I may be getting transferred to our Denver office for a year or so
Will be a fantastic opportunity and I am very excited :D

Could one of you natives please help me:
By car, how long would it take to get to the classic cycling areas of Colorado?

Do people live in say Boulder and commute to Denver or is it too far?

Many thanks

I may be getting transferred to our Denver office for a year or so
Will be a fantastic opportunity and I am very excited :D

Could one of you natives please help me:
By car, how long would it take to get to the classic cycling areas of Colorado?

Do people live in say Boulder and commute to Denver or is it too far?

Many thanks

Hmm, the classic cycling areas... Well, I live in central Denver and I haven't ever needed to get in a car to go climb the usual Front Range climbs like Deer Creek Canyon, High Grade Road, Lookout Mountain, Squaw Pass, or even Mount Evans. However, if you want to do the Boulder climbs, then you're going to have to drive there. I'm not sure what you mean by "classic cycling areas," but you won't be disappointed living in Denver.

The Boulder commute to Denver can be far depending on where your office is. If you work in the Tech Center, it's going to be a ***** from Boulder. If your office is downtown, then you're only looking at 45 minutes or so with light traffic. It could be as much as 1.5 hours in rush hour, however.

Many thanks for the reply Sherpa
I guess I was not clear in defining ‘classic routes’ as I have never been to the state and don’t know what I am talking about!
All I know is that if I leave London and come to Denver my quality of life will improve significantly

I would like to live in say Boulder because it would really be different vs London, as opposed to Denver which is also a large city
But only if the commute is not crazy
No point living in cycling heaven if you can only cycle at weekends due to travel !
Having said that I don’t know how nice Denver is to live in
FYI I work in finance so I presume the office will be downtown

I certainly need to do more research before I agree to the move, but in principle it sounds a fantastic opportunity for work, health, CYCLING !

Many thanks for the reply Sherpa
I guess I was not clear in defining ‘classic routes’ as I have never been to the state and don’t know what I am talking about!
All I know is that if I leave London and come to Denver my quality of life will improve significantly

I would like to live in say Boulder because it would really be different vs London, as opposed to Denver which is also a large city
But only if the commute is not crazy
No point living in cycling heaven if you can only cycle at weekends due to travel !
Having said that I don’t know how nice Denver is to live in
FYI I work in finance so I presume the office will be downtown

I certainly need to do more research before I agree to the move, but in principle it sounds a fantastic opportunity for work, health, CYCLING !

Don't necessarily discount Denver in favour of Boulder. While I really like Boulder, Denver's been great. I lived three blocks away from another pro who did the TdF and we would meet up every morning for training and never did we neeed to get in a car to go do anything nor did we ever feel that we should go to Boulder for better riding. Denver has a vast network of bike trails that are awesome for getting you to the major climbs or open flat areas. Yes, it's a city but the bike trails really take the congested city part out of bike riding.

Besides, I don't know if you're going to want to spend so much time in a car everyday as that will really eat into your ride time. If you live in the city, we have a couple of very popular ride spots for evening rides. People come home from work and get on their bikes and head to those spots. It can be quite nice to do that.

Plus, it's a great city. We have one of the best performing arts centers in the US and a host of museums and galleries, not to mention superb restaurants. I


Lastly, Although it is called the Denver Tech Center, it's really for all kinds of businesses. There are all kinds of companies there, not necessarily just high tech. Your finance job may very well be there.

Do people live in say Boulder and commute to Denver or is it too far?

Many thanks
I do, but I wouldn't recommend it--especially if your office is not in the greater downtown area. Forget it if you are talking DTC.

P.S. Just for reference...I take the bus. The traffic is terrible and driving would make me a nervous wreck. I live in North Boulder and from my front door to my office downtown I'm looking at about 1 hour each way in good weather. I joined a gym and work out at my lunchtime but rarely ride weekdays during the winter because there isn't enough light. When daylight savings time comes around it is possible to get short rides in after or before work.

Find out where the Denver office is and I'm sure that we would give you much better advice as to where to live for good cycling. Denver is a big (area wise) city and traffic can be really bad, but there is good cycling from most areas.

I live in Boulder county, and have driven to fantastic bike rides that start in the Denver area. Just remember that the area is all around 5000+ feet of altitude, so take some time to adjust. Also the humidity is very low and that also takes some getting used to.

Come over here and have some fun!

