Will Bike for Food

In honor of Cesar Chavez day today, I did not have to go to work. I think my employer just might be the only one to recognize the 29th of March as an actual holiday, but really you will get no argument from me. As I traveled the winding roads north of Golden to meet some friends for a ride, I succumbed to the allure of carless streets, the quiet of the morning, and the signs of spring all around me. How could I miss the serenity of such a ride? What could possibly keep me from enjoying such a tour day after day?—oh yeah, work!

So consider this post my official “Will Bike for Food” sign. I will ride my bike in exchange for food so I don’t have to work for it. Any takers? Here are some of the jobs I’d be willing to do in the service of riding my bike:

• Pro Tour Racer: While I lost the dream of being a pro cyclist years ago, if any pro team would like a 30 something amateur grunt to add to their arsenal consider me your man. I’m undertrained, in my 30’s, a CAT3…did I mention undertrained? I would consider it an honor to be off the back of any pro tour team; salary and benefits negotiable.
• Bike Messenger: I would consider being a bike messenger. I will however insist on riding a bike with gears as I believe in Darwin and the theory of evolution…the derailleur is good. It would be a great excuse for getting a Chrome bag though, not too shabby.
• Velo-Cab Driver: I would gladly drive one of those pedicabs around, however I’m not good at chit-chat so fares should have no expectation of pleasant banter or idle rambling.
• Bike cop: ride around on a bike, with a weapon and exact justice on the unsuspecting, lawless scum of Denver. SIGN ME UP! I’d like a red bike though, and a siren and maybe a cape.
• Shoot videos for Training Peaks: Now this has to be the sweetest gig in all of cycling. You ride around with a dork camera on your head and take rider-perspective video of roads. The Training Peaks folks then take your video and add it to a computer simulation for training. I could easily do this. I know lots of great routes…and would travel to Europe to ride if you really insist on it.
• Gear tester: I’d ride around all day to log countless miles on some company’s tires just so they could stick a “Tested by #17” sticker on the inside…oh they do that testing in a lab…bummer. Well if there’s a job for riding around and giving my opinion on gear I’d consider that as well.
• Bike tour guide: I think this would be a pretty sweet gig too. It would be like being on a group ride—all the time. The hard part would be indulging the touristy and out of shape set with their incessant demands for breaks and photo opportunities. And to think they’re paying to ride bikes…why would they want to stop so much?
• Charity bike rider: If some group, I don’t care which one, wants to sponsor me to ride around and take pictures of my travels for their ‘cause’ I’d sign on with their agenda without a second thought. (Now I suppose this isn’t entirely true. I’m an opinionated SOB so I couldn’t stomach some of the crap churned out by the ‘free thought’ mass of bigoted, crackpot, nut jobs out there. But if there’s a group of tree huggin’, dirt worshippin’, bike lovers out there looking for a rolling billboard give me a shout!)
• Gypsy: Do they still have gypsies? Are there bike gypsies? Maybe I could be the first.
• Corporate whore: That’s right: slap a logo on my back and I'm yours. The price is cheap: food for me...and my wife too I suppose…and maybe some help with the mortgage…and gear money. But hey that's a bargain in exchange for freely pimping myself out for your product, no matter how crappy. You make ugly jerseys with rock band art and fake tattoos and junk on the sleeves…I’ll rock out that Pink Floyd swag and make it look good. You have a new bottle design…I’ll drink from it. You hand stitch panniers out of yak skin…I’ll pack up my junk and show everyone how yak is the new cordura nylon. Want to make an organic, compostable shammy...I'll put my ass on the line for it.  Have a new phone app or other tech gizmo that measures power, heart rate, blood pressure, sweat loss, carb consumption, and pee acidity…just call me the pee acid king.
• Self absorbed bike blogger: This would be the greatest gig ever. You get to be all high, mighty and arrogant about how superior your mode of transportation is compared to all the others. You can gripe about the weather, traffic and people who ride aero bars on the bike path. You get to look down on all the ‘unworthy’ masses and dispense your wit and wisdom from high atop your shiny new Brooks saddle. People love you and hate you all at the same time, and you could care less because you’re out riding your bike and cleansing your conscience all at the same time. What a sweet gig…one can only hope!

