[Jdub]

I am headed to Boulder next weekend for a job interview and an extended stay to check out the area and need some advice from my fellow MTBR members. I need some advice on a couple of things including:

1. Trails - Where can I get a decent rental and what trails should I try to ride
2. Food - Whats the hot spot to eat
3. House - I need to find out where to look for a house and where to avoid. Hoping to find a house in the 200 - 250k range.

If you don't mind helping a brother out I'd appreciate it. Not sure if I'll end up in the area or not, but I can certainly think of worse places for a career to take you!

You can post back to the thread or if you prefer hit me up with email at joelwasframed at yahoo dot com.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Debaser]

1. Trails - Where can I get a decent rental and what trails should I try to ride
2. Food - Whats the hot spot to eat
3. House - I need to find out where to look for a house and where to avoid. Hoping to find a house in the 200 - 250k range.

1. Only one place comes to mind for rentals: Boulder Bikesmith, on Arapahoe at the other end of the plaza w/Safeway, near Performance. For trails, well, there's a ton within a 30 minute drive...
2. Somewhere near Pearl street. Depends on what you're after, but there's probably something you like near there.
3. Not Boulder. Try Louisville, Layfayette, Longmont, or further away.

Hope that helps some. Sorry about not being too specific, but there's a ton of options for trails and eats.

 

[ibmkidIII]

Pretty sure University Bikes (9th and Perl) rent as well...far as trails...what kind of riding do you like.

 

[Jdub]

Pretty sure University Bikes (9th and Perl) rent as well...far as trails...what kind of riding do you like.

Looking for some Agressive XC stuff, no huge drops or anything like that (can't afford broken bones), but rocky, rooted stuff. I'm assuming the altitude and terrain are going to kill my legs in a hurry, so if there is a good ride without monster climbs that would be ideal. Mainly just want to get out and ride something as new terrain is obviously a big draw to me.

Thanks for helping out a flatlander.

 

[ibmkidIII]

Not much here far as rooty trails...lots of rock though. Some close ones to Boulder for techy stuff. Walker Ranch has a few sections, but two good sized climbs, but Hall in Lyons would probably be your best bet for rocks, and not huge climbs. It's a busy trail...can't have it all of course. If you feel like you're dealing well with the altitude, you could also try Sourdough...more than enough rocks to satisfy and possibly annoy you...plus the crowds there are minimal in comparison.

 

[titusguy]

Not much here far as rooty trails...lots of rock though. Some close ones to Boulder for techy stuff. Walker Ranch has a few sections, but two good sized climbs, but Hall in Lyons would probably be your best bet for rocks, and not huge climbs. It's a busy trail...can't have it all of course. If you feel like you're dealing well with the altitude, you could also try Sourdough...more than enough rocks to satisfy and possibly annoy you...plus the crowds there are minimal in comparison.

Sourdough?!?!? I've said it before and I'll say it again: Shut up Kirk. Go back to Boise.
Sourdough will be too high, he already said altitude will kill him.

Right.
As far as rides, you won't find too much without a climb in it. That's what riding here is about.
You could try Hall ranch in Lyons, that has a very techy rock Garden and the climb isn't too punishing. Dakota Ridge in Golden has a tough climb out of the car but is really techy and fun. I think you'll find Boulder proper to be lacking in great biking.
I was on S. Mtn in Phoenix and talking to some locals once. I told them I was from here, thet were amazing I'd leave to ride thier pissy little local trail. And that trail rocked!
Food: I agree with the Pearl St. suggestion. The Med, Illegal Pete's, DiNapoli's, all good stuff.
Bike rental. I know of a place in Golden but it's kinda far from Boulder, so it might not help.

 

[SDizzle]

Pretty sure University Bikes (9th and Perl) rent as well...far as trails...what kind of riding do you like.

Sorry, but I have to shove this in here. U-Bikes sucks. Naia and friends organized a race, "the toughest XC race in the world," and it was my job to assist in the delivery of flyers. Well, U-Bikes was our last stop, after having been successful at every bike shop in Boulder (no easy task, trust me), the GM of U-Bikes flat-out refused us. Said "it was starting to look like Penny Lane coffee shop in here, so I had to take down all the community stuff." Again, I know this isn't best rant opportunity, but it had to be said. On a slight aside, they also refused to sell BOA memberships on that last big membership-drive weekend in May, again something everyone else in town agreed to. This time they said they'd just "too much business."