What area is considered Denver Tech Center? Would that be like Aurora or something else? I also plan to relocate to Denver area in the summer of 2005 and hope to be employed with one of the many Tech companies in the area. There has been a lot mentioned about the bad traffic, how would you compare it to San Diego traffic if you are familiar with how bad it is here. I can hardly wait to make the move but I am not so sure about the winters. It has been nearly 20 years since I have lived in a cold area so that is the one part that I will truly miss about San Diego.

Welcome to Colorado! You're going to love it.

I live in Boulder County (SW Longmont) and the cycling in this area is great. If you like Boulder, consider living there and taking the public bus (RTD) to Denver for commuting purposes. Of course this will depend on where in Denver your office is, but there is great express bus service to downtown Denver from several locations in Boulder. And most busses will accept a bike on the front if you want to go that route. And also good bike parking facilities at all RTD Park-N-Rides.

But Denver also has a great bike path system and it is easy to navigate around by bike. Either way, you are in for a treat!

The Denver Tech Center area is south of the I-25/I-225 Interchange, mostly. Greenwood Village, area, south of Aurora... I personally hate going to the Tech Center, but I work in the mortgage business, and a lot of companies are located down there. I'm contemplating a company change right now, and most of my options are down there. I live in Boulder County as well (Old Town Longmont), and the commute down there would be absolutely vile. I live about 6 blocks from my office now, and to go from 6 blocks to about 40-50 miles for a commute would not make me a very happy camper.

As for living in Boulder, we moved to Boulder from San Francisco 6 years ago. If you get past the fact that Boulder can be rather pricey, it's a really nice place to live. But then again, that describes the City, as well, so the culture shock was not too bad. The only problem is that the restaurant choices here in Longmont are rather limited compared to S.F. But we can raise our daughter in relative peace here, something I would not want to try back in S.F. To sum up, moving here was the best decision I ever made...

West of Denver at the base of the foothills is Golden. Tons of road and mtn biking, 15 min to Downtown Denver, 25 min to Boulder, 40 min from the continental divide. In the foothills, Evergeen is a consideration, its at 7500 ft, quiet, more snow in the winter, cooler in the summer, did I mention quiet.

Cheers-

I live in Highlands Ranch, one of the southern suburban areas. My wife drives downtown every morning (17th and Lawrence). If she leaves by 6:00 am, it takes about 35 minutes to get to work. Leaving the office at 4:00 it takes 45-60 minutes to get home. The later she leaves, the closer to 60 minutes the drive time.

That said, I'm only 8 miles from Chatfield Reservoir and 11 miles from Deer Creek Canyon Road and Wadsworth Blvd. intersection, where many good mountain routes start. There is also housing only a mile of two from this start point, just west of Wadsworth Blvd., that's close to the light rail train station (goes downtown). This housing is in the foothills, so you don't get a mountain view from the area.

We preferred Highlands Ranch for the mountain view, although living closer to the bike routes and train station has it's advantages. The light rail station is a 9 mile drive from my house. The wife tried it a couple of times, but it adds another hour to the total commute time, so she prefers to drive.

I drive to any ride other than those that start at Deer Creek Canyon Road. Even the route to the top of High Grade Rd is a 50 mile round trip, with the 22 miles round trip from my house to the start point. Squaw Pass is about 35 miles to the start point by the closest route and even further by way of mountain roads.

Below are sites with good ride info.

http://www.teamevergreen.org/

http://www.bicyclerace.com/about.htm

http://www.rmccrides.com/

West of Denver at the base of the foothills is Golden. Tons of road and mtn biking, 15 min to Downtown Denver, 25 min to Boulder, 40 min from the continental divide. In the foothills, Evergeen is a consideration, its at 7500 ft, quiet, more snow in the winter, cooler in the summer, did I mention quiet.

Cheers-
Or you can locate in the living embodiment of the cartoon town--South Park! Does get windy there though. ;)

Or you can locate in the living embodiment of the cartoon town--South Park! Does get windy there though. ;)

Headwinds or tailwinds? I's gots to know? Cause I only ride if there's a tailwind.

West of Denver at the base of the foothills is Golden. Tons of road and mtn biking, 15 min to Downtown Denver, 25 min to Boulder, 40 min from the continental divide. In the foothills, Evergeen is a consideration, its at 7500 ft, quiet, more snow in the winter, cooler in the summer, did I mention quiet.