Of Wolves and Buffalos

Last weekend as part of the failed Primal/First Bank training camp we rode north west out of Denver up to Boulder for “Super Flag.” I didn’t get an exact count but I think at our peak the ride easily included 20+ riders from our team and a handful of riders from other teams. With such a presence on the roadways we attracted the attention and ire of many of the motorists we passed. At times I must admit I even felt uncomfortable traveling in the group, the presence of erratically passing cars and speeding motorists (not to mention the flurry of bicyclists) transformed the roadway into uncomfortably close quarters. This weekend I opted to ride alone, and found myself traveling many of the same roadways covered last weekend. Not an incident to speak of or report. No senior citizens to yell at, no truck exhaust filling the lungs. No fly by’s or shouts from teenage dumbasses in their Too Fast Too Furious mobiles…or mommy’s SUV. Was there simply less traffic?--perhaps. I left my home earlier than last week which might have had something to do with it, though the weather today was nicer and I think more folks were out and about. So what changed?

The only difference I could think of was that I was alone; one cyclist on the road as opposed to 25. Could this really be the distinguishing factor: numbers? The more I pedaled and contemplated this phenomenon the more it made sense to me on some levels. Pleasantly left to my own devices my thoughts drifted to the Buffalo. The buffalo is a large, strong beast but one inclined to idle the day in a field, consuming resources and producing methane. These lumbering giants congregate in huge herds and move about all day long prowling the landscape eating, pooping, mating and butting heads with each other. From the openness of the prairie they can easily spot predators from afar and stampede the life out of them if needed. Its kind of a brute, monotonous existence but one that works for the buffalo (until we showed up on the continent and blasted them all…but that’s not my point.) My point is: motorists are much like buffalos.

Since cyclists appear to cause buffalos so much consternation and angst, cyclists must then be more akin to wolves. A lone wolf, as I was today, roaming the wide open prairie in isolation is hardly a threat to the lumbering, buffalo, motorist herd. Even when on more remote, wooded lanes or curvy mountain routes one wolf is still not a significant threat to a herd of buffalos. But generally it is in the cyclist’s nature to not travel in solitude but rather to seek the power and strength of the pack. The buffalo knows this and deep down fears it. With one cyclist the herd remains calm, perhaps a watchful eye fixed in the direction of the wolf but they feel more comfortable giving wide berth when passing and thus move on with their big, stupid existences with ease and less stress. With a pack of wolves however it is a different story. Haven’t you ever noticed that pel-e-ton sounds eerily familiar to bring-it-on.  Because peleton secretly means: buffalo I’ve come to hunt you and take you home as a trophy to my family….its French though so the translation isn’t quite literal. This is no surprise to the buffalo, they expect as much, and thus from the congregation of cunning and strength found in the cyclist pack arises an implicit danger to the buffalo. Although larger and stronger pound for pound, buffalo know to be afraid of a pack of wolves (or consider elephants and tigers or rhinos and lions, there are plenty of other examples). The heightened tensions arise from the knowledge that a pack of wolves can easily cut through a herd of buffalos, separate out the weak, frail or stupid and devour them whole. I’ve seen a pack of cyclists eat an entire F-350...its both grotesque and beautiful at the same time like something out of National Geographic. Sensing this fate the motorist, upon seeing a pack of cyclists roving the hills, reacts with a preservationist instinct exemplified by behavior such as: yelling, incorrectly citing traffic law, hoof stomping and drive-by buzzing. These displays are intended to prevent the inevitability of attack.

Does this posturing work?--not really. It makes the buffalo motorist look like an ass. I’ve often wondered what type of thoughts were rolling through the empty skulls of driver’s who deem it necessary and prudent to closely buzz a group of cyclists: now I’ve found my answer. It is pretty much, "Uh...duh...duh...cud...buffalo...cud...chew...grunt...stomp...stomp...bike." In any case, these are the types of thoughts one can have when left to calmly ride around the countryside enjoying the road and serenity of one’s head. Unfortunately it doesn’t happen too often with such lack of disturbances from the herd. It is a shame that the level of ease and comfort I enjoyed today is not often experienced when riding with my friends. As a wolf, I’m a pack animal by nature, and while it is sometimes nice to go off by oneself, it is more fun riding in a group. If only we could just get the buffalos to chill the hell out.

"How you like me now Denver?"--Mother Nature

Mother Nature spited the Primal 1st Bank Training camp on Friday and Saturday last weekend, but in an apparent extension of good will gave us a great Sunday for riding. Well not wanting to lull us into a false sense of self confidence she’s back and kicking us in the balls again. Denver’s getting nailed by the biggest snow storm to strike Denver in the local media’s recent (short attention span) memory. And while I generally disregard all the talk of blizzards and such nonsense, this one might live up to the hype.

