Heading north from Louisville to Longmont

After a most pleasant visit with Michell and Lee in Louisville, I headed for Fort Collins to visit Al and Jane. Since this was relatively short ride, I left Louisville about noon and stopped on my way out of town for lunch. I stopped again, after Longmont, for a second lunch. Riding was fine except through Longmont which goes on for a long time with lots of very urban traffic. I stopped after Longmont to recover as much as to eat ;-{.

My first good view of the Rockies looking over a field north of Louisville
The smog has increased since the last time I was in this part of the front range
At that time I probably would have had a clear view from well east of Brighton

Louisville to Longmont isn't flat!

I got on 287 in Longmont and stayed on it into Fort Collins. It was fine after I got north of Longmont until well into Fort Collins. Loveland was fun to ride through, but Fort Collins, which is a very bicycle friendly city, gets dangerous on 287 and bicycles are banned on that section. I exited College St (287 in Fort Collins), one block after the no bikes sign and, guided by my GPS, made my way through back streets to Al and Jane's house.

Since I hadn't ridden there in half a dozen years, although I did get together with Al in southern Colorado on my last US tour, it was nice to have the GPS. It would have been even nicer if it had known about the bike path that runs from near where Ft Collins starts to near their house, or if I had known how to find it.

The rest of the way north, on 287, was expressway except in the cities
The front range seems well on its way to megapolis status ;-{

Al and Jane are great folks who I met bicycling in Colorado in 1998. I rode up to a tavern in Wellington just as Al and Jane rode in. Jane asked if I would like to going them for breakfast, and then we rode down to Fort Collins together. I spent a lot of time with them, that summer, riding and visiting. This summer we only had two days together, but they were very nice days, made even nicer by getting to see and visit with their kids and friends who I met on earlier visits.

I plan to ride in the US every third year to visit friends and I look forward to many more visits to Fort Collins and Louisville.