gps_dr

The Platte North trail currently ends at 104th ave. During 2005, they completed the underpass at 104th.
Work continues on a park area there.

Riverdale road is narrow, no shoulders, blind curves, hazardous to cycle on.
You can Go east to Coulter Dr (sp?) at the crest of the hill on 104th to the east.
Follow as it curves around to Brighton Road, then North to 124th/Henderson Rd, W to the trail just W of the Platte. It winds through the fairgrounds & golf course and exits to rural dirt road to the north.
Something like a 3.5 mile road ride for 1.5 mile of path.
South of the fairgrounds the trail petered out within a mile last year.

I'll post my tracklog on Trailcentral.com gps mapping tab
(county: adams, City: Henderson, Trail: Platte Extension)
Many of my "bike paths" are available for viewing via GOOGLE EARTH on that site.

All of my mapped paths including descriptions, uploadable routes & tracklogs, are available on
my website: https://home.earthlink.net/~gps_dr

None of the government sites have recent changes. I've had some success getting changes entered on the Sandcreek.org site.

I biked 19 miles on a very windy New Years Day in Westminster. Wind blew my bike over at the Standley Lake Boat ramp while I was taking pictures. Broke my headlamp, both GPS were fine.

Started at Oakhurst park near 94th & Wadsworth, went along the Standley Lake spillway, boat ramp then through the Colorado Hills Open space to Mower Reservoir. Then up to the Walnut Cr Trail SE catching various trails returning to the dam area. Mapped some additional area below the dam to add to my "Big Dry Creek Trail" map that was closed for construction when I last rode it. Then back to the truck. Ended up with about 16 miles of tracklog that you see as the "West Mower" trail on the trailcentral site under Adams County.

Happy Biking
Bob

Belugadave

Excellent Bob!!! Thanks for the info and the website. We're planning to do a Century tomorrow to keep up with my Century a Month goal and you've opened up some new territory for us.

On previous rides we've done the Platte Trail up to the Clear Creek Trail and have ridden the Clear Creek Trail all the way to Golden and then back around on the C470 trail, but we haven't ventured north of the Clear Creek confluence much and I wasn't even aware of the Sand Creek Trail. I think we will do a little adventure on that tomorrow. Your site says some of it is dirt/gravel - is it like the Highline Canal down south where it's rideable on a road bike?

gps_dr

Sand creek trail is hard packed dirt in a few places.
Didn't run into any soft spots unlike the Highline Canal trail that has some at the extreme east end & areas inside Chatfield State Park.

Trail runs from Platte confluence to Colfax., Highline crosses Colfax .5 miles E.
You may run into a problem on the east side of Quebec depending on construction specifics.
My last trip, I had to detour South on Quebec & go thru construction parking to get back on trail.

Bob

DataJunkie

The last time I took my son down from 120th ave to REI's flagship store via the platte I discovered that a section of the platte trail is closed. They provided a lovely detour through gorgeous (note the sarcasm) sections of Commerce city. Does anyone have an idea when this project is slated for completion? just curious. Not really a horrible detour. Only annoying.

Belugadave

DataJunkie - when was it you last went down the Platte and hit the detour? I was last on it in late November and there wasn't any detour.

cyccommute 

Sand Creek Trail is hard surfaced, except for a couple of small sections, to Quebec. When it goes onto the old Stapleton site, it has lots of sandy spots that are hard to ride on a road bike unless you have 35mm or wider tires. The surface is firmer out in Aurora but beware of the goatheads. Also, the transition from Denver to Aurora involves a couple of blocks of riding on Peoria which is less than pleasant.

cyccommute 

Riverdale road is narrow and has few shoulders until you get out past the Adams County Fairgrounds but it is also a joy to ride. It is very fast, there is only moderate traffic and the corners aren't really that blind. I find it a wonderful country road to ride out to Brighton especially on a nice warm spring morning. Ride out to Brighton and return via Henderson Road, which is far less fun than Riverdale, in my opinion.

If you want a nice 50 miler (I think), start at 88th and Colorado and go down the Platte to 104th. Take Riverdale to Brighton and then come to the south side of Brighton and take Bromeley to Picadilly Rd. Follow Picadilly around Barr Lake to 96th and then go west to McKay Road. Connnect back with the Platte where McKay passes over the river and return to your car.

DnvrFox

15 lovely miles today JANUARY 6TH in Denver, CO at Cherry Creek Reservoir - with my wife.

Lunch at Mama Louise's at Orchard and Parker, right at the trail intersection on the Piney Creek spur.

Temp - 65F
Wind - 20-30 and gusty from west
Dry, dry, dry!

Belugadave

Thanks Stuart, I know the south end of town pretty well, so I love hearing about new places to ride up north. I live down by the Southglenn Mall (soon to be redeveloped) at Arapahoe Rd. and University so we usually work our way south on Clarkson to the C470 path and then we ride everywhere from there. Tomorrow, we're planning on taking the C470 path to the Platte Trail and then north all the way to Brighton and back. I don't think we will go around Barr Lake tomorrow, but I think we will take Riverdale Road going one way to Brighton and Brighton Road going the other way. Any recommendations on which one is better going out and which one is better coming back? I'm estimating that route to be 85-90 miles so we might make up the difference going out and back on the Sand Creek trail.

It is supposed to be a glorious day tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.

