Skip to main content

Boulder Trip: Biking


A big reason we wanted to spend our vacation in Boulder was the fact that it is a major bike city. Nationally recognized as 'the fittest city in the nation', there are bike lanes throughout the city, and everywhere is connected by trail. Stefan had a good time, I think, just looking up where we'd go on our bikes when we got there. Although we only had 5 days of vacation, and two of them were driving, we had plenty of time to make multiple bike treks in the mountains.
Stefan has been an off-road biker since he was in junior high, and although I love a good bike ride (and spinning happens to be my favorite form of exercise) I had never biked 'off the beaten track', so to speak, until I met him. When we were dating and first married we often went off-road biking around Lincoln and Omaha on the single-track dirt paths, which for a first timer were challenging, but quickly grew boring...especially for Stefan.
We bike on dirt trails in Lincoln all the time with the kids in the trailer (we can never really go father than 15-20 miles with them...they start to get irritated with each other in the cramped area!) but these mountain paths were...um...NOTHING like at home. Of course, we don't have mountains in Nebraska either, in case you missed that.
I have never seen trails like this, though they are what I assumed mountain bike paths to be like. I just didn't think it would be SO hard for me to do it, having never done it before. The pictures that you can see the path are actually very easy, I just stopped to take pictures where I thought there was a good view. The parts that I didn't stop to take, those were more challenging.
Yes, I made it over the picture above, and many areas like it. I did fall a couple of times, and I was very frustrated with myself, but we hit the trails hard and Stefan kept reminding me that I "have never done it before so you're actually doing really well" but when you're more competitive with yourself than anyone else...let's just say I was a bit upset at times.
The key is to not hesitate and keep your momentum uphill....it's much easier said than done, especially when you get to a very rocky patch you have no idea how to climb with a bike going faster than you'd like!

This is a nice little rest spot over a bridge on the easy Canyon trail that follows the highway back into Boulder, I believe about 20 miles outside of town. The first day we did 3 mile loop at Betasso Preserve (clockwise) and the next day we did 16 mile trek Marshall Mesa. Both were considered "easy/moderate" trails and in 19 miles I: fell 3 times, landed 6 amazing bad bruises/cuts, cried a few angry tears, threw my bike, had amazing workouts, and walked about 1.5 miles. All in all it was a fun trip, though if you saw my pictures of where I fell you'd think I was insane.
***
Moral of the story: We LOVE to be outside in the mountains and we love to be active. I had fun on my trip and I think I earned every single morsel of food that I ate...and I haven't even told you about our hikes yet!
Labels:

Comments

kylee said…
I feel your pain! I had done a lot of single-track biking in Lincoln before my vacation to Durango, CO. I was so excited to try *real* mountain biking, but it was soooooooooooo hard!! So much fun though, huh? It's amazing to be able to look down and realize that you came all the way from down there!
August 10, 2011 at 3:14 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Home School Activities: Board Games We Love

My children have recently become enthralled in the world of board games. I was never a board game player. Sure, I remember long summer hours (days? it seemed like it..) spent around a Monopoly board, but I was never one to suggest to get out the cards, or a game. As my children have grown and they are now able to do activities with me, I started noticing that they really took to puzzles (when done all together) and the one or two board games I happened to have kept in the storage room. They were always asking to play Candy Land and so I figured I should branch off a bit. Over the course of the last year, I have found GREAT games, even ones that I love to play alongside them. The amount of 'teaching' they have gotten through games is jaw-dropping. Counting, team-playing, math related patterning, are just some of the skills I've watched develop. I asked before Christmas on facebook what my friends and their own kids loved and I was thrilled with the response. We have found ov...
2 comments
Read more

Top 10 Books of 2017

early sunset in Ft Langley  I love reading all these "Top 10" lists of favorite books read throughout the year, so I'm adding my two cents.  I'm involved in a Book Club that I love with women from our church, a small group that meets every week and goes through a book every few months, my own list, books I'm reading aloud to the kids and  books I'm reading for educational purposes (think professional development). I took a look at all of those combined and this is what I got, in no particular order:  *  The Problem of God  by Mark Clark - I loved going through this academic apologetic book with my friends from church. It led us to great discussion, and good food for thought. I listen to Clark's sermons every week and so knew I'd probably love his writing style, too. If you have objections to Christianity, or are feeling confused about what to believe, this is a great primer.  * You're Smarter Than You Think  by Dr. Thomas Armstro...
Post a Comment
Read more

August Book Titles

* 50 Women Every Christian Should Know by Michelle DeRusha -- I heard the author on a podcast and the book sounded good. It was described as a book full of 5-7 page mini biographies on each woman, and that sounded both easy and interesting. It was. I really enjoyed this book and plan to give it away as a Christmas gift to someone I know will get a lot out of it. I really don't know that much about Christianity's historical females, and I felt I learned a lot. Some of the women I had never even heard of before, and it was fun to read about women I'd heard of before by name, but knew little about their lives. * The Story of Science by Susan Wise Bauer -- Oy. This book was tough to get through. Not because the writing wasn't good (it was excellent), but because of the subject matter and my right-brain. Out of any schoolish subjects, I would rate Science as my least favorite and most difficult. I read this book because when I had the kids' school order it, I thoug...
Post a Comment
Read more