mjdwyer23 wrote:
I'm doing this next thursday -- what's the cleanest route from the convention center to the foot of lookout?
From the Convention Center follow Speer to a spot you can get onto the Cherry Creek Trail. I think you can access it at Speer and Lawrence, but you'll likely have to cross Speer to the south side to do it. Not a big deal.
Then, just take the trail west to Confluence Park (not very far), which is across the river from the downtown REI flagship store. Cross over the pedestrian/bike bridge to the South Platte River Trail by REI.
Go south on the SPR Trail a few hundred feet and cut through the parking lot to your right and get onto Water Street; continue heading west.
Water Street becomes 23rd, and will take you over I-25 and through the Highlands neighborhood (or at least close to it). You'll keep heading west through the neighborhoods until you get to Perry Street. It's not a light, so be looking for it. If you get to Sloan's Lake, you've gone about 5 neighborhood blocks too far.
At Perry Street, turn right and head north up to 26th Street.
Turn left on 26th Street and head west for several miles. You'll cross several big streets (Wadsworth, Kipling, etc.) and go through several lights. They're not too bad.
Eventually, the road will swing around to the right and then left, and dump you out at Youngblood, which parallels right next to I-70.
Follow Youngblood up to the light at 32nd Street and turn left. Follow 32nd Street into Golden. You'll pass the Coors Brewery along the way.
Stay on that road (it becomes 13th Street, I think) through Golden, until Illinois Street.
Turn left on Illinois Street and follow it to 19th Street. Turn right on 19th Street, which takes you across Hwy 6 and up to the start of Lookout Mountain Road.
It sounds like a lot of turning, but it's not bad. You're just generally heading west from downtown and this route is generally less trafficky than trying to get onto 32nd the whole way out there. I might be able to send you a strava map if I can figure it out, but it's really very easy and you'll likely see lots of cyclists along the way. If you get lost, you can ask for help.
''The enemy isn't conservatism. The enemy isn't liberalism. The enemy is bulls**t.''
—Lars-Erik Nelson