Cheers-


I also really like what Golden has to offer. Living on the western edge of the metro area means quicker access to riding in either the Foothills or getting into the 'real' climbs of CO. As Carver mentions, it's pretty convenient to most places other than the Tech Center. For that, Highlands Ranch or Denver proper are better bets.

JMO

Colorado is great for cycling. I live in the tech center, work in aurora and bike wherever I need/want. If there isnt a paved bike trail to get you there there are plenty of road routes to take. Plenty of access to all the local great climbing routes as well. No complaints or worries.
On a side note, I have a group i ride with on weekends, but am always looking for others and different routes....

I may be getting transferred to our Denver office for a year or so
Will be a fantastic opportunity and I am very excited :D

Could one of you natives please help me:
By car, how long would it take to get to the classic cycling areas of Colorado?

Do people live in say Boulder and commute to Denver or is it too far?

Many thanks

LoDo means Lower Downtown in case you haven't figured it out yet.
I ride Boulder to Denver every moring unless it's icy. In the winter, I'll ride in and bus home. In the summer, when days are longer, I'll do round trips. If you don't mind the hard-core liberal people of Boulder then by all mean go for it. They're pretty wack too but you get use it. I personally think Boulder is overrated and there are other places in the Denver area are just as good.

LoDo means Lower Downtown in case you haven't figured it out yet.
I ride Boulder to Denver every moring unless it's icy. In the winter, I'll ride in and bus home. In the summer, when days are longer, I'll do round trips. If you don't mind the hard-core liberal people of Boulder then by all mean go for it. They're pretty wack too but you get use it. I personally think Boulder is overrated and there are other places in the Denver area are just as good.
You are insane. I rode to Denver from Boulder for Bike to work day once and the thought of doing that on a regular basis is nuts. It was more like 50 miles one way for me. I live in North Boulder. Rode across Boulder and then took South Boulder road to McCaslin and then to Dillon road and took that into Denver area and zigzagged around a bit to reach the Platte River trail and into lodo. Definately NOT a bike friendly commute. The fear of death kept me from repeating that venture again. Lots of no shoulder roads with high speed traffic. I'll take the bus instead, thank you.

You are insane. I rode to Denver from Boulder for Bike to work day once and the thought of doing that on a regular basis is nuts. It was more like 50 miles one way for me. I live in North Boulder. Rode across Boulder and then took South Boulder road to McCaslin and then to Dillon road and took that into Denver area and zigzagged around a bit to reach the Platte River trail and into lodo. Definately NOT a bike friendly commute. The fear of death kept me from repeating that venture again. Lots of no shoulder roads with high speed traffic. I'll take the bus instead, thank you.

My friends use it and agree it's safe. I found another route, 8 miles longer, that I use but haven't created a map for it.

WAZCO,

I recently moved from Broomfield to Boulder and work in Denver. I used to ride pretty regularly Broomfield-Denver-Broomfield about 45-50 miles roundtrip. But not yet Boulder-Denver-Boulder. What route do you take? Thanks.

-stinkyhelmet

WAZCO,

I recently moved from Broomfield to Boulder and work in Denver. I used to ride pretty regularly Broomfield-Denver-Broomfield about 45-50 miles roundtrip. But not yet Boulder-Denver-Boulder. What route do you take? Thanks.

-stinkyhelmet

My short route-
-Start Valmont and 47th st. (Saturn Dealership)
-head east on Valmont and take right onto 55th st.
-you can get on the Boulder creek trail or go straight Arapahoe st.
-Take left onto Araphoe
-Take right onto Cherryvale
-Take left onto Baseline
-Take right onto 76st st.
-Take left onto South Boulder Rd
-Take right onto McCaslin Rd
-Take left onto Dillon Rl
-Take right onto 88th st.
-Take left onto Storage Tec go thru gate (you can ride around, Security does not mind)
-Once you pop out of Storage Tec, go thru light onto Tape rd.
-Just follow Tape road and it will lead you to Industrial Lane.
-Take left onto Industrial lane south bound you'll be parrel w/ Hwy 36th
-take a right on Carr st.
-follow it to 120th st
-hang a right on Wadsworth blvd you'll go over Hwy 36th.
-go to 92nd street and go straight tru the light into the Strip Mall
-cross 90th st and go another Strip mall
-go to "On the Border" and cross 88th st take a left onto Chase st.
-Follow Chase st. to Discovery trail.
-trail end at 80th st. Cross it to Harlan st.
-Take a left onto Little Dry Creek trail
-Get off the trail onto Lowell st south bound
-Lowell st. to left onto 46th st
-46th st to right onto Clay st
-Clay st to right onto Zuni st
-Immedialtly take left to 29th st
29th street to LoDo, Downtown, Cherry creek path, and platte trail.

