Denver, Colorado

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Well, it's been a minute since I've been on the forums. Lots has transpired in my personal life and career in the last month, and it looks like Denver is going to be my new home by the end of the year. Never been in the city, just for the usual Summit County snow bum tour. What can I expect with riding, and just general good info. Feed me! Keep in mind I'm not your typical road cyclist, I seek out gravel too.

 

[Guttercat]

Well, it's been a minute since I've been on the forums. Lots has transpired in my personal life and career in the last month, and it looks like Denver is going to be my new home by the end of the year. Never been in the city, just for the usual Summit County snow bum tour. What can I expect with riding, and just general good info. Feed me! Keep in mind I'm not your typical road cyclist, I seek out gravel too.

If there are not many Denverites here, go introduce yourself over in that "Other Place" (RBR), specifically the Lounge. There area quite a few in there from that area, and are nice/helpful people too, that happen to dig bikes.

Good luck.

 

[Deagol]

the local race governing body, The American Cycling Association is based out of Denver/Boulder

www.americancycling.org

I don't hang out in the city too much, but there is lots of riding in the foothills west of Boulder (it's kind of on fire right now, though..)

Lots of hipsters riding downtown, a bit of road-rage manifests itself from time to time.

This happens on mountain roads also. There was an anti-cylist sign posted on High Grade road in someone's front yard that I saw the other day. It all depends, it's kind of like a crap-shoot.

There was also an incident a while back where the sheriff of Larimer County (north of Boulder) issued some anti-cyclist comments directed (mainly) at riders from Boulder coming into "his county" and crowding the roads.

Also, the Town of Black Hawk just banned all cyclists from the city streets. Public reaction to the ban seemed about 50/50 to me.

So to sum up: still a little bit of the wild west around here, some big city atmosphere as well.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Yeah, I don't think I'll be hitting up RBR anytime soon, figure there's a small population of Denverites here that can help out, as per last post. Thanks Deagol!

More specific to locale, what's Englewood like?

 

[Megalodon]

Depends where you work or go to school and whether you want to have a longer commute to work/school or to ride.

The good riding is in the west, jobs/schools are generally in the center of town.

One possibility is living near Chatfield or Cherry Creek parks and then riding further west in the mountains on weekends.

 

[Guttercat]

Yeah, I don't think I'll be hitting up RBR anytime soon, figure there's a small population of Denverites here that can help out, as per last post. Thanks Deagol!

More specific to locale, what's Englewood like?

Me either. But it has/had its "plusses", like anywhere else.

Enjoy Denver and best wishes to you. I lived south of there in the Spgs. for a while. And as you know the Front Range has a lively cycling culture on and off road.

Cheers.

 

[Deagol]

Englewood is, well, I guess your typical suburb..
Not my choice, but some might like it. There is a mix to be sure. Some pricey communities there and fairly close to the Denver Tech Center. It's on the south side of the metro area, so once you familiarize yourself with the area, Deer Creek Canyon will most likely become one of you main rides. Englewood is somewhat "burried" in the city (you would have to ride through quite a lot of suburbia to reach the foothills) but at least its on the west side. All in all, Englewood isn't so bad... many worse places out there

 

[tortoisedr]

Born and raised in the greater Denver area... If you are going to be in the suburbs get as far west as you can. Good rides to the west, not so much in town or east. I like to step out my door and ride, being on the far west side helps, both on road and off. If you don't mind loading the bike in the car every day, then pretty much any suburb will do. Any possibility of choosing a small town in the foothills and then commuting into town for work?

 

[slippyB]

Englewood...what part? I moved here 11 years ago (from Ohio) and the suburb structure struck me as odd b/c they're huge (square-mileage-wise) and sometimes islands of one suburb can be w/in another. Englewood spreads from almost Aurora (huge East side burb) to the foothills. The older part is nice (in my mind) and is relatively close to downtown.

Like others have said, west side 'burbs/foothills are nice for riding. Most all burbs have a system of paved trails, but of course, depending on the time/day there can be a lot of recreational traffic. Get out of the city either by car or add some miles on and ride it...for some bigger mileage days you can ride out to the west for hills or to the east for plains (especially in winter) and you'll find nice uncrowded roads. I haven't had too much in the way of rage directed towards me, but maybe I just haven't been at it long enough. As w/ anywhere you need to pick your rides wisely in terms of traffic and as you get to know the area you'll know what to avoid. City/burb riding in Denver is probably like most larger urban areas.

People often laud Boulder (and it's canyons) as the only place you can ride and I really just view it as 1 of many options w/ hills and canyons. It does offer some nice options and at only 30 minutes from downtown denver...it's not as if it's far.

Oh! And dirt-road riding in colorado is awesome and fun and if you want to make a loop instead of out-back rides, it's often necessary. Look at maps, map-my-ride, and search the interweb and you'll find plenty of ride info an group/club/race/ride info.

Who knows maybe i'll see you out on the road! best of luck!

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Thanks for all the replies so far! The Englewood thing is not so concrete, just one option. I'd like to move closer to the city so everything is within reasonable reach, ..good food, people, bars, atmosphere, delis, coffee shops farmers markets, art, music. Did I mention food? Really looking for those pockets of the city that are really fun and progressive.

I suppose the riding thing will fall into place really quick, gravel roads and CX racing is my forté. James Huang where you at? Aren't you in Denver?

