Errands Become Exploration
Monday, January 5th, 2026
Is this shot in January? July? Who knows, this is one reason why we love living in Colorado.
It’s so much about the weather this time of year. On Sunday it was about 70 degrees and the forecast was for progressively cooler all week. It only made sense to get in my first (and you never know, maybe last) ride of January. I had a couple errands I needed to run and when possible I like to do them on a bike rather than in a car.
My first stop was Swallow Hill Music. That meant heading west on Hampden and then north on Downing to Yale, then west to Swallow Hill.
I was in no hurry and when I’m poking along I like to look more closely at the neighborhoods as I cruise along. There on Downing was the first interesting thing I spotted. There was a house with an exterior of brick up to about waist height and then wood up from there. And they had painted the brick turquoise. Yeah, that will catch your eye.
The funny thing was it didn’t actually look terrible. The terrible it brought to mind was when, in 2024, Judy and I were on a road trip in the Midwest and we routed ourselves through Decatur, Illinois, because that was where my family lived when I was a senior in high school. We drove past our old house and could not believe it. This wood-siding house has been painted blue. Rough wood that had been stained dark brown–now bright blue. Ghastly! The turquoise brick is nowhere near as bad.
From Swallow Hill I headed north on Broadway as far as Mississippi, turned east, north on Logan to Alameda and east to University. Then north to 3rd and east to the wine store we always shop at. Nothing much of interest to be seen along this route.
From The Vineyard I continued east on 3rd to Colorado and then south. Normally I’ll take Colorado to I-25 and take that home. This time I decided to stay off the highway and turned southeast on Leetsdale. I had gone about 10 blocks when I came upon a scene that reminded me I had seen the news about this. There had been a big fire on the north side of Leetsdale, with a four-story apartment complex that was under construction reduced to a total ruin.
And the road was blocked. Nothing to do but follow the detour sign and go south. Well, along with everyone else, I was looking for a cross-street going east, but there was none. I turned into a condo complex and there was no exit except right back onto the street I had come in on. Continuing south you had no choice but to turn west. OK, this is called exploring. There was no choice but to follow that road all the way back to Cherry. I guess I know why I’ve never been into that neighborhood before.
The rest of the way home was no problem. So I got in a ride, ran two errands, and saw a few interesting sights. I’m fine with that as a first ride of 2026.
Biker Quote for Today
In a world full of followers, be a biker.
