December 2025- It's been a good month for December but the COLD, Wind and a dusting of Snow is here!

 Been fortunate enough to have a lot of decent riding weather this December but today it's 23F, a dusting of snow and a Bitter, COLD Wind! Time to update the blog, hopefully we can get one more ride in before the end of the month!

12/19/2025- Errand run and a bit more of a ride- Got a service appointment at Angletech today to have a new chain and rear tire. Another nice winter day so the ride up Sinton Trail to the shop was chilly but sunny. After it was finished, we went and got a hotdog and BBQ chips at the Garden of the Gods Rd. Mavrick Station Store. 

The YouTube Video is short, I had an older SD card malfunction, so I only had the footage from the GoPro 11 Mini to use, sorry! We headed back to the apartment via different trails and bike lanes, not a bad ride for an Errand run!

12/22/2025- A ride before the Holidays- We had a couple of days of chilly, high winds, kinda days so there was a bit of a gap between rides. On the 22nd. we got a really warm day, so we just headed out and about using different trails to make kinda of a loop ride.

You know it's warm, when you see us riding in December without a jacket on!!

12/26/2025- A post-Christmas Ride to Manitou Springs- Well, like most of us, we didn't get to ride much due to the holidays and spending time with family! Christmas Eve was spent with my brother Bob, one of his daughter's family and in laws. Christmas Day, Bob joined us for a Christmas Meal at the Black Bear Diner! The 26th. was another sunny and warmish day so we hadn't been to Manitou Springs for a bit, decided to that's our days destination!

Westside PP Greenway over to the Midland Trail heading west, the Creek Walk Trail to its end at Memorial Park in Manitou Springs. Headed back the same way, it was and excellent day for a ride and felt great to get back on the trikes after a few days of eating and socializing! Headed back to the apartment and then cleaned Jo's trikes chain and drive train before tucking in the trikes.

12/27/2025- Ride to EAT & Eat to RIDE- LOL, we got a visa gift card for Christmas, there was a possibility of High WINDS for December 27th. The morning dawned sunny and the winds were not bad, so we decided to head to the Sacred Grounds Cafe heading up to North Cheyenne Canyon Park. This is a "bike lane" kinda ride, starting with a short stint on the Shooks Run Trail, Weber St. bike lane to the Tejon St. bike lane to the Cheyenne Blvd bike lane! It was a getting a bit windy at times but not real rough, so we continued to head towards the Cafe. 

We finally arrived but sadly they were only doing a "holiday brunch" for Saturday and Sunday. We didn't want full course meals, so we got iced tea and ate our Think Bars. Headed up to the Starsmoor Center, Nature & Visitor Center for North Cheyenne Canyon Park. Heading back down, we decided to stop at FUZZY's Tacos in the Southgate area for lunch. YUM, the best chips and Queso in town and we tried shredded brisket Quesada's and of course, unsweet iced tea, the gift card covered 95% of the lunch, excellent. 

It was still sunny, but the wind was starting to get "gustier" so, we headed back on the Tejon St. bike lane but then headed over to pick up Shooks Run Trail south. Now, heading north on Shooks Run, still enjoying the sun and the ride even with the stronger wind, we headed to get one last iced tea at STIR's coffee house. The dark clouds were now coming in, the Cold Front was starting to come in for Saturday night/Sunday Morning, so we headed back to the apartment. 

December is coming to a close but there might be another ride Wednesday the 31st. if the weather isn't too bad! Now it's also possible for a Jan. 1st. 2026 RIDE, warm temps but very cloudy, hopefully not windy too! Thanks for checking out the BLOG, it's appreciated. Hope you all got in some rides during the hectic holiday season! Happy New Year to all and of course, HAPPY TRAIL'S.

Catching up on December Rides, 2025.

 Ok, ok as usual I'm behind my time as Mr. Cratchit said to Mr. Scrooge!  So here we go into the Month of December! We have had a lot of WIND some SNOW since the last blog entry so there are some big gaps in the ride dates!

