Slackerprince

We are considering a move to the Boulder area and I'm wondering about the cycling in the area.
We have done a lot of research on neighborhoods, and are not considering living in Boulder proper because of high real estate prices.
We're looking at Superior, Lafayette, Louisville, Erie, etc., and as far north as Fort Collins. May consider Denver, but we'd like to take advantage of access to Boulder, as well as, access to good skiing.
As far as cycling goes, what are the bike paths like to ride on? Are they busy, can you leave your house to get to one, are they seasonal, etc.?
I've started some threads on other sites and have PM'd several people about living there and a few have said that you need to drive to the trailheads.
Would love to hear about specific cycling experiences there.
We will be going to Louisville in December and will be scouting all the towns in the area, as well as, meeting with a realtor to look at some houses.
Also, interested in info about the towns listed above.
Thanks!!!

S

06SpiceRed

I live in Lousville, and have lived in both Boulder, and Fort Collins. They are all fantastic places to live and Louisville is definitely highest on my list (Also top place to live in the US 3 years in a row, Times magazine). Both Boulder and FoCo are fantastic for cycling as you can imagine and both towns have a great bike system in place whether it be path related or shoulder. Because the the realestate prices, Lafayette, Erie, Broomfield, Superior, and Louisville should be a great target to look at when you come out here. My typical ride out the door is from Louisville, into Boulder and up in the mountains or out north which can easily provide 45+ miles of fantastic riding. Shoot me a PM with any questions you may have. Given the way the weather has been, if it isnt snowing in Dec and you decide to bring the bike, give me a shout and we can go for a ride in the areas to mentioned

denvertrout

I live about 5 miles east of where you are looking. Biking is great out here. If you want to play in the mountains/hills- head west, flat- head east, a little bit of both- head north. I can't answer re bike paths, but the roads for the most part are wide shouldered and pretty decent surfaces. I have relatively traffic free routes from 20 - 60 mile loops out my door.

arcticbiker

Lot's of cycling opportunities in both locations. If you are interested, check out the new Velodrome in Boulder valley under construction. It should be fully operational next spring.

valygrl

Hi slacker, glad to see you are still considering boulder.

I've never felt the need to drive to a trailhead. You would only need to drive if you were completely unwilling to ride on the road with cars. There are plenty of safe roads with bike lanes to use for transportation and recreation.

In boulder, they plow the bike paths in winter, sometimes even before they plow the roads. THere can still be underpasses that are icy, even after plowing. After it snows they plow the streets including bike lanes, and you can usually ride shortly after it snows. Most often, within a day or two. Every once in a while there is a period of more than a week when you just can't ride outside on dry pavement, but that's the exception not the rule. This applies to the major streets in town and north of town - residential streets only get plowed once per storm, and can remain snow-packed for longer, depending on aspect. If you live right up against the mountains (west Boulder, west of Broadway) you can expect your street to remain snowy longer because of afternoon shade. Out in the flats/farther east, streets melt quicker with more sun exposure more of the day. I think about once or twice a year, I have to walk my bike over snow to the end of my block to the bigger street that is plowed and dry.

Caveat for all of this - it does stay cold in winter - you're going to have to invest in and figure out clothing. It took me a while to figure it out, but I can ride most of the year now, at least a couple times a week.

Bike paths near the university can be busy when school is in session, but the rest of the paths aren't busy. THat said - there really isn't enough path mileage to really have riding on paths be your main road-bike riding. Paths are more transportation here, and there can be walkers and recreational riders on them, especially down town, so you wouldn't really want to ride fast on them. There are some mixed paved/gravel paths between boulder and longmont that could be fun for more hybrid-style slow/recreational path riding. There are also lots of gravel/hardpack farm roads north of boulder, if you like that sort of thing.

Give me a shout when you are in town - if I can break away (I'm buried at work right now) I'd be happy to have a cup of coffee or a beer and show you stuff on a map, or drive you around on some of the rides. Or ride with you, if the weather is good & you bring/rent a bike.

Mr IGH

It's heaven on two wheels. I've been to Tampa, it's like my former hometown, Chicago. I'm in Longmont, bike lanes everywhere, 6ft shoulders on most connector roads. Almost never get rude honks or jerks yelling. When I ride home from Lefthand Brewery at night all the cars move over and pass wide. Did I mention the breweries? The roadie club I joined starts and finishes at a brewery...Never leaving.

theextremist04

I'm in Fort Collins and I'll say that just about anywhere on the Front Range is a great choice for cycling. You really can't go wrong.

Slackerprince

Thanks for the replies, everybody.
We're gung-ho and will be checking it out next month.
I'd like to try a fat bike on the snow. Anyone ride a fatty?
Have really heard a ton of great things about the area and there seem to be some great home values in Erie.
Also, looking forward to skiing again.

S

Gladius

I live in Erie. I cycling in this area, and the Boulder area, all the time. It's harder to go south from here, as there only a few access roads that cross over Hwy 36 to the south, but it can be done.

You won't find bike paths that go from here to Boulder, but the roads for the most part have bike lanes/shoulders.

West of Hwy 287, you will see many, many people on bikes on a daily basis. As you go further east you see fewer, but it's only 10 miles from here to Boulder...

Good luck. Let me know if you want to know anything about Erie.

Drew Eckhardt 

So buy a town house or condo centrally located in the city itself. Like people living in houses you won't have to drive to your rides and will send any kids to good schools.