Last weekend a buddy and I road down to Colorado Springs from Denver. We stayed the night and returned the next day. This is traditionally called a credit card trip. Just a fanny pack with a change of clothes and your C.Card. I had asked a few folks which way would be the best. I live in Englewood and wanted to leave from my house without driving to a location to start. I thought hwy 105 would be good. Someone told me 105 wasn't good and to take state highway 83. I DON"T RECOMMEND THIS ROUTE IF YOU ARE NOT A WELL SEASONED ROAD RIDER. 5 miles before Franktown you lose the shoulder. We just tried not to get hit. I later found out there are bumper stickers saying "PRAY FOR ME FOR I DRIVE HWY 83"

We took the Mary Carter Greenway South to C-470 East bike trail all the way to the South Cherry Creek Trail. This trail travels south of parker and dead ends at Scott Road. Scott is a dirt road. So, it you don't want to travel on a dirt road exit the trail before this and join Parker Road. Parker Road which is HWY 83 has good shoulders until 5 miles before Franktown. Franktown has a Shell Gas station on the right in town. This is 34 miles into the trip. You can get a foot long sub and gator Aid or whatever you might need. After Franktown you'll have another 13 miles of hair raising, bone chilling no shoulder crazy traffic. Also, south of Frank Town is a monster hill. Later the road gives way to an 18-24 inch shoulder. The white line is not consistent. This is a really pretty road. If it had nice shoulders it would be a gem of a route to travel on with your bike. With a headwind it took us 5.5 hours with 3180 feet of climbing and 1960 feet of descent to arrive at the Howard Johnson Inn 8280 hwy 83. This was a nice location due to many food options, and REI. If you still have legs after 72 miles you can ride down to the urban bike trail and visit Garden of the Gods. Coming home with a head wind it took just 4 hours. It was nice to have 1000 feet less climbing. Over all it was a good experience. I'll not do this route again until there are better shoulders. twitchy: If anyone has thoughts on highway 105 tell me about them. Cheers-