12/8/2025- Food Run and new GoPro hard mount Test Ride- After my hard mounted GoPro 6 broke one of its attachments that made up the PLASTIC hard mount on the trike, I did a redesign with the camera mount in Aluminum!  After doing the shopping and getting back to the apartment to put away the food and supplies we headed out for a generic ride just to test out the new mount. Found out it was "too tall", and it shook badly on bad trail surfaces. It did however actually work so after getting back home I decided to go back to the drawing board!  

12/11/2025- Errand Run and Test Ride for the Revised GoPro Camera hard mount- We got a strange message that was supposed to be from Xfinity, we headed up to the University Village Colorado Center Xfinity store. Found out it was a scam so that turned out ok and we headed off for a bit of a ride. Rode up to Cottonwood Creek Trail and only road as far as the Creekside Coffee House. Headed back on misc. trails, lanes, etc. It was the test run for the revised GoPro Camera hard mount; this one was shorter but still "over my toes"! It did have less movement but the EIS program in the GoPro 6, couldn't compensate for the vibrations on the rough wood bridge crossings, RATS! Oh well I don't think I can do better so there will be some spots in the video that have a bit of bounce, sorry! Otherwise, it seems to be doing a good job, and I don't have to worry about it snaping off and sending my camera flying again!! :)

12/12/2025- Just out Wandering on a nice but Windy day- Sadly Jo got stuck at home awaiting here insulin meds from UPS. So, she told me to go take a hike, LOL, I mean RIDE. I headed up the Sinton Trail over to Angletech to get a service appointment for a new chain and rear tire installed. After that I headed back on the Sinton to the Foothills Trail and towards the entry into the Garden of the Gods. 

They have lot's of dirt hiking trails in the park but only one concrete trail and it usually has thousands of people on it. On this mid-December day, it was empty, so I headed up the trail to the starting point of the Loop Ride thru the park. I turned back to the Foothills Trail to get to the 31 St. bike lane over to the Colorado Ave Starbucks for tea and brown bag lunch. Headed east on the Midland Trail then the Pikes Peak Ave. bike lane to pick up the Shooks Run Trail and headed home.

12/15/2025- In search of Jo ride on a really nice day- Well now it was MY turn to be stuck waiting on a package but from FEDEX this time! A bit of luck, he arrived by 10:30 AM, I'd already sent Jo out for a ride since I had no idea when the package would show up. She had decided to ride up to the Creekside Coffee House so she could do a ride with no street crossings. 

I threw my stuff together and was out the door via trike by 11 AM!! Luck was on my side, I gave her a call, and she had just arrived at the Coffee House so, I did a "Flying 5K" and we met up for our brown bag lunch. The Creekside Coffee House is the ONLY coffee house/cafe where Jo can buy a "SUGAR FREE" hot chocolate, so she indulged but I was too hot and thirsty from hauling buns to get there so it was iced tea for me! We decided to ride the Cottonwood Creek Trail heading northeast to the concrete trail ending just after Powers Blvd. We headed up the trail, pass the park and thru the tunnel but found out that a couple of miles up the trail was blocked off due to some kind of construction project?? 

We did a turn around and headed back toward the Cottonwood Creek Regional Park for a nature break. Heading west to pick up the Pikes Peak Greenway and heading back to the apartment as it was getting late and the sun heads down behind the mountains by 4:15 PM nowadays! Sorry I got lazy and decided not to shoot video but just Enjoy the Ride so here is a few photos.

Well, that's the end of the December rides so far as like everyone else the Christmas Season has a lot of distractions and events and of course, let's not forget the By-Polar weather! We will be riding up to Angletech on Friday the 19th. to get my, Chain and Rear tire installed so there may be a bit more before the actual Holiday! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy Hanukah/Chanukah, etc. All the best to You and Yours! 

Heading towards the end of November, Goodbye Indian Summer!

 We are now heading into WINTER here in Southern Colorado. Here is the rest of the month of November as the fridged COLD has finally shown up in our area, it's 15 F degrees outside with a very lite snow flurries at times today!

November 19- Many Bridges ride on Cottonwood Creek Trail- Headed out on the PP Greenway to ride the Cottonwood Creek Trail to the Park and a bit beyond. It was a very nice, sunny day and the CCT is a favorite. We just enjoyed all the bridge crossings of the creek on the way up and then thru the big tunnel and headed northeast to a turnaround point. Didn't go all the way to the end of the concrete at just north of Powers Blvd. It was a good day to RIDE!

