And the first ride...is a group ride.

IBR in Boulder - Island Boy Racing

Friday morning, left Roger's casa at about 8 to meet Kurt at Amante in north Boulder by 8:45. The man has not changed a bit...still looks the same and he's still wired up like he's stuck his tongue in the outlet.



I was nicely reminded how much of a cycling town this place is as I saw dozens of cyclist riding around. Once in a while you'd see a pro jersey, such as the Slipstream team and what not. This is the place to be and ride if you love cycling!

Larry (my friend and old riding partner) and one of Kurt's friends (Jen) met us at Amante and we rolled up to the Bus Stop to meet up with a group of triathletes, including Matt Reed (US champion and Olympic hopeful, his wife Kelly and a contingent of Aussie female triathletes who were all hammerheads!



We were supposed to ride a semi flat route called Fruit Loops but ended up climbing up and over Old Stage (one of the steeper hills in Boulder and the major climb of the Boulder Peak triathlon, also known as the hill where Davis Phiney used to climb and do sprints on).

The tri girls soon pulled away...I think perhaps some sort of the female competitive thing...and I found myself climbing with Larry and Matt with Jen a sizable distance behind us.

At the top of the hill, Larry and I looped back and picked Jen up while Matt continued down the back side of the hill. By the time Larry, Jen and I made it to the bottom of the descent, the group including the girls and Luoni, had already taken off. So we rode up left hand canyon (about a 7 mile gradual climb) to the town of Jamestown, turned around and came back down.


We chose a different route and climbed up Lee Hill, another steep but shorter hill, and descended back towards Amante on the other side of the mountain.

Needless to say, the scenery was amazing...very much like riding in a post card. This is a picture of Jen riding in front of her favorite view, including a ranch house and 4 horses (that are not in the picture.)


And, one of Larry and me on the same spot.


Larry, Jen and I had coffee and chai at the Spruce Cafe, then I headed off to Vecchio's bike shot to say hi to Peter (owner) and buy a tire. It was good to see Pete and we talked a bit about riding in Boulder versus San Diego, the war, military, etc.

I shot an email to Kurt telling him what we did. We may hook up later tonight or he may come to "my" outing -- group of us are meeting at 5 pm on Saturday at a local park with food and games and what not.

It feels really good to be here!