Thanks to the crap weather which struck landfall here in Denver around 3:00...in earnest at least…the ride home SUCKED. The cold, driving, north wind; the stinging sleet and damp snow; the frosty, opaque glasses; wet socks; slush and splash back from cars; you name it this ride had it. Its almost April, what have we done to deserve this? I want to ride my bike on dry, sandless streets. I want to wear shorts, without knee warmers. I want a warm breeze and sunshine. Well I could carry on like this for a while, but at this point I’m home safe and so is my wife so I’m hoping for the best: Blizzard 2010, sock it in baby…I want pancakes for breakfast.

I can tell by the tracks...bikes were here.

All smiles:  snow won't stop this intrepid rider.

Blowing snow.

Your 'Local' Pro Tour Event Needs You!

With heavy, wet, spring-snow flakes falling outside, we’ll not be having our first day of Primal/First Bank Training Camp today. Instead we’ll be sitting inside on Computrainers wishing it were spring or at least dry and remotely hospitable. The weather forecast calls for 3-7” in the metro area with the heaviest accumulations falling in the foothills: the National Weather Service is actually calling for heavier amounts than the local news, but who really knows. At the bottom of the weather story the comment trolls are feverishly fighting about who loves snow and who doesn’t, who is a real Coloradan and who is not. The weather sure brings out jingoistic sentiment like nothing else.

Well I’ve been here about 10 years, which means I’ve been here longer than many currently residing in Colorado, but I’m not a “Native” and never claimed to be. I’m from Missouri, a good sized state smack dab in the heartland of America. Missouri is book ended on its east and west sides by really large cities (St. Louis and Kansas City) with the rest of the state consisting of largely rural, agricultural or forest land. Like Colorado and many other states, Missouri currently finds itself in a tough financial position; specifically with $500M to trim from its budget. Unfortunately, one of the line items in the cross hairs for trimming happens to be the Tour of Missouri, which gets much of its funding from the State of Missouri Board of Tourism.

Stars and Stripes
Last year my wife and I piled into our Vanagon and puttered our way east from Colorado to Missouri to follow the tour. I’ve seen US ‘professional’ bike races in person (small circuit races or criterium events) but I’ve never followed an actual pro tour stage race. And while Missouri is not the south of France and the Ozarks are not the Alps (or even the Rockies for that matter) the event was awesome to watch and the scenery and geography of rolling hills and small rural towns made for great racing. Many of the small US pro teams (Jelly Belly, Bissell, Team Type 1, Kelly, Colavita) fought hard against the continental teams which made the trip to race in my home state: Cervelo, Liquigas, Quick Step, Saxo Bank and Astana. The big American teams, Garmin and Columbia High Road were also on hand to throw down and they brought big names to help them do it: George Hincapie, Christian Vandevelde, David Zabriskie, Mark Cavendish and others. I saw a handful of Mark Cavendish sprint wins: we saw a Thor sprint win as well which was pretty awesome. We watched break away’s form and get chased down by the pack. We saw riders wear the suffering of incessant climbing on their faces as they incessantly climbed Missouri‘s hills and ‘mountains‘. The race had it all and it was only 800 some odd slow Vanagon miles from our home here in Denver.

Levi Gets in the Zone for His TT Effort in Sedalia
From what I’ve read in the tour’s impact study, the 2009 Tour of Missouri brought in about $38M in tax and sales revenue to Missouri; that sounds like a pretty big chunk of change compared to the state’s $5M investment in the event. The study noted that approximately 500,000 spectators watched the event over the course of the race and potentially hundreds of thousands, if not a million more, watched the coverage on TV or followed the tour online. While critics of the race would suggest this is not a sizeable enough return on investment, and poor, rural, Missouri cities pony up a fair amount of unaccounted for fees to play host to the race, it certainly wouldn‘t seem to me that these critiques justify calling off the event altogether. While far from perfect, I’d argue the event has merit and puts Missouri into the global spotlight in a way that other events could scarcely conceive of doing (there won’t be a Rams Super Bowl appearance anytime in the near future so what else is there that’s comparable?) Additionally, the race did seem to energize some of these local communities who served as key watch points along the route, not to mention the start and finish towns. The impact to these communities, which otherwise would scarcely see outside visitors or tourists, must certainly have been significant even if brief.