November 22- A late Fall Day, different sections of different trails- We just took off and headed here and there using different sections of different trails to enjoy another beautiful day in Southern Colorado in the warm late fall weather!  

We headed up the Austin Bluffs Trail to its end and then took a little used sidewalk up to the old Austin Bluffs Mall to go to Scooter's Coffee but it has been closed down so we headed back down to the trail and then headed south to let Jo ride the new concrete section of the Sinton Trail before we headed home, another excellent day to Ride!

November 24- Rode several different Bike Lanes to get to Panera Bread in Southgate- It was a Monday, and the Sacred Grounds Cafe was closed so we headed to Panera Bread on a bit of a chilly day to eat our brown bag lunch and get a HOT tea!  We did a bit of a photo op at the Creek Walk area. Headed back the same way but picked up the Pikes Peak Greenway and then to the Mesa Greenway, rode to its end point and home.

November 28- CHILLY Moring Ride on the Rock Island Trail and Academy Blvd Path- Had to bundle up a bit as the day started out Gray and Cloudy but the temp wasn't too cold so we decided to ride. Been a little while since we rode the Rock Island Trail all the way to its end at Powers Blvd. heading east. We rode to the end, then turned around to head to the Mavrick Station for again, HOT tea. As we were flying down one of the big downhill sections of the trail, the hard mount for my GoPro 6, SNAPPED and the camera went tumbling!!!! Jo found the camera, it's amazing it still works and only got a mar or two!! Tough little camera! 

We packed it away and again headed over to the Mavrick Station, that HOT tea really hit the spot! From there back to the Rock Island heading west and to the apartment to tuck in the trikes as Saturday's temps are 32F for a HIGH and windy and Sunday is even COLDER so this is all the rides for November! It gets a bit iffy, weather wise for the next 3 months here in Southern CO., so it will be hit and miss as far as the blog and videos for a bit. Happy Holidays to all of you and yours! Happy Trail's! 

More November Rides

 Another busy month but there have been so many nice days that we got more rides in anyway!

November 12- With lot's of appointments, etc. Finally got in a ride and the day was Awesome! 

November 13- Couldn't find the Phase 4, new section of the Creek Walk Trail in Manitou Springs? - We saw a Facebook post from the PAC-Man Group in Manitou Springs that they have finished the newest section of the Creek Walk Trail. We headed out over to America the Beautiful Park and the Midland Trail to Manitou Springs. It was supposed to hook into the Mayfair Ave., Phase 3 section but we followed a dirt path we thought might be it but it wasn't so we headed back the way we came into the Springs! They are suppose to have a "official" ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday November 18th but we have appointments that day, RATS. Oh well, it was another great day for ride so we will try again soon!

November 14- I took a different route and headed back to find the new phase 4 section of the Creek Walk Trail in Manitou Springs! - Well jo had a doctor's appointment, so I decided to go back and FIND the new Phase 4 trail section!!  Wala, I found it, no markings at all and instead of running along Fountain Creek like the rest of the Creek Walk Trail, it runs along Manitou Ave. heading towards the Manitou Springs Visitor Center and then to downtown.

It's better than having to use to streets but kinda a bummer, it's not continuing to follow the creek, RATS. It will take you over to Memorial Park and 7 Minute Springs Park, via back street and then to the Visitor's Center. Ok, well mystery solved but hopefully a future, Phase 5 will take it all the way into downtown Manitou Springs! Enjoyed the longer route ride via Sinton and Foothills trails, another nice day to RIDE

November 16- World Remembrance Day for Road Crash Victims at City Hall in Downtown Colorado Springs, CO.- We decided to ride down and support the local World Remembrance Day for Road Crash Victims. Headed down the Weber St. bike lane into the City Hall and did a video of the Ceremony. Then we headed out to lunch at the downtown Starbucks and then rode to Monument Valley Park, Pikes Peak Greenway and picked up the Rock Island Trail up to hook up with the Academy Blvd Access Path to a Mavrick Station Store for iced tea and a Think Bar afternoon break. The sun heads down a lot faster now so we headed back to the apartment and tucked in the trikes!

