Twenty Mile Loop

Pi Guy and I revisited the Homestead Ridge Trail, today. We left early to avoid the pesky winds. We took the same approach as last time.

The climb after the Penrose Park started out well, but in the same location that Pi Guy slipped his chain last time, his tire went flat. Remember the pack with all the preparedness goodies. I did. Coolness, to have a spare tube.

We went through the changing drill. I got out the offending thorns, and we had the bicycle ready to go in less than ten minutes. (Not trying to be a pit crew.)

When we had reached our previous turn around spot at Barnes, Pi Guy agreed that the ride was easier this time.

We continued this time, pedaling through Old Farm, and up more hill,… and more hill. I wasn’t expecting so much hill. We ended up by the water tank in Stetson Hills. Fortunately it was all down hill from there.

Heading North we hooked up with Cottonwood Creek trail, which we took heading west. A city storm water project was fully engaged in improvement in Cottonwood Creek. We paused at a picnic table to eat a Zone Bar, and hydrate.

Everything was going well until we met up with Academy Blvd., where I expected more trail there wasn’t any. We went south on Academy, up hill, to Dublin, then went west on Dublin.

We had to drop back onto the Cottonwood Creek trail to pass under I-25.

Pi Guy needed a restroom, so we stopped at the Criterium Bicycle Shop. This is the bicycle shop just off the east side of the Pikes Peak Greenway Trail and on the west side of Corporate Drive. The building is relatively new, and the restrooms are right up front, almost the first things you see. I chatted briefly with a sales guy. He said that it was the plan of the owner to place the restrooms there, for cyclists like us. Smart marketing.

If we weren’t a little pressed for time I would have purchased a new tube to replace the one that flatted earlier. Criterium's placement is so convenient for stocking up on those consumable items. I’ll head over later to get that tube.

There is a reservoir just south of Garden of the Gods Blvd. next to Fountain Creek. “Look, up in the sky, a Blue Heron.” Or is it the same one we’ve seen before?

Except for the tired legs, the rest of the ride was uneventful.

When we got home I mixed up some vanilla milk, with vanilla syrup and 1% milk. Joe Friel in “Cycling Past 50”, suggested skim milk and sugar as a recovery drink with in thirty minutes from the end of a ride. Skim because fat delays digestion.

Our distance for the day was about twenty miles. We’ll be doing the short distances for a week once the weather stabilizes warmer.

MIdland Trail

On Tuesday Pi Guy and I went out for a ride. This time to see how far out the Midland Trail goes. The trail map shows it going out as far as 20th Street. But the dotted "to be completed" lines point to Manitou Springs.

This ride gave new meaning to the words "Wind Trainer." The wind was SWS and powerful. Nice when it's at your back. It was a short ride, about twelve miles out and back.

We saw the Blue Heron, maybe a Blue Heron, and not the one that we had seen just a few days before. It was standing in the middle of Monument Creek about behind the Colorado College. (Rats, no camera.)

Monument Creek is up, not run off stage yet but up a little. We have about two feet to eighteen inches before we won't be able to cross just past the Bijou bridge.

Amazingly, the Midland Trail stops at 20th Street. Just like the map said. A more decked out road cyclist answered our question. He said that this was the end of the trail. Yes, it is slated to go as far as Manitou Springs, and that Manitou Springs was his destination, but it doesn't go there yet. You have to suck it up and smell the traffic.

Pi Guy and I swung down by G&C Packing Company, which is a meat processing plant, to see if there were any possibility of a trail down by the Fountain Creek heading west. NSL. Then we headed back.

Did I say that it is nice to have a strong wind at your back? (That's rhetorical.)

I don’t think that I said anything about it not being nice to set down your water bottle while your getting your bicycle out and not pick it up again for your ride, did I?

As we were cruising back on the Rock Island Trail, almost home, we saw the/another Blue Heron. They are great birds, big, and they fly with their legs trailing out.

Preparing to Ride

One of the reminders that I came away from my ride with Blue Jay was to be prepared. (Kind of Boy Scout-ish) To prepare with, not only a cell phone, helmet, and water, but with a tube replacement for each bike, a pump, bicycle multi-tool and a first aid kit, even on short trips. With summer coming we’ll also want to be prepared with sunscreen.

As Lucy has reminded me, first aid should come first.

I’ll have a waist pack by the bicycle helmets that contains a first aid kit of some large and small band aids, some anti-biotic ointment, some gauze, and iodine, alcohol, or peroxide, and some Purell. Also included in the pack will be tools and a spare tube. That way when we leave on a ride one of us can grab the bag and strap it on.

There are some things we should be looking at our bicycles for before leaving on any rides. Spin the tires to check for alignment of brakes and true of wheel, then a slower spin for a quick surface check of the tires. Tire pressure should be checked with a squeeze. Brakes should engage well before a full pull on the brake handles. Warning lights need to be checked for operation.

I didn’t make any progress this week on reducing my cycling load (i.e. weight). It might be the Benadryl. I don’t know how that stuff works, but allergy season is upon us. It could also be my weakness for M&M’s.

Silver Lining

A few days later, Blue Jay was asking to bicycle to the Dog Tooth Cafè. We call it that but the proper name is Dogtooth Coffee Company. It’s on the corner of North Corona and East Columbia, a really out of the way place, unless you’re on a bicycle on the Shook’s Run Trail. That is how most of those who don’t live in the neighborhood find it. That is how we came across it.

February has been blessed with many warm and beautiful days. On that particular Thursday we did don our bicycles and helmets. The whole family was invited to go but Pi Guy was busy with a computer basketball game and the ride wouldn’t be all that challenging. And, Lucy had some around the house stuff to do.

The trip to was uneventful.

Blue Jay enjoyed a pistachio gelato, my favorite. But being February she had exhausted the last supply of it. I had black cherry gelato instead. The girl behind the counter said that she was coming in early the next day to make a fresh round of gelato because the weather was so fine. She also joked to Blue Jay that she had sampled some avocado gelato to a boy about her age. Not something Blue Jay was inclined to try.

Blue Jay and I ate outside, enjoying the sunshine. We then mounted our bikes for the return.

On the way back Blue Jay began to waiver on and off the path. Since Shook’s Run Trail passes behind a Safeway we stopped to get water from a vending machine. We had not taken (my mistake) water bottles with us.

I thought her tires were unusually loud as we continued down the path. As we turned on to the Rock Island Trail, I realized that the culprit was a flat tire. It was a “goat head” flat. So we walked both bikes the rest of the way home.

Silver lining? Now we have a.) A “practice” flat to replace, b.) A reminder for me, to always prepare with cell phone, water, a tube replacement for each tire size, and a pump, even on short trips; and c.) Another reminder to stay on the trail to avoid what is locally known as “goat heads.”

Goat heads look like small pea seeds with spikes, they are sturdy enough to easily puncture the tire and tube of a mountain bike.