DIVERSIFY RETIREMENT STRATEGIES

BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

On most Tuesdays and ursdays and some Saturdays, a team of bikers meets to explore Colorado’s network of trails.

e group connects at a co ee shop in downtown Denver. When the weather isn’t too hot, it’s after work around 4 or 5 p.m. In the dead of summer, it’s usually in the morning.

ey sip on espresso and decide where they want to ride that day. It could be on the bike lanes of Denver, the 36 Bikeway to Boulder, the Platte River Trail to Brighton or other suburbs. Most of the time, it involves a stop along the way.

“We would go down the Platte River Trail to the C 470 trail and then Krispy Kremes along there. We call it the Krispy 50. It’s a 50-mile loop,” said Ted Schultz, one of the riders in the group.

e group started after Schultz and two colleagues in his o ce space decided to start riding together after work. Schultz rode with a few others and combined the two groups.

After the ride, they go to a brewery to catch up with one another and relax after the ride.

Colorado’s network of trails

Part of the reason the group exists is due to Colorado’s extensive bike trail infrastructure. Schultz said it’s only improved in the past two decades.

“When you add up the miles of really good trails, it’s just mind-boggling,” he said.

Schultz, who grew up in Colorado, said understanding for cyclists sharing the road and building more infrastructure has vastly grown. In the 70s and 80s, he could almost count on angry driver backlash during his rides. Now, not so much. e Denver Regional Council of Governments built a map that shows all the trails and bike lanes across the region. ey stretch all the way from Boulder to Clear Creek to Castle Rock.

Much of that may be due to more focus on improving trails and streets.

And more may be coming. e Greenhouse Gas Planning Standard, a new rule adopted by the Transportation Commission of Colorado in December 2021, requires agencies to measure greenhouse gas emissions from transit projects, with limits on how high those emissions go.