Monarch Road Climb

Activity type: Road Biking
Date of activity: 6/13/2015
Distance traveled: 30.15 miles
Total Elevation Climbed: 3,060 ft.
Location: Highlands Ranch, CO, USA

This ride is a hidden gem in the Highlands Ranch/South Denver area and is frequented by many cyclists who like to build up their climbing endurance (a.k.a punish themselves) with a seemingly endless climb.  Naturally, what goes up, must come down and, for those who persevere, you will be rewarded with a pleasant ride back down.  I must warn you that there are a few rolling hills at the top of the climb that are going to make you question if this climb actually takes you uphill both ways.  Anyway, I guess I forgot about those interspersed hills because I was flustered by them after turning back and heading "down" the mountain.  In summary, this definitely is one of the nicest road climbs in South Denver with large bike lanes and very light traffic since the community located at the top of the hill, Castle Pines, isn't very heavily populated.  Overall, the views are really nice and, if you can stomach the long climb, you'll definitely be rewarded on the return.  If you're a cyclist who lives in Castle Pines, I feel for you, but am very pleased with the road you guys have to take.

The climb up March Road

View from the neighborhood at the top of the climb

View as your racing back down Monarch Road

High Line Canal Trail Adventure

Activity type: ChiRunning
Date of activity: 6/13/2015
Distance traveled: 11.09 miles
Location: Highlands Ranch, CO, USA

This morning I got up at sunrise (about 5:30am MST) and decided to punch out a rather lengthy run down the High Line Canal Trail.  My purpose for this run was to explore the trail a bit and see how far I could go if I were to follow it out west in the direction of Waterton Canyon (i.e. the location where the Colorado Trail begins).  Based on the mileage signs that I passed along the way, a full run to Waterton Canyon would have turned my morning jog into a half marathon effort with the length of the run being somewhere in the range of 14 to 15 mile range.  After mulling over the idea for a few miles, I decided that I was going to proceed forward and run the rest of the trail. Of course, if I'd actually made it to Waterton Canyon, I would have had to call my wife, ask her to load up the kids, and come pick me up.  Since I have a pretty long track record of "seeing where the trail goes", this wouldn't have been entirely unexpected; however, also, based on past history, this would have likely resulted in me running a full marathon much sooner than expected.

Since I hadn't really planned this particular run well, I was a bit shocked when I suddenly came upon a dead-end that I'm still scratching my head over.  Somewhere around where the 9 or 10 mile marker would have been, the beautiful trail suddenly runs into an overgrown jeep trail with a rickety bridge leading to Highway 85 on your left and, on your right, what I soon discovered was a private road when I came up to a gate with a half dozen "NO TRESPASSING" signs on full display.  After looking at the GPS, it appeared that the "correct" path would have been to cross the bridge, head south on Hwy 85, hang a right on Titan Road, hang another right on Roxborough Park Road, and look for the High Line Canal Trail somewhere on the left side of the road.  Rather than run alongside a noisy highway (I do that enough while road biking), I decided to back-track and locate the Plum Creek Trail that runs through Chatfield State Park.  Just so you know, the Plum Creek Trail entrance is rather obscure; however, you can find it when you see a sign on the other side of the railroad tracks that reads "Notice - Public Use Restricted to Top of Dam".  At that point, you can scramble across the railroad tracks and then head down the hill towards your left toward the nice sign that informs you that you're about to enter Chatfield State Park.

The Plum Creek Trail was definitely a great find since it soon turned from gravel at the very entrance into a nice, paved bike tail.  Also, my GPS informed me that I would soon be able to re-discover the High Line Canal Trail by running along this path until I ran into the Roxborough Park Road.  From there, I could head south and re-intersect the trail.  Unfortunately, I soon discovered that my adventure was not meant to be as the trail submerged under several feet of water.  I'm pretty sure that this type of flooding isn't typical for this particular trail and was a direct result of all those serious rains that we'd had over the past couple of days.  At that point, I cut my losses and turned my trip into the out-and-back that I'd originally planned.

The good news is that my exploratory trip was a success and, now, I have quite a few new trails to explore.  Also, I could actually plan the trip so that my wife and kids could meet up with me at Waterton Canyon.  That way I don't get forced to cover a marathon distance when I'm not entirely ready for it.  Well, at least not just yet...

