Day 136 - Glenwood Springs - Glenwood Canyon Bike Trail - Two Far 2023 - Oranges to Apples

August 29, 2023

Day 136 - Glenwood Springs - Glenwood Canyon Bike Trail

CycleBlaze Meet-up

For all you eagle-eyed readers out there, I did not bore my own personal tunnel through the mountain between miles 14 & 15 - my Garmin froze up and it took a while before I realized it.

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Today I got back on my trusty Phoenix and did a solo rode on the Glenwood Canyon Bike Trail. While a LWB Recumbent may not be the best choice for this trail due to some tight corners and blind curves, it was an enjoyable ride.

The drop-dead beauty of Glenwood Canyon and the engineering marvels of I-70 were constantly vying for my attention. The only problem with that is that there are no guardrails along the trail and if you rubberneck too much, you'll likely end up in the Colorado River!

The trail follows alongside, and at times under, I-70. The next few photos focus on this aspect of the trail.

In places I-70 and the trail almost touch the canyon walls.

In this section you had a little room between the trail and the river (bottom left), but you're right against the interstate.

Not a lot of room between the interstate and the river.

The trail crosses under the interstate in several places. Blind corners like this are why I said the trail is not LWB recumbent friendly.

As neat as I found the engineering involved in the construction of the interstate, it paled in comparison to the natural beauty of the canyon itself.

One of the wider sections of the canyon.

This photo is just east of the deepest portion of the canyon and the canyon walls are rounded.

The views of the canyon walls were awesome.

The following added another level of interest to the ride.

I never let a "Closed" sign deter me. Besides if they were serious about closing it, they would have barricaded it, right?

Well, maybe they're half-serious here, but it was still easy enough to get around this gate and continue on.

This gate was a little tougher, but with a little finagling, I got through it as well. It turns out that I was not the only one bypassing the gates - I met 4 other riders in the "Closed" portion of the trail.

However, 6 miles down the trail from the 1st closure sign, they finally got serious and I had to admit defeat and turn around. Sometimes you can't win them all! (Although I did bat .750)

The final photo is a "How'd they do that?"

This power pole was atop a very tall and sheer cliff. The back side was just as steep, and there was no sign of any trail coming down from above. My best guess is that they lowered men and equipment by helicopter.

Jeanna here - after Kerry's ride we met Kelly and Jacinto Iniguez for dinner. They live only 25 miles from Glenwood Springs. We have corresponded on and off CycleBlaze with Kelly for awhile about old movie theaters and all things recumbent cycling. It was so much fun to meet in person. Kerry and Kelly had a great time discussing their respective Phoenix LWB recumbents. We love being a part of the CycleBlaze community.

Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km)
Total: 5,641 miles (9,078 km)

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marilyn swettI was happy to read that you rode this trail. It truly is a gem in Colorado. Too bad there was a closed section. We've ridden it many times but it often can be closed due to flooding from the river or rock slides from the cliffs.
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7 months ago