I can email you the route if prefer.

Good Luck!

My short route-
-Start Valmont and 47th st. (Saturn Dealership)
-head east on Valmont and take right onto 55th st.
-you can get on the Boulder creek trail or go straight Arapahoe st.
-Take left onto Araphoe
-Take right onto Cherryvale
-Take left onto Baseline
-Take right onto 76st st.
-Take left onto South Boulder Rd
-Take right onto McCaslin Rd
-Take left onto Dillon Rl
-Take right onto 88th st.
-Take left onto Storage Tec go thru gate (you can ride around, Security does not mind)
-Once you pop out of Storage Tec, go thru light onto Tape rd.
-Just follow Tape road and it will lead you to Industrial Lane.
-Take left onto Industrial lane south bound you'll be parrel w/ Hwy 36th
-take a right on Carr st.
-follow it to 120th st
-hang a right on Wadsworth blvd you'll go over Hwy 36th.
-go to 92nd street and go straight tru the light into the Strip Mall
-cross 90th st and go another Strip mall
-go to "On the Border" and cross 88th st take a left onto Chase st.
-Follow Chase st. to Discovery trail.
-trail end at 80th st. Cross it to Harlan st.
-Take a left onto Little Dry Creek trail
-Get off the trail onto Lowell st south bound
-Lowell st. to left onto 46th st
-46th st to right onto Clay st
-Clay st to right onto Zuni st
-Immedialtly take left to 29th st
29th street to LoDo, Downtown, Cherry creek path, and platte trail.

I can email you the route if prefer.

Good Luck!

Thanks WAZCO. Too funny....I live in the Northcreek subdivision....turn into Sentinel Drive from Kings Ridge Blvd, so would be starting from 47th and Valmont too.

My short route-
-Start Valmont and 47th st. (Saturn Dealership)
-head east on Valmont and take right onto 55th st.
-you can get on the Boulder creek trail or go straight Arapahoe st.
-Take left onto Araphoe
-Take right onto Cherryvale
-Take left onto Baseline
-Take right onto 76st st.
-Take left onto South Boulder Rd
-Take right onto McCaslin Rd
-Take left onto Dillon Rl
-Take right onto 88th st.
-Take left onto Storage Tec go thru gate (you can ride around, Security does not mind)
-Once you pop out of Storage Tec, go thru light onto Tape rd.
-Just follow Tape road and it will lead you to Industrial Lane.
-Take left onto Industrial lane south bound you'll be parrel w/ Hwy 36th
-take a right on Carr st.
-follow it to 120th st
-hang a right on Wadsworth blvd you'll go over Hwy 36th.
-go to 92nd street and go straight tru the light into the Strip Mall
-cross 90th st and go another Strip mall
-go to "On the Border" and cross 88th st take a left onto Chase st.
-Follow Chase st. to Discovery trail.
-trail end at 80th st. Cross it to Harlan st.
-Take a left onto Little Dry Creek trail
-Get off the trail onto Lowell st south bound
-Lowell st. to left onto 46th st
-46th st to right onto Clay st
-Clay st to right onto Zuni st
-Immedialtly take left to 29th st
29th street to LoDo, Downtown, Cherry creek path, and platte trail.

I can email you the route if prefer.

Good Luck!

This is a good route WAZCO!
A friend and I tried this route last week and found it to be a very friendly ride. There is one spot that’s a little tight under the train overpass but that’s only a 20’ – 30 stretch. We’re old wimpy riders who ride nothing but safe roads. We started in north Boulder near Celestial Season headquarters. My total was 38 miles. A construction at Tape Road detour the ride but we manage to reconnect at Flatiron PNR and back on Industrial Lane. Going down 29th street onto 15th street is good way to finish the ride since I work in LODO. Have you revamped this route since? I know I'm getting my hope up but I was wishing for a shorter route.

