Meandering about NW Denver Metro

I was running errands Saturday morning, ended up near downtown Denver with time to kill before I was to meet a friend near Invesco Field at Mile High; home of the Denver Broncos.

It was bright and sunny but with high winds throughout the whole day.  Heck, it was 73°F at around 8:00 AM when I left the house, it would get warmer throughout the day.

I'd meant to drop by VintageMotos to say hi to the guys there but 10:00AM came and went and the door remained locked.  Oh well.  I cruised north until I got to I-70 which I used to rapidly get to Sheridan Boulevard, exiting there and heading south to where I'd seen an eye-catching tower and a wooden roller coaster park.

Now, I am sure, back in the day, that Lakeside Park was quite the attraction.  I am even sure that its claim to having the "Greatest Roller Coaster in North America" might have held true in its heyday.  Nowadays though, the park is bit delapidated looking and I really wonder about "The Cyclone" wooden roller coaster.

The entrance to Lakeside Park, it must be quite the sight at night with all the lights lit up

I circled the park, which is amidst a pretty worn down neighborhood, and got as close as I could to the roller coaster for some pictures:

The wooden supports for the roller coaster's tracks looked pretty worn out.

I left Lakeside Park, cruising east along side streets, trying to find the route to the large tower one can see while heading west on I-70 and just before Sheridan Boulevard.  I'd been there before on a previous ride but this time I went further into the office complex owned by Qwest and AT&T apparently.

Large panoramic shot of the tower, you cans see it from quite a ways away

I continued cruising the side streets and soon found myself just west of the I-25 slab, working my way southward towards Mile High Stadium.  Traffic was light and the bright sun had folks out walking their pets and riding their bikes.  I was going to Parking Lot M at Mile High Stadium to meet up with Jay, a co-worker, who'd told me of a company called Zero Motorcycles who were letting folks do demo rides on their electric motorcycles.  Watch for an upcoming post on that event.

The wind never did let up, getting quite strong and gusty at times.  It made my front wheel feel a bit wobbly when on the slab running for home.  Made me almost wish that I'd chosen to ride Natasha, my Ural sidecar rig, but the day was just too nice not to have Brigitta with me.

Got home, de-rigged all the cold weather shielding off of Natasha and got her ready for tomorrow's ride.  The DAU (Denver Area Uralisti) ride to admire the vintage motorcycles that will be showing up for Bob Ohman's Old Bike Ride #8.  Watch for that posting as well.

Sunday ride to the Garden of the Gods

Note: This posting is also located on examiner.com. So what's the difference?  I get paid per # of hits on that site, so if you feel like helping my fuel budget, read the article there instead:  LINK,  Thanks!

 This past Sunday, I left home around 9:00AM under partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-40s.  The day would warm to a high of around 60°F before things would cloud over with incoming weather.

I took Parker Rd south through the busy town of Parker, looking to find the snow that had fallen on Friday of last week.  I started seeing traces of snow on the hills on both sides of the road shortly south of Franktown and by the time I cruised by Castlewood Canyon State Park; it was snow-covered fields as far as I could see.

The temperature seemed to drop as I cruised by these snowy fields on Brigitta, my '87 R80 Beemer.  I stopped to don my neck gator and along with my heated grips was quiet comfy in wind chills that I guess were in the 20s.

I cruised comfortably on CO83, Brigitta holding 75mph easily where Natasha would have struggled to hold 65mph.  Truly a dichotomy of performance, my two motorcycles.

I turned west on Old North Gate Rd just north of Colorado Springs and saw this wagon by a windmill at a stop sign.

Along the Old North Gate Rd

Proceeding along Old North Gate Rd (it refers to the North Gate of the Air Force Academy which makes its home in Colorado Springs), I soon arrived at its junction with the I-25 Super Slab.  I got Brigitta up to 75mph easily enough and though the wind gusts were pretty strong, it was smooth riding to the scenic overlook alongside the highway:

At the I-25 Highway Scenic Overlook

Staying on the slab, I got off a Woodmen Drive hoping to get a closer look at Pikes Peak, I would end up wandering about the Colorado Springs Tech Center where I found a spot near an office building complex for this shot:

I really don't know how one could get any work done with scenery such as this outside one's office window

I cruised further south, and finally ended up on the road that leads one to the Garden of the Gods park.  I rode up the Mesa Overlook road where the fancy houses are and stopped at the Mesa Overlook for these pictures.

At the Mesa Overlook parking lot, that's Garden of the Gods in the near background with 

Pikes Peak in the far background

A closer look at some of the large rock formations visible from the Mesa Overlook

A panoramic view of the gorgeous scenery visible from the Mesa Overlook

I circled back around towards the main entrance to the Garden of the Gods and joined the slightly busy stream of cars filled with tourists and locals out enjoying the view of the many large rock formations that make up this park.

Here's the rock formation at the park's main parking lot.  I stopped here to remove my cold weather liner and neck gator and switch to light summer gloves as it had turned quite warm.

My favorite spot on the loop road that circles the massive rock formations of the Garden of the Gods

I hope you like this panoramic view of my favorite parking spot at the Garden of the Gods

One last shot of nearby Pikes Peak from the Garden of the Gods

Exiting the park due to the now numerous cars on the loop roads around the park, it was around Noon and I elected to ride east into Colorado Springs.  I cruised through the "historic district" of Old Colorado City but saw nothing worth stopping for a look or a picture.

Soon I was in the western side of Colorado Springs, past the many buildings belonging to Colorado College.  I turned north on Union and made my way north and out of town.  I stopped just past Powers Blvd to don my warm weather gear once more for the ride home.

As you can see, incoming storm clouds have almost completely hidden Pikes Peak from view

On CO83, heading North away from the springs.

Shortly before I took the last two shots above, I was passed by a herd of Harley Davidson bikers, all clad in their motorcycle club colors with no helmets, doing their best to deafen me with their loud pipes.  Ironically, I think the name of their club, from what I could see of their "colors", was "Sons of Silence".

Still, to each his own I say, at least they were out riding.  I got back on Brigitta and we cruised up through Franktown and Parker.  I took Inspiration Drive out of Parker to get me back to my home neighborhoods.  Perhaps 160-170 miles of riding today with perhaps 5 hours of saddle time, not too bad for a Colorado spring ride.

I hope you were able to get out and get some riding this weekend!