So, I started "two-rack season" by putting my bike rack on in addition to the ski rack, and headed out for a ride at Chatfield Reservoir. I'm not a very aggressive biker (I started mountain biking last summer after a 15-year hiatus from two wheels), so I wanted some nice empty singletrack to get my balance back this season.
As it turned out, the primary trail user today was equestrian. So, I'd be riding along through the woods along the Platte River, and a rider would come along, and I'd pull over, trying not to spook the horse. One guy asked me to talk to his horse to assure it I was not strange wild animal that was going to eat it. I said "Hey, horsie" and other stuff.
"Horsie"? What am I, 5 years old?
Since I had wondered about the east side of the park while running here, I rode past my usual running turnaround point to see how far around the reservoir I could get. The dam was straight, long, and slightly mind-numbing (would not have been much fun at a running pace). It followed the train tracks along Highway 85, until there came a point where berm of the dam ended and the trail more or less dumped downhill into the state park again. I just headed back towards the mountains in the general direction of my car, and it worked out OK. I finally found a way around the reservoir.
Until I ran over a thorn. I remember getting thorns in my shoes on one of my runs, and I was unlucky enough to get one today, and got a flat tire about 2 miles from the finish. The leak was too fast for the pump to keep with, and I walked back. Ah, well.
I could have done worse than to get a flat tire along the Platte in Colorado.
Ride distance was 16.1 miles, time 2:18, and elevation gain/loss 340 feet.
