ccrnnr9

I was wondering if anyone here lives in or near Fort Collins, CO? I am currently residing in Missouri where I attend school at Truman State University but have been thinking about transferring for some time now. I have been looking at Colorado State University for quite some time and am looking for some information. The search function has been pretty helpful answering questions regarding riding questions on Colorado and from what I can see it sounds like Fort Collins has a pretty bike friendly environment with good mtb and road riding. I can't imagine that the riding will be bad (especially compared to the otherwise bland riding here in Missouri). In addition, does anyone have any information about areas to live in and/or near Fort Collins. This is all coming from a college student perspective so keep that in mind. I have some contacts in the area that I am pursuing for additional resources but figured I would see what the BF community's advice was in the meantime. Thanks in advance for any information.
Cheers,
Nick

badhat

i live in fort collins, less than a mile from the CSU campus. i moved here in large part because of the cycling scene, and after 3 years here (i lived in chicago before this) i'm totally hooked.

theres a really good commuting scene here, the weather is really cooperative most of the year, its easier to list roads that DONT have bike lanes that roads that do. theres a fairly extensive and well maintained paved MUP system that can get you across town almost any way you might need to go.

theres tons of good bike shops, a pretty well organized city bike advocacy program, and a couple of clubs with tons of rides for all levels, and regular meetings and mailing lists.

i'm not an mtb'r but people seem to find plenty of mountai nbiking in the foothills west of town, i guess someone else can speak to that better than i can.

the road riding is superb... rist canyon is a classic, challenging climb, the road east of horsetooth reservoir is a short but extremely challenging rollercoaster or a road, just minutes from down own, stove prairie is a great, moderately difficult, rolling, back county road in great shape with minimal traffic, ftc to red feather lake is a beautiful scenic century, and youre a few minutes drive (or a short warmup ride)from endless rolling farmland to the east, the bike filled small towns around longmont and boulder to the south, and you can easily ride to estes park, rocky mountain national park, the peak to peak scenic highway, left hand canyon, south st vrain, trail ridge road (the highest continuous paved road in the US), devils gultch, bear lake road, carter lake, pole hill road and plenty more. i commute 5 days a week and get in 100 or more miles on most weekends, and i never get tired of riding around here.

the town itself is pretty great too. its a little redder here than id like, but the campus tends to balance that out. i rarely have any trouble with cars, and more often notice how considerate folks are than i notice any beligerance. i'm trying to get to bed, so i'm sure i'm sort of rambling, but i'm pretty enthusiastic about ftc, so i hope that comes through. i know theres a couple others here that wil lbe along shortly t chip in and i'll probablythink of more later and chime in.

oilfreeandhappy

I agree that Fort Collins is great for riding. I moved here from the St Louis area 17 years ago. I've never looked back, and cycling is one of the big reasons. I've commuted year-round to work all 17 years, and never had a major injury. As mentioned there are a lot of bike lanes. There are also some great paved cycling/pedestrian trails in town. It's amazing how many people you see on these trails. People are active here. You see some obesity, but nothing like I see when I return to Missouri. I have nothing against obese people. Actually, I somewhat feel sorry for them.

Back to the Fort! In general, the Old Town and Mid Town tend to be the liberal areas, and the South part of town, and far North tend to be conservative. Good luck. PM me if you have any more questions.
Jim Gagnepain

ccrnnr9

Thanks for the help guys! I am visiting both FC and Boulder (CSU and CU) next weekend and hope to make my decision by then. One of the things I am looking for from a town as far as riding goes is access to good climbs. It is hard to find that here in Missouri and that is something I desire. What are the climbs like near/in/around FC? How long of climbs are we talking. Thanks for the feedback!
~Nick

DnvrFox

Well, Rist Canyon is mucho miles of variable UP.

Fort Collins is a relatively flat area on the plains immediately adjacent to the foothills leading to the Rockies. Any road west is going to be a lot of up. East, south, north - pretty flat.

