Welcome to Denver, Part 3

Ok, so I've spent the last few blogs kinda slamming Denver, so I figured the time has come to turn over a new leaf. I've vented, gotten the city's vices off my chest, and now I need to claim this place as my own, and to perhaps even be more gracious and point out some of Denver's finer points. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this short (at least compared to the last one) and light-hearted blog.

Here we go. We need a title, so here 'tis:

Welcome to Denver, Part 3. Or, more aptly titled...

Welcome to Denver: The Fittest City I Have EVER Lived In

So about a week ago we get a note on our front porch that lets us know that on Saturday night our neighborhood was set to be on the bike route for something called the "Moonlight Classic." Now I'd seen some signs for this event, but I didn't know much more than the fact that it was a bike race that went into the night. Well, thanks to this note's enlightening information, we found out that not only did this bike race go into the night, but it went WAY into the night. Like, 2:30a.m. We were warned that it would be loud and ruckus. We were given phone numbers to call if we wanted to complain. I braced for the worst. I mean, let's be honest. Not far from here, in Boulder, every Oct. is the naked pumpkin race where people hollow out a pumpkin, carve a face on it, put it on their head, take off all their clothes, and proceed to run naked down the streets.

So, based on the note of caution received on our porch and the little history I have of events that happen late at night in the greater Denver area, I'm thinking a bike race that doesn't even START until 8:30 is sure to be laden with drunk idiots who can't ride upright to save their lives and will most likely be stumbling down our street and barfing in the gutter. I'm picturing their obnoxious noises will wake up Elijah and come Sunday morning the three of us will wake up bleary-eyed and Sean and I will vow to look for a house to buy in a quiet neighborhood far, far from the urban dwelling we now inhabit.

But then a funny thing happened.

We were sitting in our living room Sat. night and we had just finished a movie. That's when it hit us: it was so. stinking. quiet. Like, quieter than I have EVER heard it in the month that we'd lived here. There were no noisy cars on the street, no sirens wailing, so stereos thumping. It was, well, silent. So we open our front door to see what's going on and there they are: hundreds and hundreds and HUNDREDS of bikers, cruising down York Street. They weren't loud. They weren't drunk. They were quiet, courteous, and most of them were FAMILIES. We saw kids riding bikes with training wheels. We saw kiddos being pulled in bike trailers by the dozens. We saw bikes for two, we saw those little bike attachments that go on the back of your bike that your older kid can ride on and "pedal" while you do all the work. We saw fit people, not so fit people, and in general, a TON of people out enjoying a beautiful evening in a city that really, really REALLY loves the great outdoors and being active. It was the coolest thing I'd witnessed in a long time and right then and there Sean and I vowed to do it next year.

Yeah, I'm telling ya: I have never lived in a city with so many fit people. There are bike trails everywhere. In the city, outside the city, wherever you go, in Denver I promise you can get there by bike. Single track abounds for those who don't have kids to tow and for those who do, the hard-core road bikers are only too happy to share the bike lanes with those of us who don't have jerseys that match.

Speaking of jerseys that match, I have to tell you about this race we witnessed last weekend. It's called The Triple Bypass and it goes over 100 miles between Denver and Vail--by road bike, of course. It gets its name because over the course of the race you climb three mountain passes that are at least 10,000 feet. I mean, it was incredible. We, being the lard-asses that we were, were actually driving to Vail and we saw, on our way there, hundreds of bikers attempting this race. The most incredible part of it was, though, that on our way BACK to Denver, they were still riding, still making the trek to Vail. I mean, these people had been riding for at least 8 hours straight. I mean, I want to be fit and all, but I think that was just plain CRAZY.

But anywho, in my attempt to be cool like the rest of the Denverites I now share this city with, I am going to attempt a feat of my own: Gina and I are going to complete a duathlon in September. Okay, so it's not that incredible. It's about 4 miles of running/walking (which, by the way, I currently HATE to run) and 12 miles of biking. So I've officially started training. I'm on day two. Yesterday I went for a run (yes, a run--see note above) at a nearby park and today, with the help of Denise Austin's workout video, I did a cross-training boot camp and worked on getting some killer abs.

The pathetic thing about it all?

I'm so pooped.

I guess being skinny doesn't mean you're in shape. It's true.

I'll keep ya posted. I know my blog is lame so far b/c I don't have any pictures on it yet, so I'll work on it. I'll try to get a picture of me getting ready for the big race. I know you're dying to see it.

Until then, spandy-pants fans...