I have heard for years that Boulder is one of the best places to train and live for cyclists. Last week I was on vacation in Estes Park Colorado and came down off the mountain Saturday on my way home to Texas. As I was coming into Boulder on Saturday morning I saw at least 200 cyclist on HWY 36 towards Lyons. It was cool to see so many people out riding.
However, I also thougth there must be a better road to ride on around Boulder. 36 was crowded with cars and the shoulder is not that wide. Is there a better road than 36 or is that the main route for most folks in Boulder? If so, it seems pretty dangerous to me.
By the way, I took extra care to slow down and stay away from you guys riding out there. Saw a lot of cool bikes.
Yeah, there are a ton of better roads 36 just happens to be of the most convenient ways to get to a lot of them. You could also try heading out on 63rd street, that’s another way to get to the cool rides to the north of town. If you do go north on 36, you can bypass the part of it that’s closest to town by going up and over Old Stage Rd, which is a nice little (but quite steep in places) climb that they use as part of the Boulder Peak tri.
That is good to know. My brother and I were getting excited about the climbs around Estes Park but we had the family in Tow so no riding this week. WE did however climb longs peak on foot. I would be impressed with anyone that ride road bike up trail ridge road to 12,000ft.
We thought it would be a good idea to make a trip to Boulder in the future to ride the different routes around the town. Was cool to see so many folks out riding. Of course with a temp of 75degrees at 8:30am where else would you be. Around here, Fort Worth, you had better be close to done at 8:30am or you will have temps of over 95.
36 does have a pretty solid shoulder. However on Saturday and Sunday it is over crouded. A nice ride to do is to cycle up to Ward. It is about 13 miles of gradually climbing up to about 8000 ft. If you keep going up you will reach Brainard Lake which is beautiful!
My roommate who is a pro cyclist went on a long ride and rode on trail ridge road a few weeks ago. It’s a nice ride however you have to watch out for the big RV’s and the tourist who are looking at the mts and elks and not seeing the cyclist. If you do it, ride on the week day. They also charge $10 per bike to enter the park.
36 just happens to be of the most convenient ways to get to a lot of them. You could also try heading out on 63rd street, that’s another way to get to the cool rides to the north of town. If you do go north on 36, you can bypass the part of it that’s closest to town by going up and over Old Stage Rd, which is a nice little (but quite steep in places) climb that they use as part of the Boulder Peak tri.