US 34 to Estes Park is many miles of decent climb. Then you get to Trail Ridge, and you get over 12,000 feet. That is about 7,200 ft higher than Ft Collins. High enough for you?

valygrl

Boulder has climbing that's probaby closer to town than the FtC stuff. This town is almost ridiculously bike-y. Oddly, there are very few recreational clubs, but there are a bunch of group bikeshop/coffeshop rides and endless race teams. And there are a couple of great regional clubs - Club Hypoxia, Rocky Mountain Cycling Club, Denver Bike Touring Club.

(# in parentheses = approx elevation gain of ride / Round Trip from southeast boulder)

Lefthand Canyon to Ward (~3800', 66 miles)
Lyons / St Vrain Canyon, connect to ward or Estes (2500-5000, 65-80 miles)
Lefthand Canyon to Jamestown via a couple different ways - 1800-2500 (30-40 miles)
Boulder Canyon to Nederland (~3000'/20 miles, too much traffic)
Boulder Canyon to 4-Mile Canyon (??)

Shorter local steep climbs:
Flagstaff , Sunshine, Lee Hill/Stage , Linden, NCar

And you can drive/ride south Golden for
Coal Creek Canyon
Golden Gate Canyon
Lookout Mtn

And if you are OK with riding dirt, there are a bunch of connectors.
There's also endless flat rides in the plains to the east.

I don't think you would go wrong with either town - you could make your decision based on other stuff - school quality, cost of living (higher in boulder), whatever.

badhat

great climbs near FC:

rist canyon and stove prairie are both RIGHT THERE. rist is a very similar climb to left hand in boulder, it s about 13-14 miles of pretty solid grade with an absolutely brutal last quarter mile, but on the backside of it is one of the cleanest, steepest straights i've ever ridden (got up to 60.2 mph there once) stove prairie is much longer and more rolling. has a couple of pretty tough sections but also has some relief from the grdes once in a while too.

the road to the east of horsetooth reservoir has some of the best clmbing around too. its only about 7 miles form end to end of the road, but theres three monster climbs in there, which ever way (north or south) you ride it.

34 to estes is about 15 miles south. its my favorite ride. rode it on my wedding day actually. (got married up in estes). its a beautiful, moderate climb hat ends in estes which is surrounded by spectacular peaks in every direction. theres a great moment where youve been climbing a short steep little section and you turn a bend and all of the sudden youre on the edge of estes valley looking into town and at the peaks and its just breathtaking.

from estes, you have tons of options. trail ridge road is incredible, bear lake road is a nice scenic climb, devils gulch is a quieter alternate route back down to loveland, you can catch the peak to peak scenic high way (name says it all) to blackhawk, or take the south st vrain canyon back down to lyons and boulder.

to the north, red feather lake road is a tough rolling climb thats really secluded and gorgeous. theres also poudre canyon and cameron pass to the northwest or town.

theres no doubt that boulder has a bit more climbing in the backyard that ftc, but its also a lot more congested. theres good and bad in that. i like riding rist canyon and only seeing one or two other bikes for a couple of hours at most. on the other hand the sense of community and solidarity in boulder is really something. theres a lot of a-hole roadwarrior types too. more so than just about anywhere else. i can do with out them. but i wont knock boulder. its got a lot going for it as far as cycling goes. i love it here though.

ccrnnr9

Thanks a bunch for all of the info guys! I am actually in CO right now. I visited Boulder/CU on Thursday and FC/CSU today (friday). I loved them both although I must admit I like the "collegey" feel of Boulder better. I will say that riding in Boulder would probably be more intimidating as there are so many cyclists and so many of them are great! On the other hand, both towns are great. Ultimately it will depend on what I decide to pursue as far as studies go. Cost of living in Boulder is expensive but neither town is over the top. Unfortunately I only was able to spend 1 day in each town as I am going to the mountains tomorrow and leaving to drive back to Missouri as soon as my time in the mountains is done. Great cities and great state!...regardless of where I end up, I cannot wait to call myself a CO resident!
~Nick