Stretch of the High Line Canal Trail next to the Highlands Ranch Golf Course

Fishing Dock at Spring Gulch Pond

Rickety Bridge at the "end" of the High Line Canal Trail

Chances are good you'll spot one of these from this trail, eventually

Sign that helps identify the turn-off for the Plum Creek Trail

Plum Creek Trail underwater due to the flooding

Road Biking - Platte River/Bear Creek/Fox Hollow/C-470 loop

Activity type: Road Biking

Date of activity: 4/5/2015 (Happy Easter!)
Distance traveled: 40.076 miles
Total Elevation Climbed: 6,466 ft.
Location: Littleton, CO, USA

This is a somewhat lengthy training ride, but it's been one of my favorite routes that I use when preparing for endurance activities that range anywhere from century road bike rides to mountain climbing adventures.  Speaking of mountain climbing, one of the best kept secrets among Colorado climbers is that road biking is the best way to train your lungs and legs for the rigors of climbing the Colorado 14ers.  So, if you plan to summit any one of the 53 14,000 ft. peaks in Colorado this summer, hop on your road bike for a few endurance rides like this one and your lungs and legs will be well prepared!

On to the route...

Platte River Trail

For starters, I chose the relatively "flattest" section of the route first and headed down the Platte River trail.  I like to use this as a great warm-up stretch because it has a speed limit of 15 mph, there is typically a lot of foot traffic, it's a great place to get the feel of the bike since there isn't much altitude gain as you meander your way along the Platte River toward Denver.  Lots of walkers (with dogs), runners, and other bikers so, if you get stuck behind "traffic" for a bit, you can hold back and enjoy the views of the river.  By the way, be sure to keep your mouth closed and breathe through your nose when the trail gets close to the river.  Every time I ride this trail, I get pelted in the face with tiny, gnat-like bugs that like to hang out over stretches of trail that are close to the river.

Bear Creek Trail

If you're following my route, the turn-off for this trail is either poorly marked or I just failed to notice the sign and I ended up heading down the Mary Carter Trail heading toward downtown Denver for a bit.  Anyway, the turn off for this trail takes place immediately after you cross a rather large, iron sparred bridge and you see the Regal River Point movie theater directly in front of you.  At that T-intersection, take a left as opposed to a right and you'll be on the correct track.  The Bear Creek Trail part of the route is a slow steady climb toward the foothills and meanders through some beautiful, heavily wooded stretches of Bear Creek.  One interesting highlight on this part of the route is that you'll pass through a really cool prairie dog "village" in which the trail is surrounded on either side by the home of seemingly hundreds of these cute, fuzzy creatures that will regale you as you zip by.  By the way, they get really crazy if someone ahead/behind you is walking their dog and it's comical how noisy the chatter of these little rodents can get when that happens.

Fox Hollow Trail

Now comes the time that you're going to begin cursing me because the next two sections are where a vast majority of the elevation gains and losses occur.  At this stretch, you'll come out of the woods and will now begin climbing the low lying foothills on the western edge of the city.  This particular trail passes directly through the beautiful Fox Hollow Golf Course and, once you reach the top of a seemingly endless climb, your efforts will be rewarded with a scenic vista highlighting Green Mountain, Bear Lake, the foothills, and downtown Denver.  At the summit, there is a nice rest area that includes covered picnic table, a bathroom, and water buckets (these are managed by the golf course) that will allow you to top off your water bottle and keep hydrated.  Be sure that you rest adequately here because the next part is where you're going to get your workout on and, if you haven't already, really start cursing my name for sending you on this adventure.

