Jake Pelton is the quintessential adventurer. Loving to ride a bike, catching a good concert, and caring about his environmental impact, Jake always looks for the opportunity to challenge himself to be a better person and have great experiences.
Recently, Jake decided to attempt a trip to Red Rocks to see indie groove band Goose. The catch? He would only use public transportation and his bike.
The Approach
“Going into the trip, I felt pretty good” Jake told me, noting that the weather seemed to be cooperating and his bike was tuned up. Drawing on experiences from others, Jake realized that, though the route wasn’t ideal, it was rideable and seemed like it would work out well.
The Trip
Conceding that there were a few hills to climb up once the W line reached Jefferson County Government Center, Jake noted that there were many special moments on the bike ride itself. “The first great moment was biking over the crest of Dinosaur Ridge and catching the first sight of Red Rocks… I got to soak in the natural beauty of the area.”
As he rolled towards the park, Jake felt a deeper connection to the natural beauty of the space, contrasting it with drivers that would have to wait in long lines in order to find parking. The next great joy that he had was getting to ring his bell at drivers as he passed by them, getting a sort of priority when it came to both parking and traffic.
In total, the trip took an hour and a half from catching the 5:13 W Line at Union Station to parking at the upper lot at
Coming Back and Lessons Learned
The one major issue with the trip was having to ride all the way back to Denver, which Jake noted took a little bit over an hour. For him, the largest issue was connectivity. “I had hopes of catching the W Line train heading eastbound back to Denver, but on Thursdays the last one runs at 10:56pm. On Fridays and Saturdays, the last train runs at 12:56am so it would be possible to catch a full show and still make the train” Jake opined, stating overall that there need to be more connections to Red Rocks without having to use a car. “As a Denver mountain park managed by Denver Parks & Recreation, [Denver Should] work on creating more options for concert-goers to get there without having to drive.” saying that having an experience like his would be great for people who could leave the car at home.
Featured Photo is a shot of Jake’s bike ride to Red Rocks, courtesy of Jake Pelton
Colorado Car Free 
Thanks for sharing your experience Jake. I’ve also biked there and had to look long and hard for a proper bike rack (railings are fine but sometimes you block someone who needs to use it).
I was personally a little nervous biking out of red rocks with all the cars driven by tired and potentially drunk concertgoers. With lots of new housing developments going up on the corner of 470 and Morrison road, Ive wondered if there could be a community push for a safer bike path that connects the venue to the Dinosaur Ridge road or Morrison. Then, there would be a safe connection to the 470 bike trail and would unlock a much longer safe route for music loving cyclists.
I agree with you that train times could also be improved to enable a full concert experience.
Cheers,
Alex
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