So the Blue Heron got frustrated, having not seen us much over the last two weeks. Pi Guy and I went for a ride on the Sinton Trail loop today and didn't see the sizable bird at all.
I watched the Monument Creek bottom all the time that we were riding parallel to it. Nowhere was our bird friend. Could be frustration, or he/she could be "busy." The last time Lucy and I saw the Blue Heron, it was Blue Herons, a pair of them.
This isn't the first ride since doing the Cottonwood Canyon trail two weeks ago. We managed a ride to the Air Force Academy on the Santa Fe Trail, an extension of the Pikes Peak Greenway trail. That should have been about seventeen miles and on schedule.
If I don't get right to writing, the days get messed up, so I can’t remember the day or date. It was interesting though that when we got close to the Air Force Academy riding between the railroad grade and Monument Creek, part of a retaining berm contained flat bed rail cars tipped up on their sides.
Another day Pi Guy and I started to do the Sinton Trail loop, but at the intersection of 30th and Garden of the Gods Road, Pi Guy had had enough. Instead of continuing to the Mesa Trail, we rode down Garden of the Gods Road to the Pikes Peak Greenway. It turns out that this ride was about the twelve mile distance that we were trying for.
It was here that Pi Guy and I saw the Blue Heron on this ride, in the little reservoir at the bottom of the GOTG Road. We were experimenting the possibility of going around on the west side of the reservoir and looking over the embankment our blue friend was about twenty-five feet distant.
Today the Sinton Trail loop was different for three reasons, we did get all the way around, it's Mother's Day, we had a little gizmo to tell us the exact distance and we didn't see the Blue Heron. Four reasons today was different.
It turns out that my estimates of distance have been skewed toward the conservative. I had thought that the Sinton Trail loop was a little over twelve miles. It is almost exactly fifteen. So its time for some review, repetition on our rides to see what the right distances are. Just for fun.
Maybe the Blue Heron will show him/her self again.
Showing posts with label Pikes Peak Greenway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pikes Peak Greenway. Show all posts
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
More Rides
Pi Guy and I have been on three rides since last post. A break in good health for Pi Guy (a cold) and a change in the weather to the colder extreme prevented us from getting out for almost a week.
(I thought that this would put us behind schedule, but I was wrong.)
Getting out again, I was considering Pi Guy's endurance, and suggested that we ride up to the Austin Bluffs, Union Blvd. intersection where there has been a large intersection project. It would be about four miles round trip, and give us a chance to more closely look at the progress of the construction.
New to Pi Guy was the underpass under Union, and the path parallel to Union. Familiar with our usual route to Rocky Mountain Calvary, Pi Guy said that we could even bicycle there on this path.
Rather than back track and return home, with Pi Guy's approval, we headed up the bicycle path parallel to Austin Bluffs, to the east.
At the access to Palmer Park we picked up a gravel road that took us up into Palmer Park. The incline near the end of the gravel portion, our inexperience, and the type of tires on our bicycles cause us both to spin our tires. But we persevered. The rest of the ride was on the asphalt road that runs through the Park. And it was down hill from the crest of the park to home. The whole distance was about six miles.
Our next ride was somewhat more intense for our inexperienced legs. We headed out to the Pikes Peak Greenway, and went up the Sinton Trail. The Sinton trail has a steady incline until it meets up with the Mesa Trail, which we would then take to the south.
I thought that we would have an incline down as soon as we were on Mesa Trail. I'm wrong a lot. We still had more hill to climb before enjoying some coasting.
Even the first coast was short lived as we had to climb from the 30th Street, Mesa Road intersection to the top of the hill by the Garden of the Gods Club. Pi Guy slipped his chain again, and was tempted to walk his bike up the rest of the hill. I restrung his chain and prevailed in encouraging him to take the rst of the hill on the bike.
Once at the top of the hill, we had an extended coast along Mesa Road until we came to the I-25 pedestrian/bicycle overpass. We stopped in the park on the east side of I-25 by Fountain Creek. A blue heron was just finishing eating in front of us, then flew away downstream. Then we returned home. This trip out was about 12 miles and tougher on our legs.
The last trip out was just a day later and a repeat of our trips out to the end of the Rock Island trail at Powers Blvd. Although the temperatures were in the high seventies, maybe eighties, the next two days were supposed to be a return to winter, not fit for fair weather cyclists like us.
(I thought that this would put us behind schedule, but I was wrong.)
Getting out again, I was considering Pi Guy's endurance, and suggested that we ride up to the Austin Bluffs, Union Blvd. intersection where there has been a large intersection project. It would be about four miles round trip, and give us a chance to more closely look at the progress of the construction.
New to Pi Guy was the underpass under Union, and the path parallel to Union. Familiar with our usual route to Rocky Mountain Calvary, Pi Guy said that we could even bicycle there on this path.
Rather than back track and return home, with Pi Guy's approval, we headed up the bicycle path parallel to Austin Bluffs, to the east.
At the access to Palmer Park we picked up a gravel road that took us up into Palmer Park. The incline near the end of the gravel portion, our inexperience, and the type of tires on our bicycles cause us both to spin our tires. But we persevered. The rest of the ride was on the asphalt road that runs through the Park. And it was down hill from the crest of the park to home. The whole distance was about six miles.
Our next ride was somewhat more intense for our inexperienced legs. We headed out to the Pikes Peak Greenway, and went up the Sinton Trail. The Sinton trail has a steady incline until it meets up with the Mesa Trail, which we would then take to the south.
I thought that we would have an incline down as soon as we were on Mesa Trail. I'm wrong a lot. We still had more hill to climb before enjoying some coasting.
Even the first coast was short lived as we had to climb from the 30th Street, Mesa Road intersection to the top of the hill by the Garden of the Gods Club. Pi Guy slipped his chain again, and was tempted to walk his bike up the rest of the hill. I restrung his chain and prevailed in encouraging him to take the rst of the hill on the bike.
Once at the top of the hill, we had an extended coast along Mesa Road until we came to the I-25 pedestrian/bicycle overpass. We stopped in the park on the east side of I-25 by Fountain Creek. A blue heron was just finishing eating in front of us, then flew away downstream. Then we returned home. This trip out was about 12 miles and tougher on our legs.
The last trip out was just a day later and a repeat of our trips out to the end of the Rock Island trail at Powers Blvd. Although the temperatures were in the high seventies, maybe eighties, the next two days were supposed to be a return to winter, not fit for fair weather cyclists like us.
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