I have rented a bike from them, though, and it was a p o s Trek that needed a derailleur adjustment on the trail. The experience wasn't too negative, but the bike sucked. Whatever the case, welcome to the area. If you're about 5'8", I've got a geared steel hardtail you can borrow (my dirt jumper, so it's plenty tough), and probably know enough people that we can find a ride for you if you're bigger (or smaller).

I would also reccomend looking for a house outside of Boulder, namely Superior or Louisville, as they're closest to lots of trails, but there's plenty of other good (relatively speaking) suburbs too.

Food is easy to do in Boulder, but bring your backup wallet too. Start with Jax or Toro (both on Pearl) if you're a fish guy, go to Lyons for Mexican and Louisville for Indian. The best Chinese is next to Video Station on 28th and Canyon-ish(?). Uber-fine fare at John's, and Flagstaff House for just the view. Good luck!

 

[FreeRangeChicken]

...
1. Trails - Where can I get a decent rental and what trails should I try to ride
2. Food - Whats the hot spot to eat
3. House - I need to find out where to look for a house and where to avoid. Hoping to find a house in the 200 - 250k range.
...

1) Hall Ranch is awesome ...even after they sterilized it. Walker Ranch is great too. The great thing about Hall Ranch is that you do all of the climbing up front and get to bomb @ss all the way back to the car. Hall Rach has a great rock garden section that's tons of fun to play around in.

2) For breakfast, the Walnut Cafe at 30th and Walnut. Dinner/lunch: As someone else said there's lots of places around the Perl Street mall.... the Med, Antica Roma (if they're still around). Proto's Pizza if you're around Lafayette or Longmont.

3) You're not going to find much in Boulder for that price range..... probably a condo/townhome with less than 900sq.ft. You'll get a lot of house(comparatively) in Longmont for that price, but Longmont is further from Denver and tends to be more like a large midwest farming community. I just bought a house last year. I tried to get as close to Boulder as I could afford. I looked in Louisville and Lafayette. Prices were still a bit high in those communities, though lower than Boulder. I ended up in Erie, which is where a lot of people working in Boulder are ending up. Erie is a bit more isolated though. Westminster may be an option as well. It's more suburban and a longer commute, but much closer to the Denver area.

Good luck.

FRC

 

[jmarsz]

I am headed to Boulder next weekend for a job interview and an extended stay to check out the area and need some advice from my fellow MTBR members. I need some advice on a couple of things including:

1. Trails - Where can I get a decent rental and what trails should I try to ride
2. Food - Whats the hot spot to eat
3. House - I need to find out where to look for a house and where to avoid. Hoping to find a house in the 200 - 250k range.

If you don't mind helping a brother out I'd appreciate it. Not sure if I'll end up in the area or not, but I can certainly think of worse places for a career to take you!

You can post back to the thread or if you prefer hit me up with email at joelwasframed at yahoo dot com.

Thanks in advance.

1. The trails that are in the Boulder area are pretty mild. You would have to go to Lyons area or up in the mountains to do some good mountain biking. If you're looking for something for a nice easy ride (read road), then the Boulder Creek Path isn't bad, just a bit crowded.

2. Boulder is known for it's restaurants. Last I heard, it had over 300 restaurants in the area. The best place for them is the Pearl St. Mall. It's on Pearl St, between 15th and 9th I believe. Foot mall, so no cars are alowed on it. Very nice area.

3. Boulder, CO is a very expensive place to buy a house. Average home price in 2002 was over $500,000.. So Louisville, Superior... Those areas are probably cheaper areas to look for housing.

Hope this helps ya!

 

[honkinunit]

2 Cents

1) If you are from flatlands, Community Ditch or the Eagle trail are right by Boulder, but they are kind of lame, overall. Boulder Bikesmith is good for rentals.

2) We ate at a killer Italian place on a NE corner just east of the Pearl Steet Mall recently. There are a million places, but almost all are kind of pricey.

3) There is no way you'll get a liveable single family house in Boulder for 200-250K. Probably not Louisville, either. Maybe Longmont, Lyons, Lafayette, Broomfield, Westminster, Arvada, Golden, if you look in the older neighborhoods. For the hell of it, I did a search on realtor.com for houses under $250K in Boulder and there were 8 hits, all in error. One was a trailer, a couple of condos, and five mountain cabins. Living in a cabin outside of Boulder would be cool, if you can deal with snow and chopping firewood.

However, I did find 182 hits for houses over a cool million, so there is plenty of choice there.