Great Night of Camping in St. Johns State Park
For our part, while on the course of our trip we stayed in State Parks or small town camp facilities using the Vanagon as our base of operations. We bought food in local stores, bought wine from local wineries (very tasty I might add), fed my coffee addiction from local coffee shops (no Starbucks in middle America praise the lord!) and tried to walk around these small towns and visit with local shop owners to let them know what brought us to their towns. We talked to about as many local cycling fans (and curious residents) as we talked to racers; and yes you can talk to and meet just about all of the racers…and for the record Jens Voigt is twice as personable and clever in person as he is on TV. And while it was hot and humid at times (so is France) there really were no complaints.

JENS!
The moral of this story is less about how great 2009 was, but more a plea for people to support the effort for 2010. While the rest of the world seems to properly recognize the sport of professional cycling for the quality spectator event that it is, the US is struggling to get there. We’ve got a strong local and national race scene and are gaining in notoriety for the quality of pro level competition at our grand tours: Tour of California, Tour of Missouri and the former Tour of Georgia. But with the Tour of Georgia the funds dried up and so too did the race, the Tour of Missouri could very well be next. If you think there should be a 2010 Tour, as either an in person spectator or general fan of quality pro tour bike racing, then the good people of Missouri need your help. Here’s what you can do:

• Visit the Tour of Missouri website (http://www.tourofmissouri.com/) and just poke around: hits mean interest.
• Sign up for their email list or register as a fan if you feel so inclined.
• Send some emails: emails to your friends telling them about the tour, emails to fellow race fans telling them the tour is in jeopardy and most importantly emails to key folks in Missouri State Government to tell them you want their support for this event. As a starting point, here’s some contact info for Governor Jay Nixon’s office and the Missouri Director of Tourism:
• Governor Jay Nixon: 573-751-3222, http://governor.mo.gov/
• Tourism Director Katie Danner Steele: 573-751-3051, DirectorMoTourism@ded.mo.gov
• You could also email Lt. Governor Kinder, local representatives etc. I actually emailed the Lt. Governor after last year’s tour and got an actual email back from a real human being (not the Lt. Governor, but I’ll take it.) This leads me to believe that there are folks out there in MO-GOV land who really want this event to continue, they just need your voice to help add some momentum to it.
• Continue to support local racing and interest in competitive cycling. More interest will mean more races which will eventually make it harder to say no to events like these in the future.

Garmin in the Break
Here in Colorado the buzz is about whether the Governor and Lance can work out a deal to bring a pro tour race to Colorado in the near future. We had the Coors Classic back in the 80’s but since then haven’t hosted an elite level bike race, while other states have seemingly been working to promote the sport in our absence. Colorado could very well host some of the most challenging riding pro riders could ever expect to encounter: you want to climb high?--then climb Mt. Evans. You want days of endless climbing…how about days of climbing at 6,000+ feet…all day long. Flats…yes we got them too. But one race cannot stand on its own and expect to continue on the support of state and local governments alone, it needs to draw from a growing support for the sport across the country; it needs help from other state Tours to keep the energy and interest growing. Colorado needs the Tour of Missouri just as the Tour of MO needs Colorado (and others) right now. Take a moment and send an email, support your local pro tour event: have a bake sale or something, every little bit helps.

KOM Sprint Starts to Form

Sianara Path, Its Been Real

Today afforded me the opportunity to play young urban professional one more time, this time with a full commute eastward into the belly of the beast: Cherry Creek. So after two days of high profile urban riding and path trolling, I now feel myself a learned expert on the subject. Before my ride tomorrow, which will once again push me head long into the world of industrial parks and tenement housing, I figured I’d dispense my wisdom and be shed of it.

