My son, sophomore at CU Boulder, has taken a job in Jefferson County. He's an avid road rider and is looking for the safest and shortest commute from Boulder into Westminster without having to ride on US36 (don't even know if that's legal.) Any advice from locals? Websearching has revealed almost nothing.

There are several ways, but I've been out of Boulder for a year and never really had to go into Westminster.

A good one would be: From Boulder, go south on Broadway to Marshall Road and go east into Superior. At McCaslin, go right up the infamous "Hump" and "Wall" from the movie "American Flyers." From the top of the Wall, go left. This road leads you to Wadsworth and he should be able to make it into Westminster from there.

Excellent. He's working near Wadsworth. Thanx for the route. I'll mapquest it and send it to him.

Pablo:

That looks like a good route. This would take him right by Jeffco Airport. He's working close to there. Much appreciated.

Didn't see the movie. How hard are the "Hump" and "Wall"?

I commute from Westminster to Boulder very regularly and the most used route for me, from Boulder is:
South Boulder road to McCaslin, east on Dillon, South on 88th (goes past Avista), east through storagetek, straight through the light on the east side of stroagetek, south at the new condos/lofts, east onto the frontage road by 36 (can't remember the name). This will take you to 120th in Westminster.
There are multiple points that you can head up towards interlocken and the jefco airport if you need. Another route I take will use marshal road like the post above, but turn east at the top of the first hill of McCaslin and head through the rock creek golf area.

Noël gave me the idea for my main route as he lists here http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=67661&highlight=Boulder%2FDenver+commute

bsaunder, thank you so much. His name is Jeremy and he'll be on an orange/black Orbea Onix. I've copied him on your post. Wave when you see him. He's a strong rider, but I've got a Dad's protective concern for him...

Thanx again!

I commute from Boulder to Westminster a lot too. However, the best route depends on where in Boulder to where in Westminster. I use more than a dozen different routes. The route posted by bsaunder is a common one.

Neither the Hump nor the Wall is very difficult for a commute. I suppose, however, they were agonizing in a circuit race like the Morgul-Bismark.

Here are some other ideas. (1) Baseline east to 96th, south to highway 42, east to Highway 287, south to the Jeffco airport. (2) South Boulder Road east to 96th, and continue as above. (3) If you follow bsaunder's directions as far as Industrial (the frontage road by 36 that he can't remember the name of), you can take a bike path off Industrial under US 36, up through Interlocken to the Jeffco Airport area. (4) If you turn left at the top of the Hump on McCaslin, you can descend through Rock Creek to the road through Flatiron Crossing which also leads to Industrial. (5) From South Boulder Road, you can take Cherryvale Road down to Marshall Road and continue as Pablo suggested. (6) You can take Empire Road off 96th to get over to Highway 42 as a slight alternative on route #1 and #2 above. (6) You can take the bike path along the railroad tracks from Baseline down to South Boulder Road, and the go down Main Street in Louisville as a modification of route #1.

Note that the route through Storage Tek is private property, and although I've never had any trouble in many trips through, I have heard of one cyclist who was hassled on this route.

JN:

More excellent suggestions. He lives on Moorhead Ave. in Boulder and he works off of 108th between Simms and Wadworth, in Westminster

Thanx for all the help.

(3) If you follow bsaunder's directions as far as Industrial (the frontage road by 36 that he can't remember the name of), you can take a bike path off Industrial under US 36, up through Interlocken to the Jeffco Airport area.

Take a right at the point of this image. Which will lead you the underpass of 36
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60062&stc=1&d=1153855139

Note that the route through Storage Tek is private property, and although I've never had any trouble in many trips through, I have heard of one cyclist who was hassled on this route.

I've spoken to one of the security there and he doesn't care about bike traffic. Maybe that one cyclist encountered a newbie security. Sun Microsystem/Storage Tek only uses the gate to maintain car traffic or avoid locals from cutting throuh.

Since he lives on Moorhead, he can just take Moorhead down to Table Mesa, turn left and continue as it changes name to South Boulder Road. Then he can take many of the routes already detailed. Probably the route through Storage Tek is as good as any, and then under US36 using the excellent picture WAZCO provided. I can't help you get from JeffCo down to 108th, since I don't go that way. But it seems you could just go down Simms from Highway 128.

excellent picture WAZCO provided..


I can't take credit for the picture. It's one of the shot Noël gave from his post http://forums.roadbikereview.com/sho...Denver+commute I do his route too and totally know that picture from a mile away.

Neither the Hump nor the Wall is very difficult for a commute. I suppose, however, they were agonizing in a circuit race like the Morgul-Bismark.
I agree that they're not super hard on a commute, but the Wall has a 12% ramp. It's not a cakewalk, or maybe it just seems harder becasue I always end up tryoing to ride my friend off my wheel when I ride it.

Once you get to McCaslin and Dillon Head east on Dillon. Go South on 88th street and then through Storage TeK. Coming out the east side of Storage Tek go straight through the light towards the new condos that are being built. (the road isn't on the maps yet, but has a nice bike lane) Take the first right (midway) and follow it down towards Flatirons. Head East down Industrial until you get to the bikepath underneath 36. Follow the path till you hit the road then then head up the hill until you hit a light at HWY129/120th. Take Wadsworth (287) south to 108th. It is busy, but has a nice shoulder.

Here is a link
http://toporoute.com/cgi-bin/getSavedRoute.cgi?routeKey=JODSKEMFPHFLWBK