muhlgirl868

Hi, so I've been thinking of going to grad school out in colorado either at CSU, Fort Collins or UC Boulder, seeing as how they seems to be a riders paradise and I like the academic programs there. Anyhow, my question is which location would you recommend for more affordable living, better riding etc... Anything you could tell me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

edmaverik

I lived in Fort Collins, aka Fort Fun. CSU is a great school and mountain biking is pretty awesome with Horsetooth Reservoir in riding distance. Fort Collins is definitely much affordable for off-campus housing.

CU Boulder on the other is a mecca for biking with several premier shops in walking distance, which is really great since they have the Pearl STreet mall. But living in Boulder is very pricey due to the influx of Californian with daddy's money syndrome. I think academically speaking CU Boulder is top notch school in comparison to CSU.

ddeand 

My daughter has had experience in both cities - she was a student at CSU for four and later worked for Boulder County as a parks and rec official for a few years. She was very happy with her four years in Fort Collins and talked about how much fun it was running and biking there. I don't recall what she said about variety. The Boulder experience was also good, but she said it was like living in yuppie hell - lots of trails, but lots of people. Constant friction between the runners vs. bikers - bikers vs. hikers - dog walkers vs. everyone else. Of course, her job entailed dealing with all these sub-groups. In the end, she felt that the Boulder area, while very chic, was just a little too whiney and political for her.

Just one daughter's opinion.

Dean

muhlgirl868

Ok, so the mountian biking certainly sounds pretty good, but I've really been much more into road cycling for the past year or so. Any thoughts on road cycling out in colorado? Is there high volume of traffic? Also, I'm really into climbing so are mountain roads in good condition for road riding or am I going to have to invest in some heavy duty road tires?

lofter

do they still have the morgal bismark restaurant ,downtown boulder to eat at?

redstone

The road riding in Boulder county is fantastic. Traffic volume is on the higher side, but most drivers are used to cyclists, so they're pretty tolerant. Although I'm not as familiar with Ft Fun roads, the riding in Southern Laramie County usually yeilds less quality shoulders and more ignorant drivers.

Climbing is first rate. Lots of good mountain roads that are in good shape. I run light 23s and have never had a problem.

If mtb is a concern at all, there is much better riding from town in Ft Collins. I've you're willing to drive a little, it's probably a tossup.

danr

I visited Boulder a couple times. I really felt like an outcast there just because I didn't wear that pachulee sauce that the hippies wear.

I've spent quite a bit of time in Ft Collins though. Ft. Collins is an awesome college town with a couple of great microbrews. I've seen quite a few road riders climb up Horsetooth reservoir (quite the climb). That was back when I was into mountain biking and there were great mountain bike trails to ride too.

danr

I hear Coloradoans blame a lot of their problems on Californians. Funny how no one has a grudge against John Elway or Terrell Davis (both from Cali).

muhlgirl868

Ooooh.........Horsetooth reservoir. Sounds like one heck of a ride. That is definitely going on my ride checklist. Speaking of which, I'm curious to know what is/would be on your ultimate ride list?