It is ridiculously hot here in Fort Collins, CO but I decided to get an early start on a bicycle ride. It was a wonderful ride on the Poudre Trail 12 miles one way and in adding some local roads it became a 33 mile ride.
The signage on the bike path was wonderful especially since there were many twists and turns. I also liked this sign:
I rode west from the campground on the bike path and saw 3 red-tailed hawks, Canada geese and some gulls. Many other cyclists were on the path, along with walkers and joggers. The area on this side of town was beautiful!
The bridges for this bike path are beautiful and as you would expect, built over the Poudre River. Another bridge I saw had chairs for people to sit on. Of course finding a good rock in a river to sit upon is available too.
I do want to mention I did not see many homeless people in this town. Maybe because I was not in the downtown area? I did see a few washing themselves at the river and then returning to their car. I never felt any anxiety while riding the paths or the local roads.
At one end of the bike path I took a turn to check out a fish hatchery and Lake Watson. I spoke with a birder who pointed out the American pelicans and I also saw a common merganser.
Once I completed the bike path in both directions I rode a local road because it had a bike lane. Many cyclists were there too! When I was back at the campground I took a shower and was hungry! I decided to try a widget for the JetBoil that allows me to cook with other pots or pans on it. I decided to make black bean, cheese and tomato tacos. Yum!
I took a very short drive through historic Fort Collins downtown and decided to keep driving to Greeley, CO. In the 45 minute drive I saw plenty of agricultural land, cows, sheep, goats, and derricks pumping something. One huge facility in this town is Greeley’s Beef Plant and trucks were lined up to bring in the animals. I stopped at a brewery since my original thought was to have dinner at one; however, it was to hot to think about food. I did buy a can of Weldwerks Brewing Company’s porter to have back at the campground. I am not a fan of it and enjoyed my Deschutes Black Butte Porter instead with nice cold cottage cheese! Now there’s a first on that meal! It hit the spot!
My husbands nephew and wife live in Ft. Collins and have a number of serious bikes. They moved there for that reason. He goes to Denver 1 day a week for work. If heading south consider going through Boulder and drive up the Canyon to Nederland. It is a quaint old hippie town that lots of famous musicians lived in the ‘70’s. Not sure about campgrounds. Ryan’s home is off 4 Mile Canyon half the way up. They have rented their home for a year and are now in Glacier.