I Fulfilled a Lifelong Dream!

July 28, 2024

I have always wanted to ride the rails with a small human powered car. Yesterday, I was able to fulfill this dream! I had always thought it was an impossible dream, unless one of the many train museums would have it as ride. I wasn’t holding out much hope.

Then, a few days ago, to my amazement, I saw a news story on Facebook about Colorado Railbike Adventures. I sent the link to Bruce and he agreed it sounded like fun. He suggested our friends Jeanne (from ajeanneinthekitchen.com) and her husband Larry might enjoy this adventure.

I fired off a text to Jeanne with the link to see if she was interested. Saturday worked for her and Larry and she suggested either the 10:00 AM or the 2:00 PM ride. I wasn’t able to get into the 10:00 AM ride, so I got a railbike for the four of us at 2:00 PM.

The website suggested arriving 30 minutes early. The email Colorado Railbike Adventures sent recommended arriving 20 to 15 minutes early. I decided 30 minutes would give us a chance to walk around and get some pictures.

We picked Jeanne and Larry up at 1:00 PM and headed to Erie, Colorado to the depot at Colorado Railbike Adventures. We didn’t run into any problems with traffic, so we made it to the depot at 1:20 PM. We got parked in the gravel lot and walked up to the depot.

Bruce and I got us checked in. After check in, Bruce, Larry and I covered our exposed skin with sunscreen. The sun was beating down on us and it was HOT!!!

We got to walk around and look at the games set up. We got to talk to one of the owners. They had just opened Memorial Day weekend.

They are leasing the railroad track from RTD (Rapid Transit Department). The tracks didn’t fit into any of RTD plans, but they were part of a deal RTD made when they bought a large section of tracks from Union Pacific.

The owner let us sit on a railbike and used Jeanne’s camera to take a picture of the four of us. (Jeanne, Thanks for sending me the picture.)

We got to examine the railbikes.

The visitors’ railbikes have a mesh floor. This makes it easier to get on them. The bright yellow bar at the tire is a C shape chock to keep the railbikes from rolling.

While we walked around, we saw lots of grasshoppers and a toad. The toad didn’t like things pointed at him and did a lot of jumping. It was very hard to get a picture of him.

The depot was set up with several outdoor games, corn hole being one of them.

Right before we were able to climb onto the railbikes and peddle down the tracks, the owner put on a conductor hat and explained the rules to us.

Then it was time for us to go. The owner had us walk up to the railbikes into three groups. The first group was families, the next group was groups using more than one railbike and the final group was adults/teenagers who fit on one railbike.

Once loaded and seat belts fastened, an employee removed the yellow chock and stored it on the railbike.

It was time for us to go!

We got sprinkled on as we rode. It was so pleasant to have a cloud cover the sun and to be “misted”.

Once we arrived at the other end of the track, another owner talked to us about the history of Erie, Colorado. It was a two railroad town. The trains carried coal, livestock and pickles (yes, you read that right, pickles.) from Erie to Denver or Brighton. Some trains went up north to cross the continental divide on the transcontinental railway, while others went to Chicago.

We watched as the crew turned the railbikes around so they could be ridden back to the depot.

We were able to get a bike near the front of the train on the way back.

We peddled our way back up the 1% grade, feeling a slight muscle burn, to the depot.

The sun had come out and it was once again HOT!

Once back at the depot, we opened all the car doors to let out the heat.

Bruce drove us to the restaurant Jeanne recommended, Georgia Boys BBQ in Longmont. We sat outside on the patio and ate delicious BBQ.

After dinner, Jeanne invited us to stop at their place and play some games. We had a great time playing games. Jeanne’s fur kids were happy to see us and wanted lots of petting from anyone who would pet them. We had a wonderful time!

On the way home, we saw a double rainbow. I was able to keep it in sight using the passenger side mirror.

It was a wonderful day.

Now that I know railbikes are around, I’ll be looking for them!