Anyone have some favorite routes they would be willing to share? I’ll be in Boulder in about a week with my gravel bike. I have some sweet spot and endurance rides on my training calendar. 1:30-2 hours. Big Cat: any suggestions?
Super stoked about being in the area. First time in Boulder
Best way to share is to follow me on Strava and think in terms of rides longer than 1.5 - 2 hours. 3.5 hours at the minimum.
Check out Lefthand Canyon, Sunshine Canyon, 4 Mile Canyon, & Flagstaff if you want to ride up to the Peak to Peak highway (which is beautiful)
Our thoughts on long rides: Long Rides, Coaches v Scientists, Sweet Spot AND Polarized – FasCat Coaching
Hi Frank!
Thanks a ton for this! I’ll get on Strava and start looking at the routes.
Looking forward to the trip out there!
For gravel in Boulder, don’t forget Chapman. One of my favorite sub 2 hour rides is to ride up Sunshine to Poorman, drop down Poorman to 4 mile, ride the bike path to Chapman and then up Chapman to Flagstaff. I go up to the Ampitheater, then turn around and descend Chapman to the creek path back to town.
4 mile to Gold Hill is also a must do in the Boulder area. I used to go the route via Wall St to the Switzerland trail, but these days I’d recommend going up Gold Run Rd instead. Switz is really beat up from side by side OHVs. Stop at the Gold Hill store, then decide to either take the 15% average 1 mile plunge down Lickskillet Rd or climb up and drop down Sunshine. If you go down Lickskillet, look up the Rowena connection and go do it to get back over to Sunshine or you can speed down Left Hand Canyon on the pavement.
For easier days, there is great gravel riding in any direction not West out of Boulder. For instance, go south and hit the Marshall Mesa trails over to Superior. Head from there to the Coal Creek trail and either take Rock Creek up to Erie or back south to the the Highway 36 dedicated bike path. You can put together loads of miles of gravel trails without being on pavement much.
I live in Superior, about 5 miles up the hill from Boulder, and do tons of gravel riding from the house where I ride for 2+ hours and link up a lot of trails. Check my Strava for some route ideas.
Since you mentioned Z2 and SS rides, I’ve done the Full Cycle ride I see on Frank’s Strava recently and also one that starts at Avery Brewery that are fun, easy to find the start and park, not too long, and also not too much climbing. Search for Boulder and the word Gravel on RideWGPS and you’ll find those routes to download. I’ve only visited, so I’m sure Frank and the locals have deeper thoughts, but if you want something simple to download and go, those two are good ones, imo.
Plus 1 for Chapman and even PoorMan’s close by a la this route:
A mix of pave and gravel, tho - very rarely do we do pure 100% gravel rides, just FYI
Thank you very much all! The response is very much appreciated. I’ll start digging into some routes.
Maybe we’ll see you out there next week!
Thanks again to everyone