06/25/23 Bailey to Denver

June 25, 2023

Out of the Rockies and onto the Great Plains

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Today was pretty nice. I woke up at the start of a downhill ride with a coffee and bagel place 3 miles away. I left US 285 for county roads at the first possibility and it was back to bike touring magic again. My concerns about navigating a city as big as Denver on my loaded bike have been unwarranted, there’s and excellent network of bike trails that have kept me largely off city streets. I took a detour to the ancestral home, where I lived ages 5 and 6 (or was it 6 and 7)? I was pleased to find it matched my memories, but the field behind the house that lead to the creek where my brother fell out of a tree and cut himself and frightened us, or at least me, was empty no more. I have a couple of core memories from this place, the smell of freshly mowed grass brings me here every time. So when I smelled grass being mowed while standing in front of my old house I was transported here, which wasn’t here, which was odd but nice.

I’m in a hotel next to the Gates Customer Solutions Center, waiting for my 10 am appointment tomorrow. Gates makes the belt that bikes with drives like mine use, and the facility I’m visiting maintains a fleet of belt compatible bikes for demonstrations and other marketing purposes. This gives me high confidence that the replacement is going to be done competently and that finally my belt tension will be correct.

US 285 was basically a freeway by Aspen Park

My parents bought this house new in 1962. There was no tree. This is the only parent-owned house I lived in growing up. Every place after this was company housing

These were all new houses in 1962 and there were no trees at all

Today's ride: 51 miles (82 km)
Total: 1,366 miles (2,198 km)

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