Getting into the biking scene

One of the big selling points for me in choosing Boulder was how strong the biking community is here and how great the riding is.

This past weekend, on Sunday, I went out for about an hour ride just to explore the area around our house. I discovered that our nearest cross street runs directly into the start of the Boulder Creek bike path, a gorgeous dedicated bike path that parallels Boulder Creek for 8-10 miles. I only rode about 6 miles of it, but it was amazing - going through Downtown Boulder, through the University, past locals fly fishing in the creek, past fields of prairie dogs, and past about 5 great playgrounds for the kids.

I was so inspired that last night, the whole family went to a local store called Trail Kids to buy a bike trailer so I can tow the kids. This is a picture of what the trailer looks like - those aren't the kids, this is a stock image I downloaded. The store was amazing and we ended up leaving with a bike trailer, a helmet for Zach, a bell for Logan's bike, used snowsuits for both kids, a backpack/baby carrier combo so we can take Zach hiking, and a trail map of Boulder.

This morning, my friend Ryan took me on my first "real" ride. We met at 7am at the Amante coffee shop, about 10 minutes from our house. Amante is a true European coffee shop serving amazing pastries and shockingly good coffee. Ryan beat me there and was sipping a latte and eating a nutella croissant as I arrived. I ordered and drank a quick double espresso and we went out the door. We biked about 15 minutes North out of town and then made a quick left hand turn up Lefthand Canyon which climbed gradually into the hills. We climbed Lefthand Canyon for about another 20 minutes and in that time only saw about 5 cars. We could hear a bubbling creek nearby, birds chirping, the gentle breeze through the trees, and my wheezing. I am REALLY out of shape. The scenery was amazing as we climbed through a deep canyon surrounded by cliffs soaring 1000 feet on each side.

After 20 minutes we took another left onto another canyon road which took us back toward town. The return trip had a nasty little climb in the middle that I suffered up. We returned toward town through a twisty, fast descent. The total ride was about an hour and a half and it was amazingly beautiful.

Tonight, I put the kids to bed while Jeanne went out to a local bike shop to buy a bike for her to toodle around town on. She ended up picking a Trek 7000. This weekend we are all going out on bikes as a family - me pulling the kids and Jeanne on her new bike. It should be a ton of fun, and I'll get a nice workout by pulling 70 pounds of kids and trailer!

We are loving Boulder and really getting into the swing of life here. Getting out of our cars and onto our bikes is part of it.