Day 31: Leoti to Eads, CO
distance: 83 mi
Day 32: Eads to Hugo, CO
distance: 68 mi
Day 33: Hugo to Elizabethtown, CO
distance: 71 mi
Day 34: Elizabethtown to Denver, CO
distance: 46 mi
Day 35 and 36: play day in Denver
Day 37: Denver to Boulder, CO
distance: 51 mi
Day 37-40 play days in Boulder
Being off the bike for a few days has been a nice change from our usual routine. After spending a full day in Denver touring the museums and town parks we headed toward Boulder with the full intention of exploring the mountains. By car, Boulder is approximately 30 miles from Denver, an easy half an hour drive. We decided to take the bike path to avoid traffic. It is quite nice that Denver and the surrounding areas have plenty of bike enthusiasts. The city is built for bikers with ample bike trails exclusive to cyclists. Strolling into and out of the city, we were met by a good number of road bikers going about their way. It was refreshing to see so many people out and about. On a slight downside, however, the bike paths are not necessarily meant for commuting between two cities and are therefore never a direct shot. We turned a 30 mile distance into a 50 mile ride by taking the trails. That was a tad bit annoying.
As we neared our destination to Boulder, we could already see he foothills to the mountains. Feel like takithe mountain ranges spanning in the distance. The mountains are enormous. Gorgeous. I had heard a bit about the city of Boulder from my friend, Ash, who had moved out to the area three months prior. And as soon as we entered the city, it was obvious why he had moved out here. This city is every outdoor enthusiasts' dream. Within driving (even biking) distance, you are at tng an afternoon hike or climb? No problemo, because there are plenty of areas to choose from. There is a river that runs from the mountains down through the city center. The locals line up with river tubes and other floatation devices and casually float down the stream. Skiing, snowboarding and kayaking are also pretty big here. There is something for everyone.
We met up with Ash to do some climbing. After traveling for such a long period of time and meeting so many people along the way, there is something really nice about seeing a familiar face and doing an activity you are familiar with. Ash took us to the Roosevelt National Forrest up in Boulder Canyon, where we sport climbed a few routes. Since none of my cycling buddies have had much climbing experience, this was new to them. It's a nice feeling to get someone interested in something you care about a lot. We ended the day with a hike into the Flatirons, a set of four mountain slabs (see pic above). The hike was nice and relaxing. It was strange, however, to be off the bike and to use a completely different set of muscles to gain elevation. Two miles into the hike we approached a 5.0 route climb that paralleled the hiking path (for all non-climbers, a 5.0 route is considered a slanted rock scramble. It is an extremely easy route for climbers, but will likely require the use of all fours to ascend.) At this point, Ash took off his shoes and said something along the lines of "I'll see you guys at the top, just follow the path." Barefooted and without any gear, he soloed up a 6 pitch climb. Intrigued by this (and probably a bit out of my mind), Ryan and I followed suit, while Bryan decided to take the safe trail up. 
No matter, how confident you are about your ability to climb a given route, when you are free climbing, the biggest challenge is the mental aspect of the climb. The climb was easy, up until the moment I stopped to consider what the heck I was actually doing. A tiny misstep or a movable rock and any of us could plummet to the base of the mountain, some 100 feet below. I did get freaked out for an instant and started traversing over toward the trail. However, somehow, I found myself ascending up further just a few seconds later. To put everyone at ease, we all made it to the top in one piece without any incidences. Ash incurred a minor scrape on his toe after jumping some rock (again barefooted!) The experience of doing a free climb is unmatched by any climb I have previously done with gear, no matter what grading. It required a steady mind and a lot of care and confidence to minimize all human error to the smallest fraction possible. But having done this once, I wouldn't necessarily do this again. You can't really predict the rocks, and taking a risk of this magnitude that is beyond your control is really not something I would mess around with on a daily basis. It was an exhilarating climb though, to say the least.