• The small dog trend really needs to stop. These pocket puppies are the canine equivalent of a bag of Skittles to larger predators (like squirrels and such) and thus really serve no role in nature. Take your teensy-weensy poopsie and get it off the bike bath before an errant valve cap flies off and crushes its skull.
• There are a lot of people out there who enjoy the comfortable ride of a full suspension mountain bike. There are those who enjoy the effortless glide of road bike tires. And there's the third group who has no qualms about enjoying them both simultaneously.
• Aero bars…*&@#$%! aero bars. The market for aero bars is apparently very good despite our slumping economy and near 10% unemployment rate. Here’s a stock tip, buy shares of Performance because they must be making a killing selling tri bars to hybrid owners for their daily Tour de Pathlete.
• Old men on old road bikes are a trip to watch; overly loaded for their 20 mile constitutional, inappropriately dressed for any weather, they always seem to be suffering…even when waiting for the light to change.
• If you have no agenda, no job, no initiative to do anything or get anywhere then head out to the bike path around 2:00 in the afternoon and weave amongst the old men, path racers, hipsters and poopsie pocket pups. In fact bring your significant other or 12 and just make a parade of it while you’re at it. The more slowly pedaling weavers the merrier.
• The slowly pedaling, agendaless weavers always end up laying on the grass in the sun at the park, that one you pass as you make that last turn and head towards your schmuck job...who's laughing now office boy?
• A kitted up female cyclist will never wave or nod at you…ever.
• A kitted up male cyclist will only wave or nod if they think they’re faster than you, otherwise they’ll just pedal harder and over compensate.
• Most kitted up male cyclists cruising the path at 8:00am think they are faster than everyone.
• The IQ of driver’s in Cherry Creek goes down 10 points for every 10 grand of pre-tax income.
• There are a lot of people running at 2:00 in the afternoon; most of them are in really good shape and are apparently unemployed or nocturnal…so that’s how they do it.
• “I can ride my bike with no handlebars, no handlebars” While that might be true for the Flobots, its not true for most of the people who attempt it on the bike path. Just hang on tight for Pete’s sake. Pete is a nice guy and you’re complete lack of control or sense of balance is going to f* his shit up.
• The hardest part about riding a bike is selecting a helmet that fits properly on one’s cranium. Apparently few have mastered this skill, and many fail at it publicly every time they go out for a ride.
• Any guy riding in non-existent drops on his mountain bike, chain a-grindin' and a-squeakin', with a sweatshirt with “Ted” on the back will most assuredly be a douche bag. He’ll pass and then slow down right in front of you. He’ll cut people off at random. He’ll be wearing those radio headphone combo things. He’ll attempt riding with no hands--poorly and he will do it all just to spite you…and he will enjoy every minute of it.
• You can say “on your left” as loudly as you want, but if a runner is in their Ipod zone they will never hear. And as you go by right in the midst of their 'bringing sexy back' they will always give you that, “scary, fast passing, asshole cyclist” look as you pass.
• If you try not to pay attention to the fact that they are homeless people cheering for you, it almost feels like you are in turn 1 entering onto the Champs Elysees for the Tour and it might smell like it too.
• Any attempts by the city to “fix” cracks in a bike path only ends up making it worse. Say yes to crack, it is less annoying than rehab.
• Painting yellow lines on the bike path to help designate opposing lanes heading into tight turns or corners is a big mistake, as the amateurs look down at the lines to make sure they’re in the right place and inevitably end up veering into the other lane anyway.
• They could plaster the roadway with airport runway lights, neon signs and dancing purple monkeys in share the road shirts and drivers would still think that the marked bike lanes on city streets are their turf to be contested with a level of aggression and hostility one typically only associates with the West Bank or when the people in your office fight over the last Krispy Kreme in the break room.
• There is a moment in every cruiser bike rider’s ride when they realize that despite the cool appearance of their vintage ride, the posture, fit, weight and gearing of their heft machine is entirely inappropriate for their chosen route and distance. If you’re lucky enough you just might be around to witness this realization when it happens. Its like shooting stars and magic and nirvana and stuff.

And really if anything is about shooting stars and magic and nirvana its riding the bike path. I only mock out of jealousy…honest.

Home Sweet Suburban Hole

I’ll preface this by saying first and foremost that I’m not really much of a city person. I’m not inclined towards the crowded living arrangements, noise and general din of urban living. I didn’t move to Colorado for its urban offerings; if I wanted urban culture and amenities I would have stayed in St. Louis or Indianapolis or better yet would have moved to Chicago as many of my collegiate friends did. Chicago is a big city. But city life was never my bag, which is why Denver held such an allure: it is urban but not really a ‘big’ city. So I’m somewhat conflicted. After our move down from the foothills we acted decisively on our anti-city inclinations and settled somewhere in the funky black hole that is the burbs: it was like committing but not really committing, one foot in one foot out as it were. Now I’m not talking about tract home burbs…but in truth our current neighborhood is not far off though. The net result of our move here, while positive on many levels, ultimately is clearly less than ideal. With my disclaimer aside, I go about my business on days such as today and feel myself tugged in a host of different directions leaving me questioning my sense of place.

