HALLOWEEN RIDE: SOCIAL - Wash Park & Handlebar & Grill

We've had a few requests for a ride this weekend, so we are putting one together. The ride will be on weather alert. Make sure the check the blog by 7:30am Saturday morning to confirm we are on. The forecast is calling for sunshine and cool temps. Our main concern is snow melt. We are likely to be dumped a feet or two of snow Wed/Thurs. So as long as those UV rays do there job on Friday, we can all meet up for brunch Saturday morning.

RIDE DETAILS: We are having only one ride leave the shop Saturday morning. It's a spooky SOCIAL ride where we hope to be in Halloween spirit and grab some brunch. Some of us are pulling out our cruiser bikes - cause we don't plan on hitting any crazy speeds. Just some lazy/casual pedaling down to Wash Park via the Cherry Creek path. We will loop the park 2-3 times and/or meander thru the neighborhoods. If anyone is feeling feisty, we can do a couple sprints in the park to see who drank the most coffee that AM. We will stop at Handlebar & Grill for brunch. Word on the street is they have a breakfast deal that is $4.95. Pat says it's highly edible. We are encouraging dress-up, and for the folks without much imagination...try to dig out something orange & black. When was the last time you got to act like a kid?

• Families are welcome! Kid trailers & trail-a-bikes should be not problem. The route is flat and mostly on bike path or neighborhoods streets. Distance will be 20 or so miles. Hope to see all the familiar face out and about. New kids - please join us! We got a friendly group who are always looking for more friends!

RECAP: Aurora Spillway/ Aurora Res.

Well what can we say, cool morning temps to start out with but it gradually warmed up nicely. I think the cool weather may have turned a few riders away this morning but we forged ahead with a total of 20 riders. Unfortunately most of us found out that the wind had picked up on the way back and made things a little tough for us. We didn't let it stop us though, we carved our way through and had two great rides.

The Rec. ride lead by Kyle and Pat headed northeast on the High Line canal trail. We then linked up with the Aurora Spillway which is a really nice section of bike path. We refueled at a 7-11 midway through the ride. The Spillway then brought us to the Cherry Creek Res. where we completed a lap and then shazaam the wind hit us and we felt like we were riding with a parachute on our backs. Steve who was test riding a Specialized Roubaix was not phased by the gail force winds. With Pat leading us he split the wind and we rode his wheel back to the shop.

The Intermediate Ride lead by Chris and Nick headed out to the Aurora Res. for the second time this year. We had an enjoyable ride out and with the wind at our back (more on that later)... We climbed some nice hills and had a few descents on the way there. Jon ended up getting a flat on the way there so we had an unplanned break in the action. Once Nick fixed the flat it was game on to the reservoir. After doing one lap around the reservoir we stopped for a little refueling/bathroom break before heading back out on to the roads. Remember that thing called "wind," well it really had picked up at this point and made for an interesting ride back. We took turns in a pace line so we could benefit from the draft and efficiently use our energy. This ride is the most difficult ride that we do out of the shop and it really pushed some people today. I'd like to give a shout out to Gene, way to push through the pain and finish strong. You really exhausted yourself today.

Thanks to every one for coming out and joying us today on two great rides. We had a blast and hope you did too. We will be taking a week off for Halloween, so have fun and be safe. We look forward to seeing you the week after next, lets hope the weather holds. Now on to the fun stuff...

Recreation Ride Stats:
Ride Time: 1 hr 56 min.
Distance: 27 miles
Ave. Speed: 14 mph

Intermediate Ride Stats:
Ride Time: 3 hrs
Distance: 48 miles
Ave. Speed: 16 mph

Rec. ride on the path.

Rec. ride after refueling at the "eleven."

Intermediates chill'n at the res., chewing the fat.

Jon's co-pilot, Frosty.

Who loves the wind? We do...

Nick, breaking away to chase down those ahead.

Cheating the wind on the way back.

Check out the rest of the pics from the rides at this link...

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=bicyclevillageaurora&target=ALBUM&id=5396279204063927985&authkey=Gv1sRgCJjz6LKphp-inQE&feat=email

Aurora Reservoir or CC Spillway/Highline Canal - Oct. 24 - Advanced or Intermediate

With a great weekend of sunshine behind us, there is room for another great day of riding this coming Saturday. The weather forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies and a high of 59 degrees.