   

Monday the 17th. - It's REALLY WINDY today, sunshine but lot's of clouds and heavy wind gust's so we decided not to ride, hopefully we can ride Weds. as Thurs. and Fri. look like RAIN, bummer. Oh well, it's been a good fall riding season so hopefully we can get in a few more rides before the snow falls!! HAPPY TRAIL'S!

Ending October and into November!

October 30, 2025- For many years, there were two small natural duck ponds in Monument Valley Park. About 3 years ago, they were drying up and in really bad shape! 2 years ago, they started a rebuild by digging out the land in-between ponds. Starting the new Duck Lake, dug out, added a protective layer and short rock wall around the new lake. The westside of the Pikes Peak Greenway goes right by the Lake and they smoothed out the old rough dirt trail with a new layer of concrete. 

Going by on the trail, we watched the construction, and it took 2 years, but it's now finished and I rode the trike to the Dedication Ceremony at the lake!  Shot a video and took photos of the ceremony. Then headed out for a ride, it's great to see the city work on the parks and they even put in a walkway around the whole lake!

November 1, 2025- Another round at the Sacred Ground, "CAFE". Again, headed out mostly on area bike lanes, including, Weber St, Tejon St and Cheyenne Blvd bike lanes. Although the Tejon St. bike lane is still a challenge, the newly paved and painted Cheyenne Blvd bike lane is actually fun to ride now! We decide not to ride up to the Starsmoor Center at the foot of North Cheyenne Canyon Park. Arrived at the Sacred Grounds Cafe and it wasn't as busy as usual, so we got great parking! Ordered iced tea and ate our brown bag lunch on the patio area. From there we headed back on the Cheyenne Blvd and other bike lanes. It turned out to be a really nice day and so far, except for a couple of "cold fronts" here and there it's been sunny and warm, SWEET!

November 3, 2025- Food Run & Lunch Ride- It's that time again, we needed FOOD! Hooked up the cargo trailer and headed via the Rock Island Trail to the Walmart Market Store at Union Blvd. We headed out to lunch after packing away to food and supplies, then rode misc. trails, etc. to finish off the ride for the day!

November 6, 2025- Rode to Angletech to sign up for their T-shirt order and I checked out some new recumbent accessories, sadly Jo had an eye doctor appointment, so I was SOLO! There was a new handlebar bag, actually made for recumbents to attach to the sidebar that had the latch close to the rider and a hard plastic bottom. Next, new hi-tech water bottles in stainless steel and don't need to be squeezed as they have "gravity flow"! After that headed to a Mavrick Station Store for, what else, Iced tea and the infamous brown bag special!

Back down Sinton Trai, sadly, it's blocked off again for more finishing work so had to use the Elliston Street Detour route, rats. Headed north on the PP Greenway up to Panera Bread, I caved in and got a Hot Tea and a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel for late afternoon snack, YUM! Back on the PP Greenway and headed to the barn, ok, apartment, the winds had gotten really STRONG, lots of dust and crunched leaves blowing around made it a good time to end the ride!

Ok, folks, that's all for now, hope your fall is being kind to your riding, we all know the snow will fly soon but the longer the warmish fall stays the better we like it. Tell we come together again, HAPPY TRAI'S! 

More October!

 October 25- Hauling Bunn's, to catch up with Jo!- Jo headed out on a ride early, I was stuck at the apartment, waiting on a FedX package with a new higher speed capable Modem from Xfinity. It arrived about 11:30, so I put on all the trike gear, loaded up the trike and headed out to catch up to Jo. She had headed up the Cottonwood Creek Trail and just finished lunch at the "Creekside Cafe". I told her I was on the way, but she decided to head down towards me, we met on the PP Greenway, decided to reverse, we rode the Vincent St. Bridge Loop and headed to Panera Bread so I could have lunch and we shared a large iced tea!

From there we headed south on the PP Greenway over towards Monument Valley Park and the Ped bridge/walkway.

