Good route for Boulder to Denver?

captaintg · Post by **captaintg** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:06 pm

I know it's moot right now with the freezing rain, but does anyone have recommendations for a good route for riding from Boulder to Denver (Lodo)? My criteria are basically that it's efficient and not too-terrifying. It takes me 35 minutes in my car (on 36), but I'd be willing to spend ~60 minutes on the Buddy.

Any ideas?

Jake · Post by **Jake** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 5:19 pm

I-25.

Heheh...I never took anything but highways when I lived out there.

captaintg · Post by **captaintg** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 5:25 pm

Yikes. I25 is scary enough in my car!

myras_girls · Post by **myras_girls** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 5:51 pm

How about this:

1. Head west on University Ave toward Broadway St/CO-93 39 ft
2. Turn left at Broadway St 2.3 mi
3. Turn left at Table Mesa Dr 1.0 mi
4. Continue on S Boulder Rd 3.5 mi
5. Slight right toward McCaslin Blvd 0.1 mi
6. Slight right at McCaslin Blvd 1.6 mi
7. Slight left at S McCaslin Blvd 0.2 mi
8. Turn left at W Dillon Rd/Dyer Rd
Continue to follow W Dillon Rd 4.1 mi
9. Turn right at S 112th St/US-287
Continue to follow US-287 2.5 mi
10. Continue on CO-121 5.7 mi
11. Slight left at CO-121/Wadsworth Blvd
Continue to follow CO-121 3.5 mi
12. Continue straight onto CO-121/Wadsworth Bypass
Continue to follow CO-121 1.8 mi

& Take Wadsworth to a street that goes East/West like 44th, 38th, 32nd, etc. into Downtown.

I rode Wadsworth/287 from Denver to Fort Collins on my Buddy 125. There are parts of 287 that have a speed limit of 65 mph but I think that was farther north between Boulder & Longmont.

captaintg · Post by **captaintg** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:17 pm

How was 287? I've been on parts of it, and I remember a lot of traffic lights. I'd only be doing this ride during non rush hour traffic.

How long did it take you to go from Ft Collins to Denver?

myras_girls · Post by **myras_girls** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 9:30 pm

captaintg wrote:How was 287? I've been on parts of it, and I remember a lot of traffic lights. I'd only be doing this ride during non rush hour traffic.

How long did it take you to go from Ft Collins to Denver?

287 wasn't bad. There are not many lights that I remember between cities. There are lights in Longmont and through Westminster/Arvada/Wheat Ridge, but that's to be expected. Plus, it was my first ride on my Buddy so I was actually kind of glad when there was a light so I could stop and get my bearings.

All in all it took me about 2 - 2.5 hours to get from Sportique in Denver to Fort Collins but we stopped 4 times, including stopping in Longmont for lunch and stopping at a couple of shops on the way. It was 67 miles.

chicagoscooterclub · Post by **chicagoscooterclub** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 9:39 pm

Here's what google maps shows avoiding highways

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=B ... =UTF8&z=11

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:54 pm

myras_girls wrote:How about this:

1. Head west on University Ave toward Broadway St/CO-93 39 ft
2. Turn left at Broadway St 2.3 mi
3. Turn left at Table Mesa Dr 1.0 mi
4. Continue on S Boulder Rd 3.5 mi
5. Slight right toward McCaslin Blvd 0.1 mi
6. Slight right at McCaslin Blvd 1.6 mi
7. Slight left at S McCaslin Blvd 0.2 mi
8. Turn left at W Dillon Rd/Dyer Rd
Continue to follow W Dillon Rd 4.1 mi
9. Turn right at S 112th St/US-287
Continue to follow US-287 2.5 mi
10. Continue on CO-121 5.7 mi
11. Slight left at CO-121/Wadsworth Blvd
Continue to follow CO-121 3.5 mi
12. Continue straight onto CO-121/Wadsworth Bypass
Continue to follow CO-121 1.8 mi

& Take Wadsworth to a street that goes East/West like 44th, 38th, 32nd, etc. into Downtown.

I rode Wadsworth/287 from Denver to Fort Collins on my Buddy 125. There are parts of 287 that have a speed limit of 65 mph but I think that was farther north between Boulder & Longmont.

It's been a while since I lived up there, but what about staying on McCaslin to 120th, then taking Indiana south. If memory serves (and Google maps is right),
Indiana goes south to 64th.
Jog west to McIntyre which goes south to 32nd.
32nd east to Speer, to 29th, to, aww hell, I'm lost now.

kilted texan · Post by **kilted texan** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:23 pm

Another one from Google Maps

A lot of strait riding.

captaintg · Post by **captaintg** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 1:41 am

kilted texan wrote: A lot of strait riding.

That pretty much sums up riding around here. Either flat and straight, or STEEP and curvy.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll give it a shot one of these days when the weather is nice.

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 3:50 am

captaintg wrote:
kilted texan wrote: A lot of strait riding.
That pretty much sums up riding around here. Either flat and straight, or STEEP and curvy.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll give it a shot one of these days when the weather is nice.

Of course, if you take 93 up to Boulder next month or in Jan, sections of the road are flat, straight and WINDY.

gt1000 · Post by **gt1000** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 6:34 pm

I think you already have some good suggestions for the Boulder part of your trip. I ride Lodo to Northwest Denver every day and like to avoid heavy traffic streets like Speer, Federal, Wadsworth, etc. So, once you get down below 50th, I'd recommend taking 50th, 46th, or 44th Ave. to Zuni and then Zuni to 29th. Left on 29th takes you to 15th Street and right into Lodo.

un_designer · Post by **un_designer** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 10:27 pm

captaing, i've done the denver-boulder ride quite a bit actually, especially during the summer.

can you give a cross street of where you're starting out in LoDo and where you'd like to end up in boulder? i can give you more specific pointers that way.

this is is the route that i go on, which takes about 1h 25-35 minutes depending on how the lights are timed and how much traffic there is. are you really planning on riding this distance during the winter??

http://tinyurl.com/6bw2sc