For our Advanced riders, we will be heading out to the Aurora Reservoir. This 50-mile route to the Aurora Reservoir is a Saturday you do not want to miss! This is an opportunity for experienced riders to join Bicycle Village on a more challenging route that includes hills and serious time in the saddle. This is definitely a ride that will require a strong fitness level and for those who can keep up pace (we encourge "in-betweeners" to opt for the rec ride this weekend). In order to complete the ride in a reasonable time frame, this group will take minimal stops along the route. We will head through the park, take Orchard, and make our way to Arapahoe. Once at the Reservoir, we'll do a lap around the reservoir and take a pit stop before heading back to the store via the same route. Be aware this is a route with constant rollers. Our pitstop at the Aurora Reservoir has a concessions stand where we can refuel with water and Gatorade (energy food is not available - so please stock up for the ride). Our pace will average between 14-16 mph.

RECREATIONAl riders will be traveling the Highline Canal, Tollgate Trail and the Cherry Creek Spillway. This route is a flat 20 miles, that explores smooth trails with steady street crossings. Even though the route is flat, you will be challenged to continuously pedal to keep your momentum and a steady pace of approximately 11-12 mph. The trails cross creeks and meander through and around some great parks. The trails are in excellent condition (nice and smooth) for the most part and away from busy streets.

It's been a spectacular season of riding, so let's keep it going. See you all on Saturday.

RECAP: REI / Centennial

Wow! What a fantastic day we had today. The starting temps were a little cool but warmed up nicely as we ourselves got warmed up. Air temp was in the low 40's with no wind to start and gradually warmed up into beautiful mid 60's by the time we arrived back at the shop.

The Recreational ride lead by Pat and Lani started out by heading through the C.C. reservoir to Jordan road. We climbed past the Arapaho soccer complex to County line and then past Centennial Airport. Kris didn't like Lani too much as Lani kept promising the hills were over, just before another one would pop up. "its all down hill from here, I promise!" Great work, Kris. We loved having you! Hope to see you next week. Derek helped with Rita's mechanical - we never did get a chance to tip ya! Nothing critical, just a dropped chain. We arrived back at the shop just after the Intermediates had gotten back, which was great timing. Everyone had a nice cool down chat back at the shop before heading home.

Recreational Group Shot - what a good lookin' group!

Heading into Cherry Creek State Park with the res in the background. Fabulous day to be on our bikes.

Kris with nothing but smiles after the 3rd big climb to the top of the dam. Phew! You're a tough cookie.

The Intermediate ride which was lead by Chris and Brad did a loop that took us through the DTC to the S. Platte trail, to REI, and then back to the shop. There was a lot of stop and go on Dartmouth, but once we reached the S. Platte trail we had non-stop smooth sailing to our rest stop at REI. After we got refueled and had some time to pet some lonely dogs we hopped back on our rigs and took the Cherry Creek trail home back to the shop. If you haven't been on the Cherry Creek trail lately, they have opened up a new section of the trail that allows you to bypass two stop lights and keeps you off the road. It is so convenient now; and it lets you keep your pace the whole way without stopping. Check it out if you haven't already... We made one last stop just before we got back to the shop for a group photo near the golf course. "cheese" Nice job everyone. We had a good pace and a lot of action at the front of the pack. Curt, glad your mom and dad dragged you out of bed today and Gene welcome to Denver! We hope to see you all next Saturday. On to the fun stuff...

Recreation Ride Stats
Ride Time: 2 hrs
Distance: 25 miles
Average Speed: 13mph

Intermediate Ride Stats
Ride Time: 1hr 54 min.
Distance: 32 miles
Average Speed: 17

Those darn stop lights...

Chill'n at REI

See this, this is my flux capacitor.

Intermediate group - Duane: Gun show is NEXT weekend.

For all photos taken on the two rides check out the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=bicyclevillageaurora&target=ALBUM&id=5393661244801316257&authkey=Gv1sRgCMbKtuPLibvUqgE&feat=email

Thanks to all of you that made it out today! It is great to have all of our returning riders along with some new faces. From the entire BV staff we would like to say thanks for coming and be safe.

S. Platte/REI/CC or Centennial Airport - Oct. 17 - Intermediate or Recreational

Is it winter??? No - not yet anyway. Our ride schedule took a slight hit due to weather but don't be alarmed, we are not done riding outdoors just yet. Back on schedule and ready to ride. The weather is climbing its way back into the 70's by Saturday, for a high of 73 degrees. So get pumped and meet us at the store on Saturday morning.