 

[danjo007]

I just got back from a 3 week holiday in Denver; took my bike, and did heaps of rides there. Great place.
Drivers are pretty tolerant of cyclists there. Hills are never ending!

...and i made it to the top of Mt Evans

 

[flyor64]

Colorado is definitely a cool place to live if you ride and ski...which I happen to know you do both

Are you staying in the business or at least going to stay on the board so we can continue to annoy with unrelenting wheel building questions, ect???

Good luck out there...

 

[James Huang]

Sorry, just noticed this thread!

Yup, I'm in Boulder but to be honest, I can't tell you too much about Denver as I don't make the (short) journey very often. Boulder only has 100k people in it but I rarely feel the need to leave.

Where are you going to be working every day?

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Sorry, just noticed this thread!

Yup, I'm in Boulder but to be honest, I can't tell you too much about Denver as I don't make the (short) journey very often. Boulder only has 100k people in it but I rarely feel the need to leave.

Where are you going to be working every day?

Is Boulder really that attractive? Hmmmm. Yeah, I'm moving my biz Magnetic Cycling out there, the wheels must come with me. Kind of daunting to move it all, but I think it just might work. Unless you know of some great job that I just couldn't turn down. I double time it as it stands right now anyway, pretty flexible in that regard.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Colorado is definitely a cool place to live if you ride and ski...which I happen to know you do both

Are you staying in the business or at least going to stay on the board so we can continue to annoy with unrelenting wheel building questions, ect???

Good luck out there...

Yep, the wheels come with me, and I will be back regularly on the board. It's my pleasure to talk about that stuff, just haven't noticed any wheel questions when I've peeked in during this hiatus. Thanks buddy!

Maybe I'll have to stop by Bustedknuckle's shop and give him hell!!

 

[Deagol]

Yes, the rides out of Boulder to the west are pretty epic, IMO.
I don't get up there often, but from what I have done, they are really good

 

[James Huang]

So do you already have shop/office space set up in Denver or are you just looking to move to this area? Road riding straight out of Boulder is absolutely fantastic, as long as you like to climb. It's pretty much flat east of town but there are a number of canyons heading up into the mountains on the other side. Generally speaking, you can typically ride on the road year-round.

Mountain biking isn't nearly as good. There aren't many trails that you can easily hit straight out of town but there are tons of fantastic ones to do if you're willing to drive a half hour or more.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

So do you already have shop/office space set up in Denver or are you just looking to move to this area? Road riding straight out of Boulder is absolutely fantastic, as long as you like to climb. It's pretty much flat east of town but there are a number of canyons heading up into the mountains on the other side. Generally speaking, you can typically ride on the road year-round.

Mountain biking isn't nearly as good. There aren't many trails that you can easily hit straight out of town but there are tons of fantastic ones to do if you're willing to drive a half hour or more.

As of right now it's just a move, I can deal with the shop space later. One of the resident options is a huge house next to City Park in Denver where we could move to and there's enough room to work out of until I find commercial space.

Most of my riding is commuting, so if I can handle MN winters Denver will be a cinch. I do like to climb, though kinda big for a pure climber, I can still get in uphill shape fairly quick. I will immerse myself in the CX scene there racing and with the wheels too, my Co. is headed in the that direction anyway. Let's keep in touch!

 

[James Huang]

Sounds good. Definitely feel free to hit me up directly, too: angryasian *at* umich *dot* edu.

Golden's also a great option, too, and don't forget to check out the bike networks when figuring out where to set things up. Boulder is absolutely incredible in that respect (you can literally get everywhere by dedicated bike path and there are over/under passes at most of the roads so you never have to stop) but Denver is surprisingly good, too.

 

[powerste]

As of right now it's just a move, I can deal with the shop space later. One of the resident options is a huge house next to City Park in Denver where we could move to and there's enough room to work out of until I find commercial space.

Most of my riding is commuting, so if I can handle MN winters Denver will be a cinch. I do like to climb, though kinda big for a pure climber, I can still get in uphill shape fairly quick. I will immerse myself in the CX scene there racing and with the wheels too, my Co. is headed in the that direction anyway. Let's keep in touch!

Setting yourself up next to City Park certainly hooks you up for the more typically urban aspects you're looking for - food, bars, arts, music, etc. I lived in Park Hill (17th and Jasmine) and commuted downtown past/through CP for a few years. You're an easy ride from the thriving downtown scene and there are also lots of bars, restaurants, and live music venues that direction (East) from downtown.

For road riding, you'll have to get across downtown but that's not too bad from the CP area. Head diagonally Northwest through downtown, pick up 32nd Ave westbound, and you'll be in Golden in a little while. You can then head up Lookout Mountain, North toward Golden Gate or Coal Creek Canyons, or South toward Morrison and up Bear Creek Canyon.

I really enjoyed it out there. Loving hilly rural New England for riding as well, but definitely miss pedaling the Front Range!

 

[slippyB]

city park is probably my favorite neighborhood...and the park streets/loops are semi-closed to traffic and offer a good option for intervals and the like. I live very close to City park and ride in the city all the time. It's not like riding in the hills/mtns but it is good for a post work spin or quick interval workout.

and yep...restaurants and bars...tough to beat that area imo. and just in case you want to check out another neighborhood...10-20 minutes via bike will get you to nearly any part of the city work eating/drinking at.