to lose weight and I am down to 231 right now, but it’s still a far distant glimmer to my goal weight of 185. Being overweight has been a struggle my entire life. Hopefully that’ll be the subject of a future blog post, how I lost the weight.

So, when my brain farted the words, “Bike to Denver, Webb!” you can now understand the context of why it felt a little crazy, and probably exactly the kind of crazy I needed.

The Plan

Ok, let’s plan this fool’s errand! I excitedly opened Google Maps, typed in my home address with directions to Union Station in Denver. I switched from “Car” to “Bike” mode, and Google quickly found a reasonably safe bike route. I dragged around a few of the blue lines it until the path looked interesting and I was able to stay on bike paths and sidewalks nearly the entire distance. I used Street View to verify the bike safety conditions were when I had a doubt.

You can Click the + below to see the map.

Quick Tip: I learned that pressing CTRL+SHIFT+4 in Google Maps will display all bike routes. WHAT! Right? Bikers rejoice!

Union Station as a destination was a practical goal, but it wasn’t a fun one. Years ago I had seen a cool bikeway along the Platte River, which then forks into Cherry Creek and runs through downtown Denver. It was beautiful to see a river and a bike path, slightly recessed beneath street level, running through the center of a city. That was my prize. To be able to ride peacefully along that creek! I adjusted my path to include that stretch of awesomeness.

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Thank You

The above photo is from Denver Portfolio Group. This would be my prize!

The Ride

Turn on Strava, check.
2x Bottles of water, check.
Clif Bar (Caramel Toffee w/Sea Salt… Oooo yeah), check.
Overcast and 77 degrees, check.

Time to hit the road! The first 10 miles were exactly the torture I had come to expect since they were effectively the same path I take to work. They were tough. Up hills. My bald head leaking sweat like a water tap. Down hills. Heart pounding out of my chest. Gulping water like I’m stranded in a desert. Etc.

I was now pushing past the 45-minute mark and suddenly I felt like Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings. I had never gone this far before, and I was about to leave the Shire. I passed over Church Ranch Blvd, and onto undiscovered country. Thanks Bilbo!

I got through a few more tough climbs, including the 1.5 mile stretch from Walnut Creak to 92nd Ave, but then something happened I didn’t expect. The path evened out. No more vomit-inducing climbs. Heck there were even some nice downhills to give my chrome-dome a well-needed breeze. For the next hour and a half, all I experienced were enjoyable light rolling hills. I couldn’t believe it. My leg muscles still groaned, but I was able to force them to push my 231lb body along at 15-20 mph. What was happening? Had I hit some sort of “bikers high?” I don’t know, but it was awesome. I need to figure out how to find this zen more often.

Cruising along, and I read a sign in passing. Screeeeetch! I jammed my breaks and backed it up… what did I just read? Yeah, that’s a pretty accurate assessment of the moistness situation.

About the 25 mile mark I turned a corner, the trees parted, and I saw the silhouette of the downtown buildings against the sky. How did 10 miles go by so easily? Crazy! What was in that Cilf Bar? Just to be safe, I had another bite.

Yeah… I was so in the moment that I forgot to take photos. Sorry! Honestly, I didn’t plan on making this a blog until after it was all over.

The next 5 miles were interesting. There were soo many people living along the trail. They had all of their belongings with them, some in backpacks, some in shopping carts. A few people were doing some hard drugs, and of course being Colorado, a few guys smoking some MJ. They didn’t cause any problems or even try to engage with me, they were just doing their thing. It reminded me that the problems I was having at work… well, let’s just say it put them into perspective a bit.

Before I knew it, I was there! First stop: I had to swing by a landmark in downtown Denver, Elitch Gardens Theme and Water Park. I took a quick photo and sent a text to Sharon to share with my kids. “Guess where I am right now?”

After a few strange dead-ends, I then found the entrance to the bike path along Cherry Creek. Peace in the middle of a city. Awesome. I felt absolutely great, like I could go .. I don’t know… another 10-20 miles. Part of me wanted to just keep going and follow the Cherry Creek trail the entire 12 miles where the river empties into the Cherry Creek Lake. But what I really needed, was for this unexpected journey to end with a win. That’s why I stared this after all.

Final step was getting home. Thanks to RTD public transit system, it was easy to strap my bike to the front of a bus and take the FF3 express back to Louisville. Just in time because it started to rain.

The Journey’s End

Today’s adventure was very well needed. The world feels a little bit smaller. 30 miles doesn’t seem that far away or as scary to me now. Maybe next time I go for 50? Fort Collins, I’m looking at YOU. I hope that this experience will put those 10 miles to work into a different perspective. Maybe I don’t suck (wind) as much as I think. Maybe those hills, both ways, are helping me more than I realize. Maybe I should be thankful that the overly-hard bike commute I have gave me the strength to bike 30 miles and still have energy left. Finally, maybe tomorrow when I go to work, I’ll be able to see my problems from a different perspective as well.