DataJunkie

I believe it was early to mid December. Last month was my pannier upgrade and REI was the place I purchased them at.

snowy

Yeah, I have ridden Riverdale road many, many times and never any issues with cars.
Its is a narrow road but I love the twists on it.
Not living up North anymore so now riding to Lookout mtn will be my regular ride route for the roadie.

cyccommute 

I prefer going out Riverdale and coming back on Brighton (although it is also know as Henderson Road) Riverdale seems more downhill and faster going north. If you want extra miles, go north out of Brighton to Ft. Lupton. After you get off of Riverdale at CO 7 (also known as 160th Ave) take the first left Tuscon Road about a quarter of a mile east (be careful of traffic on CO7). Go about a mile (these are all section roads) to where the road ends 168th Ave. and turn right. Follow this road to County Road 27 which is the first left after you cross US 85. This will take you all the way to Ft. Lupton. Retrace to Brighton to reconnect to Brighton Road. CR 27 turns into Main St. in Brighton.

Edits: When you get to 96th Ave on Brighton Road, turn right and go down to MacKay and then to the Platte. It's easier and a nicer ride than going all the way south to 88th Ave.

Belugadave

Thanks Stuart and Bob. We had a great ride today and completed a century on a truly beautiful Janurary day. We rode the Platte Trail way up north and then got on Riverdale and rode it all the way to 160th/Hwy7. We decided to turn around there and come back on Riverdale because one of the guys we were riding with said he didn't want to ride on Brighton/Henderson Road. I thought the traffic on Riverdale was fine (as does cyccommute), but my wife didn't like it (same as gps), different strokes for different folks. It seemed like all the cars were very polite and gave us a lot of room. We had a nice tailwind almost the whole way going north and luckily, it died down for the return trip home. We added a few miles by going into Chatfield and then went back home.

DataJunkie - you were right about the detour on the Platte Trail. Thanks for telling me about it so it wasn't a surprise when we hit it. Like you said, it takes you right into the industrial section, but also like you said, it wasn't that bad.

We didn't hit the Sand Creek trail, but I'm looking forward to riding that in the future.

Thanks again for all the info. everyone.

DataJunkie

I took my son down from 120th to REI today. The construction area in Commerce city is slated for completion 4/08
It's not that bad of a detour. The only directions I can give is that it ends at the park next to the army station (depot or whatever it is).

DnvrFox

It seems this thread has spawned:

1. A number of similar threads about other metro areas.

2. A whole "spite thread" about how they hate this thread!

Well, imitation is always the very best compliment and flattering.

And, generally, those who are spiteful are a bit jealous.

But, I think it is a GREAT idea to have regional threads. Look at the Aussie thread.

If folks have an interest in regional bicycling and rides, why not accommodate it by having a whole forum on regional threads?

DataJunkie

I used to frequent another message board that had forums for various regions.
Ex: pacific coast states, west states, mountain west states, europe, australia, etc

It worked for them. Why this forum won't do something similar, I do not know.
It also helps bring people from various regions together. That message board ended up spawning quite a few real world meetings of those forum members in the same region.
*shrugs*

cyccommute 

In my family, we call it the Sewage Park, although Denver calls it Northside Park. It was a sewage treatment plant (See it here and has been transformed into one of the coolest parks Denver has. The Colorado National Guard Armory sits on the north end of the park (with a WWII Sherman tank on display).

DnvrFox

This used to be quite an active thread, then it sort of dissolved - as many threads do. There were a number of group and buddy rides that happened as a result.

Zin

Hey Dnvr,
Perhaps when I get moved down there, we'll be able to stir some intererst. I'm very excited about moving there. I have a place in Aurora for a month or two. We'll have to ride once I get down there.

DnvrFox

Where in Aurora?

I ask because the Highline Canal Trail goes right through some parts of Aurora. It is a 68 mile long trail from the foothills east ending near the Rocky Mountain Arsenal.

Raedeke

Bring it -
When you get here or even before you arrive, take a look at ww.rmccrides.com - they have group rides set up each weekend and a few during the week.
There are a ton of others, but this is the one I've ridden with.

Welcome!

Zin

I'll be living in and remodeling a house over on S. Quintero St. in Aurora for a month or so to give me some time to find a job and get settled a bit.

This is an overwhelming leap of faith. So if you know of anyone who needs a network engineer with 12 years of experience, let me know.

Raedeke, Thanks for the link. Another friend of mine has referred me to RMCC as well. I would like to get into ultra-distance and rando in general. (I think)

Raedeke

Then RMCC is your group. They plan their ride schedule (which starts in March or so) around the distance rides. Each week they build on the mileage, so by the time some of these rides come around in the summer, you're ready to tackle them. I went to a presentation on Ultra Distance riding hosted by them and it was very informative. Perhaps they will run that again some time...

My wife is at Sun, I'll ask if she knows of anything. You might take a look at Linked-In. A good networking site that is used by the tech industry among others.

DnvrFox

Lockheed Martin just got a huge contract on the moon shuttle. They need 450 workers ASAP. They must need network folks??

I rode with RMCC a few years back. Way too advanced for me. The rides I was on, they gave you a map, pointed, and you were on your own. No introductions or anything like that!

My wife and I rode 20 miles this am. Started out at 43F, ended at 50F. Nice and cool for a great ride.

MMPC

Hello, hello! I'm still here and still riding - though not as much as I'd like due to ultra-busy schedules and planning for getting married this December! Been doing quite a few spin classes, though. I also now live in Golden so the folks I used to ride with are mostly down south.

Anyway, if anyone wants to setup a group ride sometime, let me know...!