Colorado Adventures

[Jon H]

Day 1: Monday 16th June.

After arriving quite late at the hotel in Boulder yesterday, I though I'd have a fairly steady ride to start things off. So, looked at the map and sussed out a suitable looking loop. Up one canyon into the hills, along a bit, then down another canyon back to base.

So, started off by getting a bit lost riding through town, but once sorted I soon found the road I was aiming for "Lefthand Canyon Drive". Now, Boulder sits at the foot of the rockies and is quite high up, about 5350 ft above sea level. My route gained another 4000 ft in about 16 miles, taking me way above 9000 ft. Not sure if it was the altitude affecting me, or just the fact I'd been climbing for nearly 2 hours, but I was well knackered when I popped out the top of the canyon onto the Peak to Peak Highway. Well, what a fantastic bit of road that is - rolling through the hills in gentle swoopy bends. Got to Nederland and turned left at a roundabout (didn't think they had those in the US) onto Boulder Canyon Road for the return journey. Wow, what a road - spent most of the 15 mile descent over 30mph, and topped out a 44mph. Got lost again trying to find the hotel, but thankfully the streets are numbered, so once I'd found 28th Street I was back on track.

51 miles, in 3hours 50mins. Quality miles!

[huw williams]

Oh you lucky b*****d

Listen - one thing you HAVE to do while you're there or you won't be able to live with yourself: When I was based in Boulder for the US leg of the MTB world cup we used to ride the "peak to peak" highway Its a 55 mile stretch of high(ish) altitude mountain road which links Estes Park to Idaho Springs (I think the road numbers are highway 72 and 119. Its got lakes, silver mines massive mountain ranges and a couple of deserted mining towns straight out of a hollywood western - and at 100 miles round trip it's easily do-able as an out and back in a day

You gotta do it

[kieran]

sounds nice Jon, sure beats box hill. What's the traffic like?

[Andrew G]

Not jealous at all, the commute from Croydon to London was so quiet and peaceful .

[Jon H]

Day 2: Tuesday 17th.

A short ride this morning but what a corker. Flagstaff Mountain Road starts just on the outskirts of Boulder and is the local leg-tester, about 5 miles of serious climbing gaining over 2000ft. Average gradient about 1 in 12 with some parts a lot steeper - I basically spent the whole climb in bottom gear (39x27), and spent a lot of time out of the saddle. Stopped for a rest at one of the viewpoints on the way up, admired the view and read the noticeboard. It offered the following warning: "Moutain lions and Bears are active in this area", and the advice to go with it: "If you are attacked do not scream, run away or turn your back. Make yourself look as big as possible. Do fight back". Eek! I wish I hadn't read that and could remain in blissfull ignorance.

Back in time for lunch (huge bowl of pasta), and a potter around the downtown shops in the afternoon.

More hill climbing this evening, I met up with the Rocky Mountain Cycle Club for their regular Tuesday evening ride up Lookout Mountain. This starts from Golden, and winds it way up the hillside directly above the town, finishing at Buffalo Bill's grave. I guess that means I'm in the Wild West then! Did some loops around the local roads at the top, taking advantage of the local knowledge of the ride leader, then into freefall down the road we'd ridden up earlier.

[Grahame]

Are you still going to be in Boulder on Friday?

I arrive on Thursday evening, and have some stuff to do during the day, but it should be pretty easy to persuade me to go for a beer in the evening.

On Saturday, I'm picking up a group of Kiwis at Denver airport and going up to Breckenridge (about 2 hours drive from Boulder). If you fancy some mountainbiking, you'd be welcome to join us on Sunday or Monday. There's plenty of places to rent mountainbikes at decent rates in Breckenridge.

From Friday morning you'll be able to reach me on (local) mobile number Three 0 three 4 seven 8 four 4 three 6 (number written wierdly to discourage script hackers)

[Michelle]

I remember the opening shots of Mork and Mindy. That was based in Boulder Colorado.

Now I'm drooling! (and not over Mork - nannu nannu, ahhh shazbott!)

[quote="Michelle"]I remember the opening shots of Mork and Mindy. That was based in Boulder Colorado.

Now I'm drooling! (and not over Mork - nannu nannu, ahhh shazbott!)

[Jon H]

Day 3: Wed 18th.

A day of two halves. First Part - Let's Off-Road.

Found this loop in a guide book, and decided to give it a go. "This is a toughie that only requires a few hours to complete, but also requires legs of thunder and an indomitable will. An adventurous spirit also helps, as a substantial portion of the loop is on dirt road". Hmmm.

So started off going up Boulder Canyon, that I'd come down on Monday, then branched off onto Four Mile Canyon Drive. After 5 miles of this very nice and quite road, the tarmac ran out and the dirt road began. Continued for about another four miles climbing on the dirt road, just about keeping going in some places - somehow the steepest bits also happened to be the loosest bits. But generally the surface was pretty good, similar to the forestry commission access roads in the UK. Fantastic views at the top, with snow-capped mountains on the horizon. A couple of interesting miles descending on dirt road, then the tarmac began again, leading to a very fast swooping descent down Sunshine Drive back to Boulder. 2-1/2 hours riding, and only 27 miles on the clock. A toughie indeed.

Second Part - Time Trial USA Style.

I'd discovered a local TT series and entered online, all except for paying because their site wouldn't accept a UK address. Unlike UK courses which are either out-and-back or circuits, this was a straight out 10.1 mile course from Lyons back to Boulder. So, a 15 mile ride out to the start served as my warm up. Paid my 16 bucks plus another 10 for a day licence, pinned a number on and waited for my start time. The organisation was pretty impressive - a gazebo over the hard shoulder at the start, coned-off area before that, portaloo, sign-on tables etc. Although they did lack a pusher at the start, which was a bit odd. Anyway, off I went onto a pretty hilly course. Managed to keep a steady heart rate at 175bpm, but the power was up and down all over the place. Just about managed evens, 29:25, 53rd out of 86 riders. The winner was Chris Baldwin, a pro with Toyota-United, in 20:48.

[Jon H]

Day 4: Thurs 19th.

Drove up into the big mountains today, to a town called Dillon which is at about 9100ft, about the same height as my high point on day one's ride. Started off with a nice fast flat ride alongside the reservoir, with a tailwind to help. That took me to Keystone and the start of the climb to Loveland Pass - 8 miles of climbing to go. A fairly steady gradient meant I could sit there pedalling away in bottom gear without getting too stressed. Halfway up I reached a ski station, and the last bits of snow. At this point there seemed to be a wall of mountains ahead, and no obvious way for a road to go. But go it did, and another couple of miles later the trees thinned out leaving just a few hardy plants clinging to the mountainside. Soon afterwards I was at the top of the pass (11990 ft) and standing on the continental divide. It was distinctly chilly, so I put my gilet on, had a photo taken, then got back on the bike for the super fast descent. 53x12 all the way down, and I was back in Dillon in no time at all.

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

You're just posting this stuff to make us all jealous and feel totally fed up with a normal everyday commute.......and it's working

[Ian A4size]

I saw Jon yesterday, drinking strong lager at a bus stop in Mitcham.... i don't believe a word...

[Tim Coales]

Such a shame that you're missing all this glorious British Summer weather Jon! Some people will go halfway around the world to avoid helping organise the odd club event

[Marek]

http://bouldercyclingclub.com/calendar/

check this out.

[Andrew G]

I like the look of a couple of their rides....
[quote]Meet at Boulder Brewery at 5:30 p.m