The Intermediate Group will be riding the 32-mile South Platte/REI/Cherry Creek route. Departing from the store, we head up to the reservoir hitting those good warm up hills, then venture through the DTC to Happy Canyon and on to Dartmouth. From Dartmouth we head out to the South Platte and REI. Once refueled after a quick pit stop at REI, we head through Cherry Creek and back to the store. We anticipate a pace of 14-16 mph for the intermediate group. This ride is fairly flat with the exception of the typical hills heading up to the reservoir.

For the Recreation riders in the mix, gear up for a pedal out to the Centennial Airport. This is a great ride past Cherry Creek Reservoir into the business district on the south side of Araphahoe Road; great for a Saturday ride on roads (not busy with traffic). Our anticipated pace will be an average of around 11-13 mph. We take a rest stop at the park just off of Broncos Parkway, pedal up to the Centennial Airport and then return to Bicycle Village. Our ride distance will be 28 miles.

We've missed you all after not seeing you last Saturday due to weather, so we look forward to a Saturday of sunshine and getting back on the saddle.

CANCELLED: Oct 10th Ride

Weather is looking grim. We can do cold, but we cower at sleet, snow, or rain. Forecast says high of 30 degrees with 70% chance of rain/snow. Catch a good movie this weekend and we will see ya on the flip side!

ADVANCED: Golden or RECREATIONAL: Sloan's Lake - OCT 10TH

WEATHER ALERT! Expecting chance of rain or snow on Saturday with a high of 41 degrees. Please check blog Saturday morning after 7:30 a.m. to find out if we're riding or not and cross your fingers the weather is good so we can ride...

ADVANCED RIDE: One of the shop's favorite, we will be heading out to Golden via the Cherry Creek bikeway and 32nd. This route will take us right by the Coors Brewery and into town. Our pitstop will be at the gas station on Ford street. This route will be on-street riding after we pass REI downtown. We have a slight steady climb as we head west - with the same steady downhill as we head home. No major, long hills over the 50-mile route. Chris and Lani will keep the pace average at 16/17 with top cruising speeds at 25mph.

RECREATIONAL RIDE: This is a flat route and is perfect for anyone who is nervous about longer miles. We will be riding behind the advanced group on the Cherry Creek bikeway to Confluence Park. 23rd Ave will bump into Sloan's lake, we will do a lap around the lake and head back home. We can do a pitstop at REI if needed. These are "no-drop" rides. Distance will be 30 miles with average pace of 13/15 mph. Top cruising speed can reach 20 mph.

RECAP: REI/ Inspiration

Fall is here! Cool temps this morning did not keep us away. Twenty-seven of us braved the brisk morning air and enjoyed what turned out to be a fantastic autumn day.

The Recreation ride ventured down the Cherry Creek Trail and ended up at Paris on the Platte for fancy coffee drinks and a late morning breakfast. Lani can't stop raving about the $6 Venice benedict, prosciutto and all. This social ride turned out to be great, a little cold to start but we enjoyed each others company and taking it easy. The season has arrived where we all must come prepared for the cold, don't forget your arm warmers, toe covers, full fingered gloves and maybe even a fleece headband to protect you against brain freeze. Mike and Judy returned from the ride today and invested in gloves having learned a cold lesson today. Next Saturday they will be riding in comfort.

The Intermediates lead by Chris and Pat enjoyed a nice hard ride today which looped us around Inspiration Point. We hope we didn't hurt you too badly today... We did this ride in reverse today to mix it up a bit and also get some more climbing in. Our route lead us through the Cherry Creek Reservoir to Jordan Road. We then took Potomac to County line road which lead us by the Centennial airport to Peoria. After hopping on C 470 we headed north and then refueled at a local gas station. Then came the hills... the climb up Inspiration is a little deceiving as some of you found out! After that we had some smooth roads down Inspiration which lead us back to Jordan and then through the Reservoir and back to the shop. Thanks to all of you that made it out and bundled up. The weather warmed up half way through the ride and it was fantastic.. See you next week. On to the fun stuff...

Recreation Ride Stats
Ride Time: 2 hrs (ride time)
Distance: 24 miles
Average Speed: 12 mph

Intermediate Ride Stats
Ride Time: 2 hrs. 40 min.
Distance: 42 miles
Average Speed: 16

Intermediates taking a breather after a short climb.

Welcome to Denver, next time drag your son out of bed!

Scott, glad you made it out with us and we'll see you next week.

Just standing around like always huh Jon...

Check out our pics from today via the link below -

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=bicyclevillageaurora&target=ALBUM&id=5388473755467945169&authkey=Gv1sRgCMCE7bWw8NqpPw&feat=email

Check out a new addition to our posting, we now have a video posted on YouTube. Just search bicyclevillageaurora.