Cycling in Paradise

There may be places with better weather, but for an awesome cycling community I think you'd be hard pressed to beat Boulder. I had a photo shoot this morning so I missed the Swift ride (a nice preorganized ride of at least 10 people) and was unable to hook up with any tri-friends so I started my 3 1/2 hour ride on my own. Going out of Boulder I was riding behind (at a respectful distance) a group of 3 cyclists. Finally at a light they told me they were going to Jamestown and when I said I was heading there too, they invited me along. I was very grateful for their presence going out highway 36 where we hit a nasty headwind. I used my riding-with-Jeremy survival skill of getting on someone's wheel and not wasting my precious energy by helping to pull.

Then we hit Lefthand Canyon and the group took off. I tried to keep up with them but only made it about 3 1/2 miles before I saw that I was doomed. One guy tried to help me catch back on with the others, but I realized that while I might be able to push to the group, once there I didn't stand a chance to staying on. Once they left me they were out of sight in minutes. And my heartrate dropped from 165 to 145.

I caught up with them in J-town but they were heading back to Boulder and I needed more miles so we parted ways. I rode back down the canyon to the highway and then up to St. Vrain. Coming down (the down is important) I saw a funny bird in the road:



I would have totally stopped and taken my own picture, but as I said, I was coming down. It was a ring-necked pheasant, I've never seen one before. And he was just hanging out in the middle of the road.

My next stop was Hygiene where I hit the gas station for a Pepsi. I'm not the biggest cola fan but man that tasted good. And then 75th street to the Diagonal to home. 55 1/2 miles in 3 1/2 hours followed by a 4 mile run. Now I feel like I'm training for some sort of endurance race.

And to end, while Boulder has a huge, mostly friendly cycling community, there are a few pet peeves I have.

1. If you are going to pass me, say something. Anything. How's it going... On your left... Hi... Because blowing by me less that 5" away is expecting a lot of me. As Jeremy can attest too, I'm not always the most predictable rider. Especially when I'm sucking Pepsi out of my water bottle or digging in my pockets for a gel.

2. I know I'm a pretty studly rider, but if I pass you, don't hop on my wheel without saying anything. It's creepy. Be like those Bluesky riders of this morning and say hi, introduce yourself and ask if you can tag along. And hey, maybe even offer to pull a little (though I know I have a great butt to look at).

3. And really (especially you girls) learn how to change a flat tire. It's not rocket surgery. They teach it to 3rd grade Girl Scouts and you, with your college degree, should be able to figure it out. Just because it took me 40 minutes to change a flat yesterday (I had some, ah, difficulty with getting the @%^#ing tire off with my crappy tire levers) does not excuse you from the doing your own. Man (or woman) up. It's for your own good.