Commuting by Bike in Denver & Suburbs? (Arvada, Boulder: home, neighborhood)

[ILFlatlander]

I've seen this mentioned here and there in a few posts, but thought I would start a new thread. Of all the cities I've have visited, Denver and it's suburbs seemed to have the most cyclists I have ever seen, with the exception being European cities I have visited. Without citing the obvious constraints of bad weather, distance, having an employer with shower/changing facilities (or healthclub nearby), etc., can anyone comment on if this is a common practice? Is Denver and it's suburbs as bike friendly as they seem?

[livecontent]

Yes Denver and the suburbs are very bike friendly--that is the municipal planners in the government entities. Bike trails have are all over the Denver Metro Area and have been here and have been around for years. Boulder is exceptional in being bike friendly and has many cyclist because of the youth orientation and the university. I live in Arvada and there are many separate bike lanes in the city and numerous bike trails.

RTD, The Regional Transportation District, for buses and commuter rail are very welcoming to bicylist. Every local bus has a bike rack on the front which accomodates two bicycles and the regional buses allow loading on these racks and in the luggage storage. In addition, bicycles are allowed on the commuter rails, after getting a free pass. There are also free bike storage lockers at most park and rides and some commuter rail stations.

I can attest to many cyclist taking mass transit, as I am a heavy user of RTD. I frequently see cyclist loading bicycles all over the metro area and you can see many bikes parked at the park and rides and commuter rail stations.

All the future planning for the huge expansion of the commuter rail, under Fastracks, includes planning for bicycle access and storage. Also, Denver and the very popular mayor, John Hickenlooper, supports denser housing and Transit Oriented Development (TOD) that will include walkable and bicyling friendly communities within the city. The necessity to control sprawl and to establish the same friendly TOD is a strong mandate of the Denver Regional Council of Governments which is the working partnership of all the municipalities in the area.

There are numerous events that are to encourage bicycle use and RTD has a very sucessful "bike to work" day every year. Some of my favorites are a nightime bicyle event through Downtown Denver and stopping at restaurants for refreshments.

The bicycle trails in mountain terrain are very numerous and are actively supported and maintained.

The Denver Metro area sits on the Great Plains--contrary to what many people think and because of the flatness, bicycling is popular.

The only negative opposition to bicyclist is from some, irrational motor car drivers who feel that all the roads belong to them and some of these people are danger, not only to cyclist, but more so to pedestrians. And some cyclist are extremely dangerous to pedestrians on paths that are for all including pedestrians and equestrians--these are irrational cyclist. In addition, cyclist need to to follow rules of the road to maintain safety with cars. Courtesy goes a long way for good relations with all parties.

Years ago there was major bicycling races here supported by Celestial Tea and latter Coors Beer. But these have disappeared and I would hope that it would return. Boulder is also resident to world class bicyclist because they feel the training at high altitudes improves performance.

Livecontent

[PeanutButter11]

Livecontent -

Really enjoyed your post. Thank you for taking the time to write it. I wasn't the original member who asked the question (though it is a question I wondered about myself), and I bookmarked the thread because I was hoping someone would answer. I'm glad you did!

I spent some time in Montreal and was impressed with how many citizens use their bicycles to get to/from EVERYWHERE. It was a little odd to see men in business clothes and women in skirts riding down the street on a bike , but after a while I was envious that I couldn't go home and incorporate the same habit.

Now, living in Florida, I haven't taken my bike out for months!! The humidity has been so terrible (even now in the end of Oct). When it comes to recreational biking, there aren't bike friendly trails in this area. It's a shame.

Really looking forward to moving "out west"!

[vegaspilgrim]

Question for livecontent:

I know all about the bike trails, but how is the city of Denver for bicycling on the streets-- especially in neighborhood/ collector streets? I've seen from past experience that a lot of these types of streets, which are bicyclable in theory and may even be designated as bike routes, are choked with traffic and you'd be breathing in fumes the whole time. A lot of the streets are also pretty narrow with many cars parked on the street-- a hazard for bicyclists. Are there any particular streets in Denver that have stoplights at the major intersections that are bicycle friendly?

[denver_hacker]

In the older parts of town the narrow streets are not fun.

But the city has a good street system in place for bikes. These designated streets are generally wide with clear bike lanes and designed to get you around the city. They have routes and signs along the road that help you as you go. The signs will sometimes have maps on them to help you get to another route.

It's best to get this map in paper form:

2006 Bike Map

I generally stick to these streets as much as possible and then cut in where I need to.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Question for livecontent:

I know all about the bike trails, but how is the city of Denver for bicycling on the streets-- especially in neighborhood/ collector streets? I've seen from past experience that a lot of these types of streets, which are bicyclable in theory and may even be designated as bike routes, are choked with traffic and you'd be breathing in fumes the whole time. A lot of the streets are also pretty narrow with many cars parked on the street-- a hazard for bicyclists. Are there any particular streets in Denver that have stoplights at the major intersections that are bicycle friendly?

I do not cycle any more because of a severe disabling condition. However, I would not try to bike on main road like, Federal, Pecos or Sheridan. I would tend to try small local routes that bypass these areas--yes, there are some parked cars but it is better then a main route.

One thing to consider is that Denver has a full bike trails along the Platt River, The Platt River Greenway, this goes from way up in Adams County to Chatfield--I have been on in numerous times--you can look at this a your main bike super highway, through Denver. The Cherrry Creek Bike Path comes off of this, as well as Clear Creek, Bear Creek etc. as well as numerous bike trails, so you have your own super bike paths that go right through the metro area without cars.

In addition there is the Highland canal and other canals that transit the area. Denver is a very Dry area and numerous farmer canals where built to bring water from the mountains and many of these have been developed into full bike routes. Because water is scarce here, most all creeks are treated with reverence and have paths along them. I grew up in Western New York and all of the creeks were just garbage and weed infested with no paths--and some of these creeks were bigger than the Platt River.

Livecontent