Bikes and Gear and Goats, Oh My!

Dialing It All In

Jun 02, 2024

The big day finally arrived. Greg got his new e-bike and we are now able to hit the trails together. When we were shopping for e-bikes, Greg and I both decided on the Trek Dual Sport + 2. We tried to buy them together, but there was a snafu (my kids think it’s weird that I use this term in common conversation because it contains an “f”; but I grew up hearing it used to simply mean “chaos” or “mix up”). Help us settle this controversy: is it a bad word?? Let me know in the comments section below.

The “snafu” was that Trek decided to discontinue this particular bike and come out with a new model. By the time Greg’s order went in with mine, there weren’t any of the size and color he wanted left. He thought that by waiting a while he could get a “new” version (a.k.a. better) for the same price. So we kept an eye out on the Trek site for any sign of this new bike. I finally noticed it last week and did a spec comparison and it was almost identical. Even the colors! But, they had made a 9-speed bike into an 8-speed. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like an upgrade to me. Oh, and also the “old” version was now on sale for $400 less.

So Greg called a local bike shop to see if they could order the old version for him. And alas, they had one on hand and already built! It was even the color he wanted. It has a slightly different frame style, but for $400 off, no wait, and the 9th gear - he went for it! He came home with it within a half hour.

Our inaugural ride was over to the neighboring town of Louisville. We rode from the house due west along the Coal Creek Trail. Once we hit downtown we decided to stop for a cold beverage. We enjoyed our icy drinks at Ziggi’s from the open window that overlooks the bike rack. I had brought my chain lock along, so there was really no concern; the open window is just very appealing on a nice day.

After that refreshing little stop, we got back on the CC Trail and saw a sign alerting us that goats were working in the area on weed mitigation and fire suppression. I had recently seen a picture of these goats-at-work and was thrilled to learn that we may be able to see this “mowing” operation in person.

Soon enough, we rounded a corner and there they were! In all their bovid grass-munching glory. There were way more than I expected in this happy herd. And in all different colors. Some still wore tattered remnants of their winter wool. All in all, they looked very contented doing this type of manual labor.

Our entire ride capped out at about 11 miles, which felt just right for our first ride together on the new bikes.

So that was a Saturday. On SUNDAY, we ventured out again. But this time in the opposite direction with the goal being to make it to the town of Erie to the northeast. We thought it might be nice to have lunch downtown. We also wanted to try the doggy basket on the new bike. And it worked! Penny is back in action!

Neither of us had been on this stretch of trail before. We started out by crossing Highway 287 just outside of our neighborhood. It would be great if there was an underpass here, but until that day we have to use the pedestrian crosswalk at the intersection. There’s a traffic light, so it’s fairly safe. Once across, we made our way to the Rock Creek Trail just east of the hospital. We headed north on that trail, which is a combination of gravel and paved. It’s a very well maintained trail and has pretty great, albeit far-off, views of the mountains to the west. If you live nearby and haven’t tried this trail, do it!

Pretty mountains view from the Rock Creek Trail.

11 miles - and about an hour later - we arrived in Erie! We rode downtown and chose to dine at Lucile’s, a very popular breakfast spot that is Creole/New Orleans style. I’d never been before despite having heard great things. It was heavenly! We sat on the porch outside with Penny and had the most delectable - and filling - meal. We even had a beignet.

Because we were on bikes and only had the dog basket, we couldn’t take any leftovers home. Therefore, we ate as much as we cared to and rode home rather sated. And this is where some motor power proved handy. We had ridden under our own power all the way out, so we gave ourselves a little break going home. It turned out to be quite a bit more uphill going home also. Next time we will skip the beignets!

Beignets looking pretty in pink under the red patio umbrella.

This ride came in at about 21 miles and we would totally do it again!

That was Sunday and on MONDAY/Memorial Day we went out to buy some accessories for the bikes. It was our 24th anniversary so this was our little celebration. We each got a rack for the back of our bikes. We got the Bontrager Backrack Deluxe with the MIK snap-in system. We decided to go with this system so that all of our accessories will be cross-compatible with each other. If Greg’s tired of being Penny’s sherpa, I can swap out the basket with him.

I also got the Bontrager MIK Utility Trunk. I haven’t had a chance to really use it yet, but I love the concept. It has lots of space to hold things, including hidden panniers when you need even more storage. I hope it works well. I checked to make sure it could hold a bottle of wine - and it can! Why? I don’t know. But just in case. I mean, my cruiser bike has a beer case rack so…

We took a very short ride to Dairy Queen Monday night and toasted our anniversary with dipped cones. Awww.

And on TUESDAY, we rested…

P.S. I wrote this while camping at Horsetooth Reservoir. I learned how to do ALL the things so I could host a camping trip with my bestie. We’ve been doing this annual start of summer trip together for almost 10 years now. It’s a good life!