C-470 Trail

After a well-deserved rest, you will now hop back on the bike and begin a rapid descent toward the C-470 trail that runs adjacent to the highway and will take you back to the beginning of the route.  This section of the route is definitely a long slog as you'll be climbing and descending continuously throughout it and I'm certain you'll agree that it's a total lung and leg buster.  There are some scenic parts of this route; however, I typically find myself going into the "zone" here and just crank away on these hills.  One word of advice I have for you is don't get out of the saddle on these climbs or you'll burn out your legs.  If you're slogging up a hill and feeling winded, just drop to a lower gear, keep spinning at about 80 to 90 rpm, and be sure that you're leveraging your hamstrings by pulling up on the upstroke (that is, if you're using clipless pedals, of course).  That will ensure you've got the most efficient wattage output and will get you up and over the top without totally gassing out.  After a couple of climbs and descents, you'll begin a long, steady descent back to the beginning of the route.  Here is where you can really punch out a nice average speed up if you've still got gas in the tank.  The final turn-off point is pretty easy to miss so as you approach the Chattfield Reservoir, watch out for a left, looping turn that will take you directly under C-470 and back toward the trail where you started.

To finish off this particular ride, I did a quick climb up to the summit of the Chattfield Reservoir and then rocketed the downhill which has been repaved recently.  Due to the nice new pavement, the descent felt a lot like skiing fresh tracks after a fresh powder dump.  Very nice!  After that, it was my usual climb out across Santa Fe and toward the South Campus of Children's Hospital located at the corner of Lucent and Plaza which is where I decided to place the start and end of this route.

Bear Creek

Typical wooded stretch of the Bear Creek Trail

Climb up Fox Hollow Trail (golf carts to the right, bikes to the left)

Summit of the Fox Hollow Trail

Mountain Biking - Walnut Creek Park

Activity type: Mountain Biking
Date of activity: 3/27/2015
Distance traveled: 9.945 miles
Total Elevation Climbed: 467 ft.
Location: Walnut Creek Park in Austin, TX, USA

Walnut Creek Park is a hidden gem of densely wooded area located in north Austin that's host to some beautiful creeks, interesting wildlife, and, most importantly, some of the best mountain biking trails on the planet. When I lived in Austin, this was the home of all my Tuesday night after-work rides in which we'd gather a group of fellow bikers and race through some of the most interesting, curvy trails that I've ever had the pleasure of riding. During the hottest summer and shorter winter days, we'd don night lights and ride this park in the evening hours which makes for a rather surreal, but very cool experience.

Biker crossing Walnut Creek

Overall, this park has about 15 miles worth of trails; however, a few of the trails have been temporarily roped off due to work that is underway to attach the park to a greater biking trail system (i.e. several bridges and paved trails are currently under construction).  As a result, I only had the opportunity to rumble my way through a little under 10 miles of them which explains why my map has a few gaps in it.  I'll be sure to fill in those gaps the next time I visit.

I'm very pleased to see that the trail work isn't going to impact the integrity of a vast majority of the runs, but it's going to make this hidden gem a bit more accessible which, inevitably, will lead to more bike traffic.  Kudos definitely goes out to the Austin Ridge Riders who built and maintain this beautiful trail system.  Also, special thanks goes out to my best friend Ross who allowed me to borrow his own bike and joined me for a really fun ride on one of his spare bikes.  Thanks, Ross!

Ross slogging up a rather steep embankment

Very cool bike repair station

View down one of the relatively flat, but curvy trails

Road Biking - Chatfield State Park

Activity type: Road Biking
Date of activity: 2/15/2015
Distance traveled: 10.561 miles
Total Elevation Climbed: 1,114 ft.
Location: Chatfield State Park, CO, USA

Did a quick shake-down ride on the road bike just before the arrival of our next snow storm.  For my first ride of the season, I chose a relatively close ride to the summit of the Chatfield Reservoir located in southwest Denver.  This route uses both the Platte River and C-470 bike paths and allows you to circumnavigate the reservoir if you are up for a nice long ride (not this time for me, though).  Along the way, you'll ride through a nice, forested area in the area of the South Platte River which is where there are several dog parks located.  Just before you get to the top of the reservoir, the route's got a relatively steep climb which is always a good season opener to wake up your legs and lungs.

As a final note, this particular route is great for accessing either the C-470 bike trail which extends all the way to Golden, the Platte River trail which can take you to downtown Denver and Invesco Field at Mile High (i.e. Bronco's Stadium), or puts you in a very good place to attempt the Deer Creek Canyon route which is one of the more strenuous climbs in the Denver area.

Headwaters of the South Platte River

Summit above the Chatfield Reservoir