I have modified that route which now avoids the train overpass. It's shorter by quarter of a mile. When you're on Wadsworth take a left at the light just before the 36 overpass. Follow that to the next light and take a right to Westminister Blvd. After 3 lights, you'll be riding parrallel to 36. Then Westminister Blvd will overpass 36 and turns to Harlan St. Take Harlan to 88th st and hang right onto 88th. Take a first left (light) onto Larmar which would take you to Chase. This will take you back to the original route. You'll know what to do after that.

Glad you like it.

Hope this move works out for you. I came to Colorado (Colorado Springs) in 1982 from the SF Bay Area with my car and 300 pounds of stuff for an 18 month temporary job. Not a Colorado native, but got here as quick as I could!

I just started riding (for real) in February. The cycling around the Springs is great just on the roads. But, here are a few rides that you may want to particpate in and some web sites to check out:

1) The Buena Vista Bike Fest: a 100-mile ride from Buena Vista to Leadville, and back. Heck, only the first 60 miles or so is uphill! www.bvbf.org Probably in late May/early June 2006. (This was the first century ride I ever did – I had a blast!)

2) Ride the Rockies. Click on “route” to see the past ride – it changes each year and the new route will be posted in February 2006. Ride tentatively scheduled for 18 June 2006 for 6 or 7 days after that. www.ridetherockies.com This was a great ride and I can’t wait to do it again.

3) The Triple Bypass. This looks like a great ride. Evergreen to Avon: 120 miles and three mountain passes in one day. 09 July 2006. http://www.teamevergreen.org/HTML_MAIN_PAGES/triplebypass.html

There are other organnized rides around Denver, plus things like Bike Tour of the Rockies, Tour de Wyoming -- you could spend your whole summer just going from event to event...

Also, about 1.5 hours drive (west) of Denver you can park at Copper Mountain and then do a +/- 80 mile ride between Copper Mountain, Vail, Leadville, and then back to Copper Mountian. Search the 'net for "Iron Triangle" or "Copper Triangle" Long climbs followed by high GPM (grins per minute) downhills.

Y'all have me wanting to move to Colorado! Seriously, I've been looking at applying to colleges in my home state of Maine, but now I will look into colleges in Colorado as well. Any recommendations? (not to hijack the thread or anything).

Regis University: Jesuit College

Colorado College: Liberal Arts College in Colo Spgs

Colorado Mountain College: Mainly vocational, resort-oriented types of 2 year degrees (like resort management, ski area operations, etc.) Right in the hills!

State Colleges/Universities in Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Boulder, Ft. Collins, Greeley.

Colorado School of Mines (Golden, CO)

Probably more that I didn't mention...

Y'all have me wanting to move to Colorado! Seriously, I've been looking at applying to colleges in my home state of Maine, but now I will look into colleges in Colorado as well. Any recommendations? (not to hijack the thread or anything).
What major are you looking for? With out that, it's pretty hard to reccomend a college.

What major are you looking for? With out that, it's pretty hard to reccomend a college.


Definitely a liberal arts major, sociology or political science, or maybe a teaching specific degree. Oddly enough, like the original thread poster I'm living in the UK right now too (USAF).

I suppose I can do my own research ;) but just wondered if anybody had a good experience worth passing on--like at a small town school near some great riding.

The aforementioned cities all have places that you can chase down one of the majors you mentioned. All of these cities have places where you can bike around too. On the weekends, put your bike on the car and head off to the hills to do some serious climbing on the roads and bike paths that are around there (e.g., Summit County: Breckenridge, Dillon, Copper Mountain, etc...)

One thing I should mention. The snow is beginning to fly around here so the "mountains" maybe off limits until next Spring (snowy/icy up there some brave souls may stillbe biking, but not me). They're getting ready for ski season now -- use the same legs, different muscles than cycling -- no problem, you always want to balance things out eh? :)

If you're into cycling during the winter, the Front Range communities (Denver, Colo Spgs, etc.) are the ones that you'll probably want to live in. Sure, we get snow, but a lot of it melts away a few days later and the roads are dry(even though the weather can be cool). I have the stuff to bike down to about 37F degrees. After that, it's just too cold for me. But, many day sin the winter here are in the 60's, bright and sunny, and just pefect for a ride.

There is also Leavi

Fort Lewis College (http://www.fortlewis.edu/academics/academic_programs/default.asp) in Durango has seems to meet all your requirements.

Mesa State College (http://www.mesastate.edu/main/academics/degrees.htm) in Grand Junction also seem to meet your requirements.

Both areas have fantastic mountain biking and more than adequate road biking.