What’s up In Jamestown

For my first blog post, I will detail a shorter bike workout I did on Wednesday that took me over a brutal climb, up a canyon, and to a quiet little mountain town called Jamestown.

Cyclists and endurance athletes are known for their obsession with all things coffee.

All good rides in Boulder start from Amante Coffee shop in North Boulder. Any establishment that puts racks for outside for cyclists to put their bikes on is a good place, not to mention it sells every cyclists favorite caffeinated beverage.

From there I headed up Lee Hill towards the first climb of the afternoon: Olde Stage. Olde Stage is a brutal two mile long climb. Where it lacks in length it makes up for in gradient. With not much in the way of pretty views it demands your full attention and physical strength as you putter your way up in the easiest gear the bike can provide.

For my workout I had to do the climb 3 times at a moderate to hard effort. I did the front side of the climb for the first one, and did the back side, which is about the same distance and grade twice.

After my efforts, it was time for a change in pace and I headed over to Lefthand Canyon for some longer 8 Minute intervals. Named after Southern Arapaho Chief Niwot (Chief Lefthand), this is a much longer, much less steep at the bottom of a canyon along Lefthand Creek.

Olde stage is a fast, sheer climb up a steep straight road, Left Hand is isn’t like that, its like a slow crawl up to the mountain.

The views and the feeling of riding on this road are stunning. The creek is constantly roaring beside you and it cools the bottom of the canyon. The dark green pine blanketed mountains rise beside you abbreviated by the exposed iron colored rock walls cut through to build the road.

I made my way up, completing four sets of 8 minutes at 95% of my threshold power output with two minutes rest between each effort.

A bit of the way up I took a turn onto James Canyon Road. Every road seems to have its own personality, and it’s own way of daring me as a cyclists to see what it has to offer. James road was a bit steeper and more rugged.

Here is James Canyon Road on the way back down.

Finally I made it to Jamestown, a quaint and rustic mountain town of 250. The buildings are scattered and children play in the road as the creek rushes by. The idea of living up there is attractive, it screams adventure, the roads are unpaved and the people are strong. I took a look at one of the best breakfast spots in Boulder County, The Mercantile. Unfortunately it was closed at that hour of the day, but go there any morning and it’s buzzing with activity, cyclists and non cyclists alike. This route takes roughly and hour and a half to two hours to complete and is stunning from the get go, I would recommend anyone in the area consider it as a weekend activity.

Thanks for reading!