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Consider doing multi-day trips from your front door during the weekends (bikepacking). I used to live in Denver and never understood why people would find the

Consider doing multi-day trips from your front door during the weekends (bikepacking). I used to live in Denver and never understood why people would find the need to drive 10 miles to the nearest trails when you could just ride to them. Then I realized, once you're done with those initial 10 miles, you could link up routes that covered practically the entire rest of the state. Now I'm writing a guidebook on those routes. Bummer about buses not accepting bikes - that sounds crazy to me. They just don't have room underneath or a bike rack up front? I can hardly understand how that could be true!

Polylactic_acid 7y ago
>10 miles to the nearest trails when you could just ride to them. Because they are usually up in the hills so its a fairly large effort to get there and by the time you are there you have no energy left to do the trails unless there is a ski lift to get you to the top.
- justinator 7y ago
  I guess what happened to me is that I just got better at riding bikes, and before I knew it, I had cross the country by bike three times for fun! :) As they say, "Any Distance Is Cycling Distance!"
- 8draco8 7y ago
  But if you are riding bike seriously 10 miles is nothing. It's literally 30-40 minutes ride. I am runner not biker and on many occasions 10 miles for me is just a morning run before work.
  - Polylactic_acid 7y ago
    The mtb park is 30km away from the city and its uphill the whole way. Sure its not impossible to do 60km road and then 10km mtb riding but it excludes all but the fittest cyclists.
bbradley406 7y ago
In my city the buses do have bike racks, and people use them pretty frequently for road / town bikes. A cross country or downhill bike doesn't fit on the rack though. Longer wheelbases, wider tires and wider handlebars make it very difficult or impossible to rack or bring inside (if the driver even allows it, usually not the case unless the bus is very empty). The trains here have front wheel hooks, dedicated spots and more space, which is better. The size of XC and DH bikes still makes it a hassle though, and obviously you're limited to spots near the train stops.
mumblemumble 7y ago
re: bike racks on buses, I don't know that it's worthwhile. Chicago has them, and they rarely get used. Personally I don't use them because my bike moves faster than the bus, so it hardly seems worthwhile. I've also seen a bike get stolen off of a bus I was on - the bus was stopped at a red light, and someone who was crossing the street just grabbed a bike off the front as he was walking past and rode away before anyone could do anything about it.
- justinator 7y ago
  Pretty interesting. Bike racks make a lot of sense here in CO - we have regional bus routes that can be 25 or 250 miles in distance. They, "why ride the bus when riding the bike is faster" isn't always true. I do kind of live in cycling Mecca here in CO, where Chicago just ain't.
deleted 7y ago
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scarejunba 7y ago
Friend's bike got stolen off Muni while he was on it. I'm not going to do that. I was car free in SD for almost a decade. It was good, but this is also good.

Polylactic_acid 7y ago

>10 miles to the nearest trails when you could just ride to them. Because they are usually up in the hills so its a fairly large effort to get there and by the time you are there you have no energy left to do the trails unless there is a ski lift to get you to the top.

justinator 7y ago
I guess what happened to me is that I just got better at riding bikes, and before I knew it, I had cross the country by bike three times for fun! :) As they say, "Any Distance Is Cycling Distance!"
8draco8 7y ago
But if you are riding bike seriously 10 miles is nothing. It's literally 30-40 minutes ride. I am runner not biker and on many occasions 10 miles for me is just a morning run before work.
- Polylactic_acid 7y ago
  The mtb park is 30km away from the city and its uphill the whole way. Sure its not impossible to do 60km road and then 10km mtb riding but it excludes all but the fittest cyclists.

bbradley406 7y ago

In my city the buses do have bike racks, and people use them pretty frequently for road / town bikes. A cross country or downhill bike doesn't fit on the rack though. Longer wheelbases, wider tires and wider handlebars make it very difficult or impossible to rack or bring inside (if the driver even allows it, usually not the case unless the bus is very empty). The trains here have front wheel hooks, dedicated spots and more space, which is better. The size of XC and DH bikes still makes it a hassle though, and obviously you're limited to spots near the train stops.

mumblemumble 7y ago

re: bike racks on buses, I don't know that it's worthwhile. Chicago has them, and they rarely get used. Personally I don't use them because my bike moves faster than the bus, so it hardly seems worthwhile. I've also seen a bike get stolen off of a bus I was on - the bus was stopped at a red light, and someone who was crossing the street just grabbed a bike off the front as he was walking past and rode away before anyone could do anything about it.

justinator 7y ago
Pretty interesting. Bike racks make a lot of sense here in CO - we have regional bus routes that can be 25 or 250 miles in distance. They, "why ride the bus when riding the bike is faster" isn't always true. I do kind of live in cycling Mecca here in CO, where Chicago just ain't.

deleted 7y ago

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scarejunba 7y ago

Friend's bike got stolen off Muni while he was on it. I'm not going to do that. I was car free in SD for almost a decade. It was good, but this is also good.