Raible Designs

Riding to Red Rocks

A few years ago, Bruce and I rode our bikes from my house in Denver to Red Rocks to see a Big Head Todd concert. Little did we know it'd turn into an annual tradition.

That first ride was the most memorable. I used to live a few miles from Red Rocks, so I knew of a nice route (Platte River to Bear Creek) to get us there. That first trip out there took 2-3 hours and was pretty exhausting. On the way home, we left Red Rocks around 11pm and quickly realized we were ill-prepared.

We had no lights.

Since I knew the trail well, having ridden it many times, I didn't realize how dangerous it was. 15 minutes into the ride, I had to grab my brakes and come to a screeching halt so I didn't hit a big metal gate (goes across the road near the entrance of Bear Lake Park; 12" diameter metal tube about 3 1/2 feet off the ground). There was a couple making out on the back of a motorcycle a couple feet from me when it happened. Their reaction? "Whoa, that was close dude."

I rode around the gate and up a couple hundred yards until I reached a lit area. I sat there and waited for Bruce. All of a sudden, I heard a loud crash, followed by a 2nd one a few seconds later. I figured it couldn't be Bruce because there were two crashes. 30 seconds later, here comes Bruce, cussing up a storm and looking like he was in pretty bad shape. I couldn't help but laugh as I thought of the expressions on the faces of the couple on the motorcycle. Bruce turned out to be OK, but we both were pretty skittish as we navigated the way home in the pitch black. We've purchased bike lights since that trip and use them every year.

I'm not a huge fan of BHTM, but I am a fan of their concerts. It's especially cool for me because I went to college with the keyboardist, Jeremy Lawton (guy on the left above). We were fraternity brothers and enjoyed many frosty beverages together back in the day. We don't keep in touch now, but it's still fun to see him and how much success he's had in his career.

Should be an awfully fun night tonight.