If you are really concerned about the MTB possibilities, Golden is your best bet. You can ride a couple of trails right out of town, and others are nearby. Golden kicks Boulder's ass for mountain biking. It takes about 25 minutes to get from Golden to Boulder on the highway of death (Highway 93).

I am headed to Boulder next weekend for a job interview and an extended stay to check out the area and need some advice from my fellow MTBR members. I need some advice on a couple of things including:

1. Trails - Where can I get a decent rental and what trails should I try to ride
2. Food - Whats the hot spot to eat
3. House - I need to find out where to look for a house and where to avoid. Hoping to find a house in the 200 - 250k range.

If you don't mind helping a brother out I'd appreciate it. Not sure if I'll end up in the area or not, but I can certainly think of worse places for a career to take you!

You can post back to the thread or if you prefer hit me up with email at joelwasframed at yahoo dot com.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jdub]

1. The trails that are in the Boulder area are pretty mild. You would have to go to Lyons area or up in the mountains to do some good mountain biking. If you're looking for something for a nice easy ride (read road), then the Boulder Creek Path isn't bad, just a bit crowded.

2. Boulder is known for it's restaurants. Last I heard, it had over 300 restaurants in the area. The best place for them is the Pearl St. Mall. It's on Pearl St, between 15th and 9th I believe. Foot mall, so no cars are alowed on it. Very nice area.

3. Boulder, CO is a very expensive place to buy a house. Average home price in 2002 was over $500,000.. So Louisville, Superior... Those areas are probably cheaper areas to look for housing.

Hope this helps ya!

Thanks to all for the help, I certainly appreciate it.

First, I should have clarified the house thing. I don't really want to live in Boulder proper, just in a community around it. I'd probably end up North of Boulder as I don't mind being further from Denver.

I'll probably try and hit a couple of trails while I'm there depending on weather and how tired I am from all my traveling I've been doing. Been stuck in Columbus, OH sans bike so my conditioning is fading fast. Oh well, one way to fix that.

 

[hev]

check out gunbarrel. NE of town, but still in the city limits. more reasonabley priced stuff, and a city dirt jump park.

 

[2melow]

Yup...my buddy just bought a 1150 sq/ft 2 bedroom condo off of canyon for $224,900.

You could buy a 2000+ sq/ft 3 bedroom house in Loveland for $200,000. It's just 40 miles north and the riding is very good...

 

[ibmkidIII]

Alright you focking retard...you pissed me off for the last time. I'm coming to your house right now, and I'm gonna skullfock your face and let your girl friend watch.

And the job interview went well. Thanks for asking.

 

[Debaser]

And the job interview went well. Thanks for asking.

No more front range Kirk?

 

[ibmkidIII]

Nah...I doubt it. It'd take one SERIOUS offer for me to leave. Should be back in town in riding by tonight.

 

[mihurka]

trail advice

I suggest you check out www.trailcentral.com. You will find there approx. 20 trails in the Boulder area and then some around Golden, etc.

my 2¢.

_MK

 

[Jdub]

Well it appears that I'm headed to Boulder. I've got my job offer, and I'm likely going to accept it very soon.

My wife and I were looking at some houses in Longmont, and also in Firestone and Frederick. Do any of you guys near Frederick or Firestone (just slightly on the East side of I-25), and if so can you give me an idea of what a commute time to Boulder would be?
There's also the possibility of Golden and/or Loveland, but we haven't looked at much in either of those towns.

I didn't get a chance to ride when I was up last weekend, so hopefully next time I'm up I can check out the trails. Thanks to all for the previous help and I look forward to riding with everyone in the future.

 

[ibmkidIII]

Firestone to me is about I-25/Hwy 52 intersection. From that point it'd take you about 20-30 min I'd say to get into Boulder via Hwy52 to Hwy 119(diagonal). Wouldn't be too painful of a commute.

 

[ignazjr]

Firestone to me is about I-25/Hwy 52 intersection. From that point it'd take you about 20-30 min I'd say to get into Boulder via Hwy52 to Hwy 119(diagonal). Wouldn't be too painful of a commute.

It'll take way longer than that. I used to live at Airport/Nelson in Longmont, just about 5 minutes north of the Diagonal. On a busy day, it'd still take me 35-40 minutes. The Diagonal is great off peak times, but it's horrible to and from work hours. I'd say coming from Firestone would be on the 45+ minute range at least.

I'd opt for Longmont. Still lots of housing opportunitites in your price range and much closer to great riding - both road and mountain.