Road Bike Denver to Co Springs..what roads are good?

[bikiegirl]

So, here's my report back after doing the trip. The ride from Denver south was tougher than I had expected, I think the combination of climbing, heat, altitude, loaded panniers, and headwinds made it particularly challenging, and I am only used to some of those factors!

I found the route heading out of southeast Denver on the Cherry Creek Trail to be delightful and easy. There was a long slow grade into strong headwinds for several miles going into Castle Rock that took a lot out of me. I took a good lunch break in Castle Rock and hoped a fresh start after that would be better.

As it turned out, the first thing I had to do next was ride 5 miles on the I-25 frontage road going south from Castle Rock. THAT PART WAS THE SCARIEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE ON A BICYCLE!!! (And I ride all over the Los Angeles area all the time.) The frontage road had zero shoulder and a constant stream of super high speed traffic. I had no where to go, I just had to endure. It was so stressful. The cars were clearly going much faster than the traffic on the interstate. I think this frontage road has become one of those streets Waze sends drivers on for a shortcut. I am grateful to have survived, and I will never ride there again. It troubles me that this is on the Colorado Bike Map – it is not safe for bicycles. I wish there were an alternative, but I don’t think there is one.

Once I got off the frontage road, it was what I had expected: a narrow rural highway with courteous drivers but no shoulder. It seemed like a lot of hills, but my perception of that may be influenced by not being accustomed to riding hills with my panniers full. I ended up walking the last part of several hills and the ride took me far longer than I had estimated due to needing frequent rest stops and walking some hills. (The trip took me 10 hours, when I had estimated 8 hours, including rest stops. For reference, I recently rode a century in 10 hours, including stops; this was only 69 miles.)

Just when I thought I couldn’t take any more, I got to the turn off for the new Santa Fe River Trail. That was fun and fast and made me happy again! My 35mm tires were able to handle the gravel, even though there were some parts that were a bit too loose or too rocky – I never wiped out. I managed fine for the rest of the trip into Colorado Springs.

Two days later, I did the return to Denver, and decided to try a different route. I took Hwy 83 to Russelville Road to Franktown, and then rode the Cherry Creek Trail the entire second half (except for a stretch where the trail was closed for construction). Hwy 83 was as expected: a bit more traffic than Hwy 105, but it has just enough shoulder that I didn’t feel as stressed. Best of all, there was just the one big hill coming out of town, and then it seemed like I was going downhill almost the entire rest of my trip! It felt like no time at all before I got to the Russelville Rd turn off, and I LOVED riding on that road. Once I got to Franktown, it was easy going the rest of the way.

Overall, I am glad I did the trip, but something's got to be done about that frontage road. I'm not sure how I would route myself going south if I were to do this again.

[otowi]

Hey you could do the Rampart Range Road if you're up for a dirt road.

[isaacn0]

I was reading this because it was a goal of my two roommates and I to bike from Denver to Colorado Springs. We just did it this past weekend. There on a Saturday via 105 and back on a Sunday via 83. We are fairly amateur at biking but have decent road bikes.

The bottom line is that the westward route (105) is the way to go. We got to the highway roughly a way someone on another thread, about Denver to Pueblo, explained. We took S Platte River trail (Mary Carter Greenway) to the CO-470 trail at the north end of Chatfield Park. From there onto Highline Canal trail, weaseling our way over to CanAm highway (Santa Fe). A mile or so on that to a frontage road at Louviers is not bad at all with the wide shoulders. That road leads you to Sedalia, where you can get on 105. It's a beautiful route and the least dangerous option of the three highways mentioned. Also the most peaceful.

The aforementioned New Santa Fe gravel trail had some rough spots for road bikes, but it's only a short part of the ride. There's a good stopping point at Palmer Lake right before getting on that trail. And, of course, you'll need to go on some city roads depending on when you're getting off that trail to enter the city.

We decided to take the eastward route on the way back just to check it out. We would have been completely fine going back the way we went to CoSpgs. CO-83 has a higher speed limit and much more traffic than 105, and parts without adequate shoulder. We made it, so it's doable, but not super comfortable.

To note, both 83 and 105 have Share the Road signs all along them. So either are an option, but I will say that we passed a good number of cyclists on 105 (each one waving to us and giving encouragement), while we didn't pass a single one on 83.

[bikiegirl]

Thanks for your trip report. Makes we wonder, too, if one were to try the route via Castle Rock, if Hwy 46 (Wolfenberger Rd) would be a reasonable option to get over to 105 without having to use the I-25 frontage road getting out of Castle Rock. From google maps, it looks to have no shoulder, so it would depend on the kind of traffic it gets.
But I would also consider just getting to 105 from Denver in the same way you did.

[WoolyBugger]

Originally Posted by bikerpppp

I want to ride my road bike down to Colorado Springs, stay the night and return the next day. I can't find good advice which way to go. Maybe even a good hotel to bike to as well? I have been told Highway 105?

This thread helped me decide my ride from Arvada to CO Springs, I though I would give it an update.

I took the Cherry Creek Trail from Denver REI out and around Cherry Creek Res and south through Parker all the way to where it ends (abruptly!) in Franktown. The creek trail is 40 Mi total and a joy to ride. I had Google maps on my phone to help with some of the turns. The trail is mostly well marked.

I met an old timer at the end of the creek trail and he told me to cut out some of 83 by taking Russellville Rd just south of Franktown, I'm glad I did. Definitely the best road section of the ride. The climb on 83 south of Franktown is a beast and 83 feels pretty unsafe (65mph, very little shoulder) so doing the climb on Russellville is a whole hell of a lot more scenic and quiet. It doesn't add much time or distance onto the ride either.

Russellville connects to 83 again and I was on my way. 83, as I mentioned, could be worse but it could definitely be better. I made it to N CO Springs (80mi from Central Arvada) in about 5 hrs. The ride from Denver is slightly up hill most of the way and the two largest climbs are the north east corner of Cherry Creek Res as well as just after Franktown.

It was an enjoyable ride for the most part. Hope that helps!