Bcycle

I have to admit that I was a little skeptical about the probability of success for the bike share program (Bcycle) that started in Denver this year.  I think they started with 45 or so locations and 500 bikes. I thought they might not have enough bikes and were maybe putting them in locations without enough density. I don’t actually know what level of success the program has achieved but personally I love it!

In July we did the “Tour de Bcycle” which involves renting a bike at one location, going to another Bcycle kiosk, docking that bike, getting another bike, going to the next Bcycle kiosk, and on and on until you’ve hit every Bcycle location in a single day.  It was a great way to spend the day after Independence day and turned into a little bar crawl after 5:00 pm with only a handful of Bcycle locations left.  Here are some photos from that day:

The Tour was my first introduction to Bcycle and an excellent way to get to know the system and become comfortable with it. Since then, I’ve won an annual membership and use it fairly frequently.  Of course, my work and home locations are ideal for its use – I work downtown and live about a mile away in Capitol Hill. 

Speaking of happy hour, last night we made our own little Bcycle bar crawl. We hopped on a Bcycle at 13th/Pearl.  From there we docked and went to the Great Divide Brewing (home of Titan IPA) tap room and enjoyed yummy, fresh-brewed, Colorado craft beer. Next was Tamayo for some mezcal.  We grabbed yet another Bcycle and rode all the way to the Botanic Gardens – free night and has a Bcycle kiosk – to meet friends. We capped the evening at City o City back in the hood.

I was able to wear open-toed shoes and just a sweater because the early November Colorado weather was perfect! The only photos that turned out are one of me and one of Tony Everhart eating a cupcake.  Unfortunately no action bike shots.

Such a hard life…

In the past I may have mentioned how difficult my life is with, you know, living in Colorado and having great friends and all.  Well, this weekend is another woeful tale. Saturday we climbed Torrey’s Peak via the Kelso Ridge, which was both challenging and a lot of fun.

Today I had an utterly urban morning with Wendy W.  We took B-cycle bikes from 13th/Pearl in Capitol Hill to Rootdown in the Highlands for brunch.  This is my Hazel Dell mushroom omelet with Wendy in the background.  We reserved a table and had a great one right at the edge of the patio – not 100% in the sun but lots of light and a breeze from the outside.
Rootdown has a good atmosphere and wonderfully organic food offerings but they don’t offer non-fat milk, only whole and soy milk.  Is that some anti-processed food movement I haven’t heard of? 
Also, as I’ve mentioned in the past, I have allergies.  They have cloth napkins, which is great.  I use cloth napkins at home.  I usually carry a handkerchief but forgot one.  After I placed my order, I held up my cloth napkin, merely to identify it as cloth, and asked if I could get a paper napkin.  The server tried to take my napkin but then I clarified that I just had to blow my nose and didn’t want to replace my cloth napkin.  I guess I can kind of see the confusion.  See the kind of problems I have…

Next we walked to REI to get new sunglasses for Wendy.  We found new ones that look great!  Seriously.
We rented another B-cycle and made our way back to Capitol Hill.  Our route took us across the Millennium Bridge, which is great because it has a stair ramp for bikes.  This means you don’t have to use the elevator or carry your bike up the stairs.  You can get a short but awesome work out by pushing your bike up the stairs!  This is Wendy making it happen:

 

Someone affixed knitted flowers to the fence around the Denver Union Station construction site.  This is just one panel but there were many more.

After dropping our B-cycle bikes at the kiosk, our last stop was WaxTrax:

 

It was fun way to spend a Sunday morning.  I recommend y’all get a friend on a B-cycle and get out to brunch soon!