Every time I travel into the heart of Denver for work purposes it impresses the hell out of me how easy navigating the city by bike truly is; there are many aspects of this city which I feel work really well in terms of car free accessibility and layout. People can get to the heart of the city via light rail or bus, or they can make their way by bike as many choose to do. I can approach Denver via one of three easily accessible east-west bike routes which span the distance between Lakewood/Golden here on the west all the way into downtown. Today I opted for the route down 26th past Sloan’s lake jogging south to the 23rd ave bike route. I easily could have taken 32nd through ’the Highlands’ or 20th more or less to 23rd again at Sloan’s Lake. These on street routes offer wide lanes for bike travel, are clearly marked and generally boast a number of riders heading in either direction. My route ultimately connected me with the Platte and Cherry Creek trails, what I would characterize as Denver‘s main bike and pedestrian super highways. In typical fashion I was not the only bicyclist out during the morning rush hour not by a long shot, and it was 28 degrees when I left my house (on its way to 60--only in Denver). The span of humanity coursing along the bike paths downtown today included young professionals on commuter style rigs, women and men kitted out for early morning training rides, hipsters heading to class at UCD, people cruising on their cruisers to wherever; it ran the whole gambit, each one representing a car not on Speer or some other major metro arterial. For a bike commuter the sight is about the most refreshing thing one can find save a trip to Holland or something like that. I got off the path near the convention center and headed up to catch the bike lane along 14th towards the Webb Building. Here I parked my bike in a secure location and after a short walk I hopped the 16th street mall ride between my meeting locations.

In route I passed all of the retail and dining offerings of the downtown area. I’m not much for nightlife, clubs, bars etc., they have their place and all, but I can fully appreciate the spectrum of coffee shops and breakfast sites open early in the morning. I love breakfast and good coffee and it is easy, if not obligatory, to find a local shop for your cup of jo versus the multitude of Starbucks coffee burners strewn about the place like dandelions in a well manicured lawn. Everything is easily within an easy walk or ride: banks, food, retail etc. While not on the scale of a New York City, one can easily find an outlet for whatever their needs may be all within a comfortable, car-free distance. For those who choose to (or can afford to) living and working downtown makes the option of a car free existence very attractive. In my opinion this should be the goal for any densely packed urban area with both commercial, entertainment and residential options. Yet, as highly as I regard the ease of navigation and travel within the Denver area, I still find myself conflicted in terms of my desire to live close to town versus out in the woods somewhere.

As I said earlier, I’m not a fan of urban living. I prefer to live out in the country or back up in the hills where I used to live. Yet it is hard to weigh my desire for a more rugged or rural lifestyle with the environmental costs of residing on the periphery of town and commuting in for work, shopping or recreational purposes. I don’t look back on my days of car commuting fondly with the added stress, time wasted, traffic, and long hours idling on the interstate. Unfortunately the burb-hole we now call home lies almost too far outside the periphery of the city to regularly take advantage of its conveniences more readily. I consider our neighborhood somewhat of a purgatory of sorts, sandwiched between the true subdivision burbs (hell in short) and the inner city (not really heaven in my mind, but better than the alternative). Our void is sorely lacking in accessible entertainment and dining options; days like today only reinforce how inconvenient and car dependent our neighborhood truly is. We have easy access to a grocery store and other such box retailers, yet prefer not to patron such establishments…unfortunately all of the friendly, local big-box competition is closer to town and not exactly in our hood. Similarly the streets lack the bike routes, bike parking, easy connection points and types of regular public transportation that make true urban living so convenient. Plus, we don’t work here. So while our commutes are now bikeable its still a commute and another door to door form of travel, more or less bypassing anything of value in the process. With Denver trying to market itself as a greener, alternative travel friendly, active place to live, I suppose we’re the target demographic for many of its in-fill efforts. At this point I suppose I am still resistant to its charms, yet after a day like today I have to admit my defenses are weakening, if even just the slightest, tiny bit

Important Message from Our Sponsors

Denverites, Boulderers and Aurorans, Lakewooders and Littleton people lend me your ears!  Have you been outside yet?  If not drop everything you are doing immediately and go outside.
Ride your bikes
Do hill repeats
Work on intervals
Do one leg drills
Hit your LT
Get down in your TT
Get in some LSD
Head down to the park
Dust off that cruiser and cruise
Pannier up and haul some junk around
Bundle those babies and Burley
Nod to a roadie
Track stand with a hipster
Wave to that chick on the flowered Electra
Give the "wha's-up" to that dude on the flamming balloon tire ride
Tandem up with your buddy
Take your dog and MTB and get muddy
Just do something!

This has been a public service announcement from your local, neighborhood bike blogger. Its sunny and really warm outside...do you know where your bicycle is?