Over the Ped Bridge on to the Mesa Greenway, which we rode till it's ending point at America Furniture Warehouse, turned around, picked up the Fontanero St. bike lane back to the PP Greenway, over the Popcycle Bridge and then back to the apartment.

We've got doctors appointments and other social things going on over the next few days so no new rides, rats! I'll get back to ya when we get to RIDE! Happy Trail's! 

More October ride postings!

 LOL, I just can't stay up with blog post these days, sorry folks! So let's continue with the October rides!

October 17- Another great ride of the Cottonwood Creek Trail. We headed out on a really nice fall day to ride the Cottonwood Creek Trail up past Cottonwood Creek Park to Austin Bluffs and turn around. Sunny, warm and just a nice day to do the ride, the trees are starting to lose leaves but there was still some color here and there. We stopped at the Creekside Cafe on the way up for iced tea and our brown bag lunch. Headed up to the park and thru the tunnel up to the turn off for Austin Bluffs Road. Headed back the same way and back to the PP Greenway and home.

October 19- We almost ran into a "BLACK BEAR" on the Mesa Greenway!- Headed over to the PP Greenway on the westside of Monument Creek and ran into a huge number of RUNNERS! We took it slow and turned off on Fontanero St. bike lane to pick up the Mesa Greenway heading to the westside of Colorado Springs. As we cruised on the trail, I was looking ahead and saw a BIG BLACK BEAR heading towards on the trail!! We quickly turned around and headed off the trail to some side streets to get away from the BEAR! 

Took the Walnut St. bike lane to Cuchara's Trail to get on the Midland Trail and head to Manitou Springs and the Creekwalk Trail. From there it was a mellow ride but chilly, as one huge cloud blocked out the sunshine! Stopped at the Starbucks at Colorado Ave and 31st. Street for a HOT tea and brown bag lunch on the way towards Manitou Springs. Rode to the end of the Creekwalk Trail and turned around, headed home via the Pikes Peak Ave and Weber St. bike lanes

October 21- Food Run and Lunch Ride- Headed out the Rock Island Trail over to Union Blvd to the Walmart Market Place Store for food and supplies. Packed up all the items into the trailer and panniers on the trikes and headed back the same way. Took off to hook up with the Sinton Trail over to Centennial Blvd & Garden of the Gods Rd. Stopped at the Mavrick Station Store for iced tea, met up with Reggie, a fellow Vet and Trike rider, he stopped into the store for lunch during work and we had a great chat about trikes, hope to get a ride in with him in the future! We headed back to same way and headed back to the apartment and tucked away the trikes!

 October 22- Feeling Groovy and checking out the Palmer Park Overlook- Well Jo had a Heart doctor appointment, so I headed out the PP Greenway and picked up the T-Gap Trail. Decided to head to the Palmer Park Overlook at Palmer Park. There's no real trail to the park so I rode back streets, bike lanes, etc. over to pick up the backside entryway into Palmer Park. It's UPHILL, had to use level 2 and sometimes 3 on the E-assist for easier pedaling!!

Headed off on the spur road to the Overlook., BTW, the road is narrow and no bike lane so you have to Share the Road with cars, luckily, it was a weekday, so much lighter traffic. The Overlook use to let cars all the way up but now it comes to a parking lot and you have a walkway you can walk or ride a bicycle into, much nicer!! The view is awesome on a clear day so had to shoot a bit of video and take a photo or two. Heading down to the otherside of the park is a super-fast downhill road, with very tight sweeping corners, WEEEEE! 

Headed over to the Mazeland Rd. and Academy Blvd. Mavrick Station Store for, iced tea and munched on the usual brown bag lunch. On the way back headed south on the Academy Blvd. Path and got on the Rock Island Trail heading west. Picked up the PP Greenway, westside going south to Monument Valley Park, then over the Ped Bridge across I-25 and got on the Mesa Greenway, took it to it's current ending point, then turned around and headed for the apartment!

Well, that's it for now, thanks for checking out the BLOG! I still like putting the words and photos on a blog, even over doing it as a YouTube Channel, hope you think it's worth taking the time to read and enjoy, it's appreciated, BJ. :)