Kate works for a very forward thinking and eco minded employer, and as a result can ride the bus or light rail anywhere she wants with her eco-pass. I on the other hand needed to head to King Soopers to get a day pass. RTD recently updated its website and now offers a number of nice features for route planning and navigating bus and light rail schedules. You can use an interactive map to look for routes and they have a much improved search and timetable tool for checking schedules. We planned to get me a day pass at the King Soopers at Quail and Colfax and then catch the 16 down to Denver. Contrary to the info on the RTD website, King Soopers, at least that one, doesn’t sell day passes so I grabbed a booklet of 10 ride coupons for $18. Not the deal I hoped for, but the extra ride coupons might come in handy if I get stranded on a snowy day.
We stood across the street and waited for the 16, and after getting the wave from the 16L which didn’t stop at the cross street were camped by, decided to head out and cruise along on our bikes.
We went down Quail and caught the D-10 detour by the Lakewood Technology Park and rode through Lakewood Park. This small network of trails is actually kind of neat and offers pretty good views of downtown and the foothills. The trail takes you through some weird science themed sculptures and art before dumping you off in a neighborhood. The RTD West Line light rail project in this neighborhood rerouted the bike route all over the place, and the detour signage in this area was pretty poor. Since we knew the way to go from previous trips, we made our way up to 13th and across Kipling. We awkwardly circled two Lakewood cops and a couple in the midst of a domestic dispute before we had a clear shot at the trail entrance through the neighborhood and back out onto 12th. From this point it was a smooth straight stretch down 12th and 14th to Pierce where we hit Colfax and the 16 bus.We got on the D line heading south at the Auraria light rail stop alongside Colfax Ave. Now that RTD no longer requires a special pass for taking your bike on the light rail, getting your bike on the train is a piece of cake. They even have signs on the ground to let you know which doors you can use with your bike.
Lifting your bike up onto the train would definitely be easier with a lighter bike, but we like a challenge. The only other complaint would be the general lack of room to stand on the top platform with your bike while on the train. At each stop we inevitably were in someone’s way. The train took us south to Littleton where we got off at the main station downtown and cruised up to the Main Street area. We stopped off at Merle’s for lunch. 
I had a buffalo burger with cheese and bacon, which was cooked superbly and tasted great, along with a chocolate milk shake—which was a bit warm but really chocolaty. After our pit stop we walked along the streets in Littleton and stepped inside a number of the shops and stores in the general downtown area. 
After a couple hours of walking around we went back to the station and took the D further south to the Mineral stop. 
Here we crossed Santa Fe using the pedestrian walkway and went to the Aspen Grove shopping area. Kate wanted to go by the Apple store to check on a battery for her IPod and I wanted to check out the Sprint store for a possible upgrade to my phone. All in all the trip to the mall was relatively uneventful and not terribly exciting. There is limited bike parking near most of the vehicle entrances, all of which are somewhat out of the way in and unassuming spots. Additionally there are no public bathrooms since it is an outdoor mall, which combined with an entire day of riding and commuting around made for a bit of annoyance.Bladders at the point of explosion we headed back up north on the C line and stopped off at Union Station. From here we needed to just get to 15th and we could catch the 28 or 32 back out to Lakewood. With the unseasonably warm temperatures we opted for the 32 which would drop us off on the north side of Crown Hill park where we could enjoy a pleasant night ride around the lake. We had 20 or so minutes until the 32 was due so we opted to head over to the House of Commons and get some tea. The nice folks there graciously poured us tea even though it was an hour after they supposedly closed (the lights were still on and they were just putting away their outside placard so how were we to know?) Armed with tea and bus coupons we headed up to Central St and caught our bus back home.
The blanket of clouds reflected the urban light pollution and lit up the park much like a full moon night. We enjoyed a leisurely ride through Crown Hill around the lake and back to 26th. We’ve ridden down to this area a couple times using the Platte River trail and other bike routes; it’s a nice ride, though a long one from our part of town. The combination of bike and public transportation allowed us to explore a part of the city that we typically don’t get to. To do it again it might make more sense not to drag cruisers along, instead using lighter road bikes. However the pleasure of rolling along on a big heavy steel frame cruiser cannot be denied and doing so around scenic Littleton under the autumn sun and back home in the cool night air made for a great way to spend a Saturday.
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