Early spring riding

Spring is just starting here in Colorado. There are blossom trees out in the city, but on the Cherry Creek bike path (my usual run) there is almost no evidence of blossoms. The animals, though, are coming out. Today there were a couple of deer herds (who watched me go by with definite quizzical looks on their faces) and the first sign of the rabbits that inhabit the ground by the bike path. The lazy prairie dogs are still not coming out by the time I go by, though in my afternoon rides I see them.

The Rockies are always a treat to see when I get up to the Cherry Creek State Park (that is downtown Denver at the right of the photo above). Each day they look different, which is something that was noticed almost 150 years ago by an artist named A.E. Mathews, who produced a book of lithographed views of Colorado (image above is the view of Denver and the mountains in the book). In any case, this is what he had to say about seeing the Rockies from Denver.

"So clear and pure is the air on the plains, that the mountains can be distinctly seen 175 miles off. The Rocky Mountains assume new, peculiar, and beautiful features almost every day and hour, according to the condition of the atmosphere and position of the sun. Sometimes on a bright moonlight night, or just before sunrise, the rocks, canons and trees stand out so distinctly that the mountains appear to be but a mile or two from Denver...When the air is clearer than usual, a most beautiful effect is seen just as the light of the sun has left the western horizon; the horizon is lighted up by a soft, cool, silvery light, caused by the sun shining on the western slow of the snow-covered mountains. The beauty of the sky and clouds in Colorado, especially in summer, rivals that of Italy."

This is very true and it is one of the joys of living in Denver, to look at the magnificent Rocky Mountains each day and get a new, amazing scene. Of course, now that I am training for Ride the Rockies, I look at them and think that soon I will be up in those mountains trying to make my way up and down the passes.... Definite incentive to keep going!

View Standard Loop March 28 in a larger map
I recently downloaded a new app, called "My Tracks" which tracks my rides. The map above is from today's morning ride. This app also puts up a spread sheet with the stats from my rides. Pretty cool!