Eight Hundred Seventeen

May 23, 2018
16.62 Miles (Biked) in 1:50:51
Mood: More adventurous that the previous day, for sure.
Soundtrack: The Decemberists "I'll Be Your Girl"

Wednesday is usually a rest day for me, but since I took it super easy yesterday, I figured I'd get up and go a little harder today. I decided to head south, as I hadn't really gone that direction on the bike, and figured I could enjoy some of what Highlands Ranch has to offer in the way of trails.

Highlands Ranch is called that for a reason, as it is basically straight up a hill to get there. So the getting there was a little rough. At one point, I was biking slowly up a hill when a serious bike guy in his serious bike guy spandex flew past me. I was kind of amazed at the kind of speed he had going up a hill that had reduced me to a near standstill. Clearly, I am not a serious bike guy, but the gap between me and them is larger that I figured.

Once I actually got to Highlands Ranch, I headed directly to the very large Sand Creek Park which is basically paved trails weaving their way through natural beauty, surrounded on all sides by single family home subdivisions. It's so big, though, that it feels legitimately natural. I have run there once before, and was pumped to check it out again. I went through it so quickly and found myself headed North again pretty quickly, and before long I was passing by my church, and then like a trout returning to spawn, I migrated back towards the Highline Canal...where I truly belong.

It was only a 16 mile ride, but it felt much more adventurous that yesterday. Plus I got to see this glorious orange flower along the Highline, which was the visual highlight for me of the whole trip.