For most of last summer while I was riding the DOT, the R line was always running late because of track maintenance. It took three hours just to get from home to the Golden station for that Golden-to-Arvada loop, partly because of the chronically late R line and partly because I had to take the A to Union Station to connect with the W to Golden.
For my seventh loop, I wanted to start in Golden again and travel south. I wondered if I could make better time by riding my bike directly to Auroria West station on the W in Denver, via Cherry Creek Trail.
This is a pretty ride. I stopped to peek through the fence at Four Mile Park in Glendale, were I got to see some of the giant lanterns for the annual Bright Nights Lantern Festival.
Following Cherry Creek northwest into Denver, I shared the trail with lots of pedestrians, scooters and other bicyclists. It’s much more scenic than the train ride!
I arrived at Auroria West station and took the W back to Golden station. Total travel time to get to Golden…about three hours. No time saved, but I did enjoy the bike route more.
Like Segment 1, Segment 2 winds up into the foothills on steep, rough dirt trails that my commuter bike is not built for. I opted to take the C-470 Bikeway instead, which was mostly a good call, at least in the beginning.
Segment 3 of the DOT hops onto the Bikeway near Bear Creek, and that’s where I picked it back up.
Bear Creek Lake Park looks like a nice place to cool off on a summer day.
Apparently there’s a controversial plan to enlarge the reservoir by 20,000 acre feet, which would put most of this park underwater. I can see good arguments on both sides of the debate.
The DOT returns to C-470 via Turkey Creek.
Right around here is where the ride stopped being fun for a while.
From here it was just nine miles of following a freeway with not much to look at other than cars. The DOT bails about halfway through and winds back up into the foothills, but I was locked in until the Chatfield Tunnel at Chatfield Reservoir.
Then it got pretty again.
This loop took me almost to the end of Segment 7, where I left the DOT and followed the Platte River up to Mineral Station in Littleton.
Took the D line to I-25 and Broadway station, then transferred to the H line. That took me to Florida station, and from there it’s a short bike ride home.
Coming up: the final loop!
An Invincible Summer 