Loop 5 continues the pattern of being longer than all the ones before. Every time I start out on one of these DOT loops, I wonder if it will be too long and wear me out. But so far it’s only heat and dehydration, not total distance, that drain my energy. As long as I keep my water bottle full and stop to cool down in the shade now and then, I have yet to hit the limits of my stamina. And one advantage trail riding on a bicycle has over trail riding on a horse is that I don’t worry about overworking the bike. It only gets tired when I do. So I can plot these longer and longer courses without having to factor in anyone’s fitness and enthusiasm but my own.
After riding home from Peoria Station on my last outing, I wondered whether that might be a more efficient way of getting to the A line than starting on the R line. So for Loop 5 I found the straightest route between my house and Peoria Station and tested that theory.
Conclusion: there’s not a lot of time difference between the two, in that direction. Taking the R is slightly shorter if it’s running on time. The bike ride is downhill almost the whole way, so it’s pretty effortless. There are no bike lanes on Peoria St (what’s up with that??) and it’s a busy street, so for everyone’s safety I rode on the sidewalks, which were empty. The return trip is slightly uphill, so taking the R makes more sense coming home.
I’ve mentioned the bike docks and bungees on the rail lines that connect to Union Station:
They also have special racks to hang multiple bikes vertically, but I’ve never needed to use them; there have always been enough bike docks for every bike on the train to have its own.
I took the A to Union Station and the N to Eastlake & 124th, and then biked back to where I’d left off at the end of Segment 22/start of Segment 23.
I looped around Hunter’s Glen Lake…
…saw a great blue heron…
…and some scenic neighborhoods…
…before connecting to Big Dry Creek Trail.
Lots of nesting swallows on this loop. Such pretty birds!
I rode through sunny meadows, fragrant with grass and soil and wildflowers and alive with birdsong, and the richness of them took me back to the wild summers of my childhood.
I lived in my senses so much more when I was younger. I used to know what month it was just by the scent of the air and the color of the sunlight.
The thundering noise of this little waterfall on Big Dry Creek made me leave my bike on the bridge and walk down for a closer look.
In a random open space in Westminster I found this majestic fellow. He swivels like a weathervane.
Eventually found a nice shady spot along the trail to stop for lunch. By now I’d done the math and realized that this was going to be an all-day ride. But the trails were wonderful, so I didn’t mind at all.
Colorado takes its bike trail network very seriously!
Segment 24 is where I discovered the art of Patrick Maxcy.
This overpass near the Butterfly Pavilion features local birds on one side…
…and local fish on the other.
Here’s another one:
Parts of Segment 25 are just dirt tracks through grassy meadows. That cloud of mist and roar of water up ahead piqued my curiosity enough to make me leave the trail to investigate.
What could it be?
Turns out it’s a MASSIVE flow of water coming through a culvert from Standley Lake. You can see the dam in the background:
And here is Standley Lake.
The prettiest part of a really pretty loop.
More Maxcy art…
…and this:
I don’t recognize the glyphs, and neither does Google. Maybe someone’s made-up code.
Segment 25 ends at the Standley Lake Library. I rolled in to use the bathroom and refill my water bottle.
The library has a cool sundial out front.
Segment 26 starts out as a dirt track.
It connects to the Dry Creek Bike Trail, leaves that to follow a couple of streets, then picks up the East Side Trail, which is sometimes paved and sometimes not, but continues in one form or another all the way to Majestic View Park in Arvada
Here is where I left the DOT. My plan was to make my way down to Olde Town Arvada Station on roads. I got off to a rough start with a steep uphill climb, but once I got to the top of that, it was an exhilarating downhill run all the way into Olde Town.
I stopped in at Rheinlander Bakery for a cream cheese strudel and an Italian cream soda…
…and then hopped on the G line to Union Station…
…and then the A to Peoria Station. I happened to get there just in time to catch an R line train that was running 30 minutes late for its regular schedule, so I didn’t have to wait at all.
This was one of my favorite loops so far. My only concern is that to start Segment 27 where I left off, I’ll have to tackle that long uphill stretch from Olde Town Arvada to Majestic View Park. Maybe I’ll do it in the other direction, and end up back in Arvada again.
More to come!
An Invincible Summer 