For biking, check out routes starting at Tom Watson park in Boulder. Tom Watson to Carter Lake is a good one with only one moderate climb.

26th and 32nd have good bike lanes that take you all the way to Golden. From there you can head up Lookout, Golden Gate Canyon or go up 93 towards Boulder if you don’t wanna climb.

The bike paths are okay, especially the C-470 trail, but they’re all really crowded right now and I’m avoiding them.

For running, you can do Green Mt or Table Mt if you want hilly trails. The Highline Trail is a great gravel path in the city that is very flat. Sloan’s Lake and Wash Park are good for shorter weekday runs.

https://www.denvergov.org/...urces/bike-maps.html


I second 26th/32nd out to Golden.

Head south on the S Platte River trail and you can get out to Chatfield Reservoir, Deer Creek Canyon, etc.

Head east as far as the eye can see and your're out of Denver and in Kansas in no time.

I would not ride on 36- thats basically a freeway

36 has a wide shoulder and it's safe. So is 66. Go 36 north, to 66 east, then 75th north to Carter lake. I live at Carter Lake and ride 36 and 66 all the time. I'm speaking to the 36 north east of Boulder. The safe part of 36 northbound starts at 36 and Jay Rd. 36 from Boulder to Broomfield is a freeway. Start at Tom Watson Park and there are tons of riding options.

if you want to ride on 36- go for it, about the last place i'd enjoy riding

If Lookout Mt feels ambitious to you right now, try Left Hand Canyon, which begins about 5 miles N of Boulder. It has a (mostly) good shoulder and is low angle for the first 15 miles. If you continue past there, the last 1.5 miles are steep. Or, at mile 5.2, head N for 3 miles to Jamestown, which is also low angle. We got a ton of snow up here, but the roads should be ok soon, if not already. But, these are very popular, especially on a nice weekend. So, either arrive very early or accept the fact that there will be some failures to keep 6’ away. Car traffic is fairly light. Also, these descents can be cold in the Spring — plan accordingly.

I live in Denver. I truly don't believe the bike paths, especially on weekends, are a good place to be in the aerobars. Most of my IM bike training has been out of Boulder, if you are looking for routes without a lot of climbing. Park by Amante coffee in north Boulder near 36 and head north on 36. I always get off 36 pretty quickly and head east on any of the side roads, then through Hygiene, and just go. All kinds of great rural roads north of the Boulder. You can add some climbing on Left Hand Canyon or Carter Lake (not a hard climb but I always find it pretty). So as I read some of the other posts, basically seconding the rides out of Boulder! You can ride the current half or old full course for IM Boulder.

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Colorado Triathlon Company, CO2UT 2021, Crooked Gravel 2022, Steamboat Gravel 2022

Thanks! I'll be riding my road bike for the next few weeks at least and not switching to my tri bike until after the shut down lifts. It unfortunately needs some work before it I feel comfortable/safe riding it again.

Looks like I need that bike rack ASAP.

On that note - any suggested group rides to help me learn the routes? So far I am getting lost outside the few miles surrounding my home.

Amante coffee in North Boulder ( at Broadway and Lee Hill) historically has MANY groups meeting for group rides, most are welcoming to visitors and newcomers. Just show up to meet the groups that push off at 8, 9... Most of the bike shops also offer no-drop rides to make sure you don’t get dropped and lost on a climb. Check out University Bikes and Bicycle Village - Excel sports is focused on the Tri market and also hosts rides

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" I take my gear out of my car and put my bike together. Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafes. Non-racers. The emptiness of of their lives shocks me. "
(opening lines from Tim Krabbe's The Rider , 1978

Posted this in the swim thread and then saw this pop up as well, figured a good place while this is going on.


Is anybody in the Denver/Boulder area and have an outdoor swim solution? My wife and I are pretty new to the area and everything I have seen is state parks "open" swimming after Memorial Day. Was hoping for another option or area to potentially jump in, I am so sick of using tubing.


Also, I agree with the bike trails being challenging to be in the aero bars, that said C470 bike trail down to deer creek canyon area has some decent stretches you can get in the aero bars and the climbing around that area is respectable

Open water swim practice is about to open up at Chatfield Reservoir. You have to reserve a time, and I'm not 100% sure how to do that, but my coach sent me a note that it's beginning soon. Water is probably 50 degrees right now, so I'll be waiting a while for things to heat up a little bit.

This. Do not train on the bike paths. Maybe maintain a zone 2 effort, but even that is questionable. The bike paths, especially closer to downtown, are NO place to train. I run at wash park all the time and I cringe when I see people in aero hammering around the loop... If you want to train, go to Boulder. I also do loops at Cherry Creek State Park if I'm short on time, but the pavement there is horrendous.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

The bike paths are fantastic for base miles/Z2 riding.

Between the Platte River trail, Cherry Creek trail, and 470 trail, I can easily do a ~55mi loop without ever riding on roads. Agree that it's no place for intervals or 20mph+ riding.

Deer Creek Canyon is great for a 45min-1hr effort. If you ride there from downtown, it should be a ~4hr ride

Edit: also, I highly recommend checking out Strava Routes. They're fairly new but come up with great suggestions based on distance and preferred hilly/flat roads

Thanks for everyone's feedback. Through a combination of Strava Routes, my Garmin, and Google Maps, I rode Lookout Mountain yesterday and was pleasantly surprised. The climbs were not that difficult (although my overall speed left much to be desired). Moreover, the ability to simply ride was appreciated, especially after moving from Chicago. I agree that the more annoying spots were on the bike paths, but that made up very little of my total mileage.

I need to get a bike rack for my car and head up to Boulder (although that may violate the stay in place order, so I may wait a few more weeks). Again - thank you everyone!

It doesn't violate anything. Go ride your bike wherever you damn well please.

Actually, it does. I was flamed last week for my question about riding in Boulder (as a Denverite).

But with Colorado's Stay and Home order to expire before this weekend, I won't be violating any law when I do the Boulder Octopus Saturday.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

I will ride in Boulder and send the governor a pic of my balls in front of the flatirons

Well, that would be appropriate. hah.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri