velotel
04-28-2013, 10:06 AM
Some training camp! Rode 7 out of 9 days, following my son around Boulder and up into the mountains. My form is better than in a long time. Anyone planning a trip to the Alps, go to Boulder to train. Hard climbs, fast rolling on the flats, altitude training all at the same time. And for an additional bonus there’s Vecchio’s to check out. Peter, with extreme generosity, supplied me with a Gunnar cross bike for the first couple of days riding in the snow and then a Moots Vamoots for the rest of the time. Visiting there is a little like visiting the Madonna del Ghisallo chapel / museum above Lago di Como, only Vecchio’s is alive. (Also more stuff to look at. On the other hand the view out the door is a bit different.) End of the day there’s a steady stream of cyclists wandering in to have a beer and exchange insults/stories. Quite the place indeed.
The Boulder bike paths are a marvel. My son knows them intimately. Following him around on them is a pure amusement park ride. What struck me more than anything is how friendly everyone is, cyclists, runners, walkers, everyone smiles and says hello. Never once did I see a walker looking perturbed by cyclists, most of whom are rolling at a good speeds. It’s a parallel universe on those paths. We’d ride from one end of town to another at speed and never have to cross a road. Then to make it even better for cyclists, all the roads have generous shoulders dedicated to bikes. Never once did I sense any aggressivity from a driver despite various histories I’ve seen posted here on the forum.
Just one caveat for Boulder road riding: for the best you need to enjoy riding on dirt roads. Not jeep tracks mind you, just packed and graded dirt roads. Excellent roads. Fast in the descents. I’ve never gone so fast on dirt in fact. Just had to watch out on the turns because of all the sand they’d spread for the snow. Same thing on the pavement. It was kind of like paved single tracking. The cars’ tires swept two lines clear of sand with ridges of sand between them. Pick which track of clean pavement to follow and stay in it. Intense at times. Also rode some dirt roads out east of town on the plains. Cruiser roads, mostly flat, straight, and wide. But not so smooth when we rode them. They needed the road grader to make a pass.
With all the restaurants, bars, and bikes shops, Boulder could make a pretty sweet bike holiday. Lots of cyclists too so hooking up with someone for rides probably wouldn’t be too hard. Based on my brief time there, looks like the Boulder riders are into full-on race clothing and equipment. Even saw one guy decked out in full aero race clothing on what looked like some sort of fancy tri-bike or maybe a time-trial bike pulling a kiddy trailer.
Boulder’s got an impressive bike park if you like whipping around on berms and flying off of jumps. We rode by one afternoon and the place was jumping, no pun intended. Place is pretty big but then again I really have nothing to base that on so maybe it’s not that big.
Turned out to be a total matching bookends trip. Left here in full sunshine and warmth, arrived in Boulder (some 27 hours late with the night spent in a hotel near the London airport) in a snowstorm. Next day did a big ride in the snow to Gold Hill. The day I flew out of Denver to come home was another big ride up to Gold Hill, by a different route, only now wearing shorts and short sleeves on a beautiful spring day. Just like when I left France. Flew into Geneva, caught the bus to Crolles, passed through a long tunnel and exited into a snowstorm. My wife picked me up and said it was snowing at the house! Bookends!
A few pics, all taken by my son with his i-phone. I didn’t haul my camera around because the riding pace was always too fast. I didn’t want to slow my son and his friends. They like to hammer. And I apologize for being in the pics; that’s what my son was shooting. He was ecstatic at having me there and being able to take me on all his favorite rides with his riding buddies and wanted to get a record of it. Voila why I’m in just about all the shots he took.
The Boulder bike paths are a marvel. My son knows them intimately. Following him around on them is a pure amusement park ride. What struck me more than anything is how friendly everyone is, cyclists, runners, walkers, everyone smiles and says hello. Never once did I see a walker looking perturbed by cyclists, most of whom are rolling at a good speeds. It’s a parallel universe on those paths. We’d ride from one end of town to another at speed and never have to cross a road. Then to make it even better for cyclists, all the roads have generous shoulders dedicated to bikes. Never once did I sense any aggressivity from a driver despite various histories I’ve seen posted here on the forum.
Just one caveat for Boulder road riding: for the best you need to enjoy riding on dirt roads. Not jeep tracks mind you, just packed and graded dirt roads. Excellent roads. Fast in the descents. I’ve never gone so fast on dirt in fact. Just had to watch out on the turns because of all the sand they’d spread for the snow. Same thing on the pavement. It was kind of like paved single tracking. The cars’ tires swept two lines clear of sand with ridges of sand between them. Pick which track of clean pavement to follow and stay in it. Intense at times. Also rode some dirt roads out east of town on the plains. Cruiser roads, mostly flat, straight, and wide. But not so smooth when we rode them. They needed the road grader to make a pass.
With all the restaurants, bars, and bikes shops, Boulder could make a pretty sweet bike holiday. Lots of cyclists too so hooking up with someone for rides probably wouldn’t be too hard. Based on my brief time there, looks like the Boulder riders are into full-on race clothing and equipment. Even saw one guy decked out in full aero race clothing on what looked like some sort of fancy tri-bike or maybe a time-trial bike pulling a kiddy trailer.
Boulder’s got an impressive bike park if you like whipping around on berms and flying off of jumps. We rode by one afternoon and the place was jumping, no pun intended. Place is pretty big but then again I really have nothing to base that on so maybe it’s not that big.
Turned out to be a total matching bookends trip. Left here in full sunshine and warmth, arrived in Boulder (some 27 hours late with the night spent in a hotel near the London airport) in a snowstorm. Next day did a big ride in the snow to Gold Hill. The day I flew out of Denver to come home was another big ride up to Gold Hill, by a different route, only now wearing shorts and short sleeves on a beautiful spring day. Just like when I left France. Flew into Geneva, caught the bus to Crolles, passed through a long tunnel and exited into a snowstorm. My wife picked me up and said it was snowing at the house! Bookends!
A few pics, all taken by my son with his i-phone. I didn’t haul my camera around because the riding pace was always too fast. I didn’t want to slow my son and his friends. They like to hammer. And I apologize for being in the pics; that’s what my son was shooting. He was ecstatic at having me there and being able to take me on all his favorite rides with his riding buddies and wanted to get a record of it. Voila why I’m in just about all the shots he took.