Here you can see that the bike route starts inside the terminal!
Viewed from Passenger Pickup, these are the bike signs that mark the route (look at that hot sun and plan to bring water!):
This is the only bike parking I saw at DIA, making me think there is either an employee shed somewhere or they mostly envision this bike route for travelers.
Here are examples of the signage along the road:
This route is not for the faint of heart. People who have done it report that riding so close to cars zipping by at 70 is nerve racking (but something they would do again). Still, I'm just happy that some facility has been made to make a distant and rather inaccessible airport more accessible.
MassBike has information about riding your bike to Logan.
11 comments:
I had no idea and have probably looked right past those dozens of times. I did see a DPD bike cop riding through the airport last Sat when I was flying out.
I can't imagine riding a bike along Pena Blvd. It's scary enough to drive and I'm not a timid driver at all. There are places along I-76, which goes from Denver north east to the Nebraska line, where the designated bike route is on the shoulder of the interstate and I know a few folks who've done it on their way to bike east across Nebraska. Scary stuff but I guess you do what you've got to do!
Next time you're in town we should hook up and go for a ride,
Yeah, Peña doesn't look fun, but at least it is wide open with few turns. Though I imagine the winds could be killer.
I'd love to go for a ride next time I'm there, hopefully it will be for a longer time! :)
I like to read your blog post, I hope someday i can ride bicycle there
70mph!
Of course, to get your bike to the airport on an airplane, means fees (even if it folds, a piece of luggage is often $25 extra, but a bike box is $100 at least ).
I was inspired to look into plain old shipping, I have a bike that is nice, but not super nice, with removable pedals. UPS will ship a bike box slowly across the country (8 days) for about $75, and the box can weigh as much as 65 pounds.
I tested this with a trash box from Wheelworks, all I need is some foam for the tubes, and I think it could be done. Bike's got detachable pedals, everything else comes off with an allen wrench, might want to protect rear derailer and large chainring a little. Weighed 35lbs.
This assumes someplace to ship it to, but if it's Silicon Valley (galactic headquarters for work) I have that place.
What inspired this research was a trip out there last week with a borrowed mountain bike, it was not bad. Caltrain bike car was very convenient, almost as if they liked bikes and planned for them (unlike certain other transit systems I can think of). BART is slightly less hostile than 15 years ago, you don't need a special permit card, you can just show up, last car is preferred, plus rush hour restrictions. And riding a bike in SF, like many things in SF, is stupidly fun, for no good reason at all. Visited Rivendell, had lunch with some XtraCycle people. Big Fun.
dr2chase -- I planned a trip out to British Columbia last year to do a 1000k out there and also went with the UPS route and just had them ship to my planned ldogings. It's not particularly ideal if you're travelling internationally since customs can be a bit of an extra hassle but I'd certainly consider it again for domestic travel.
I've ridden on portions of the Trans-Canada and, yeah, riding close to highway speed traffic is ... unpleasant to say the least. Cars at that speed aren't terribly bad; it's the trailer trucks and the massive wake that they leave which makes it awful.
I've thought about riding my bike to Logan before, but get into a block when contemplating luggage. Suits don't fold particularly well into panniers (especially if the panniers are expected to be checked in as baggage and are packed with other items) and none of my regular travelling suitcases are comfortable when worn while riding. I've thought about hitching up the trailer, but that just seems to increase theft potential.
All this airport needs to do now is supply/sell cardboard bike boxes so you can bike to the airport, fly with your bike, and bike away at your destination!
dr2chase,
I was able to FedEx my bike recently cross country for about $40 and it took less than a week. Of course, one of the guys doing the same ride as me & from the same home state was told (by UPS I think) it would cost him over $100.
Moral of the story: Use FedEx. And possibly be short so that you have a small bike that won't go over whatever packing dimensions are allowed ;-)
I'll agree with M&G that the access road from the airport is pretty souless and terrifying.
I've got to say that riding my bike to Logan sounds equally awful. And there are such good T connections (unlike Denver) that I don't think I'll ever have to try it.
I was looking at that bike route too, the last time I was in Denver (June 2010)...maybe. But I think I would rather take the skyRide shuttle bus to and from the airport. In a few more years they will have the light rail extended out to the airport...problem solved!
Aaron
Biking on Pena isn't too horrible, mostly -- you get used to riding alongside high speed traffic if you live on the Front Range and like to bike for long distances. DIA is too far for the casual / urban 'slow' cyclist, though.
The times I've actually traveled through DIA with bikes, though, I've taken RTD skyRide, which has bike racks on the buses.
The problem is what do you do once you get to your destination? You can't ride you bike at any other airport so be ready to carry it.
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