Boulder: 5 reasons to Love and Hate it (or at least not love as much)

1) All the triathletes:

I admit it is pretty cool to be based in the Mecca. At least I know I'm doing the same rides, runs, and swimming in the same pools as the best in the sport. And most of the fair weather Boulderites are pretty cool.

That said I would be lying if I said I look forward to the return of all the funny talkers every year. Sometimes it kind of gives me the feeling of a territorial Hawaiian surfer who will kick the non-locals off the break, bust their board, etc. Seems like we should make them earn their way into our pools and roads before they start trying to segregate lanes and make everyone swim clockwise. RESPECT THE CORIOLUS EFFECT OR GET THE HELL OUT!!!

2) Boulder's psuedo-liberal mentality:

Boulder has a rep as being uber-liberal. But, the reality is for every tree hugger there are 5 CEOs rolling in a Cayenne S Turbo.

It's cool to have the environmental and fit mentality that eliminates smoking in restaurants and creates greenways before anywhere else in the nation.

But, I'm getting pretty damn sick of nearly being run of the road by some soccer mom in a mini van with a Namaste bumper sticker (although there are plenty of SUV's with Jesus fish as well).

The reality of Boulder is that everyone is uber-liberal until that indiscernible point when the psychosis kicks in they become a Hyde-ian, fuming, Anti-W, self centered, Whole Foods going, ego maniac.

3) The awesome trails:

Needless to say the trail system in Boulder kicks ass. They're great. Miles and miles of great running, and even some great riding. Unfortunately, that is the issue. There are hundreds of miles of awesome trails, most of which have far too many rules (see #2). I had the chance to go home to Los Alamos, NM recently and run the trails there. They also kick ass and go on for miles. However, they have absolutely NO RULES. You can run, ride, ride horse, even motor cycle on every trail, bar none.

4) Swimming:

This one is a short one. Boulder has five 25 yrd or meter pools open year round, one 50m outdoor pool open 4 months, and 3 lakes you can swim open water in (although two are questionably legal).

Yet, even with 50 or so pro triathletes, 4 high school swim teams, 3 USS competitive swim teams, and hundreds (if not thousands) of masters and rec swimmers we can't seem to push a top notch indoor 50m facility through the city and county red tape. It's ridiculous.

5) All the races:

During the heart of the tri season it is possible to do the following:

-Saturday and Sunday- race at triathlon, bike race, mtb race, running race, open water swim, duathlon, or any or all of the above.
-Tuesday- Open water swim race in Longmont or TT in either Boulder or Denver
-Wednesday- Open water swim of stroke and stride in Boulder
-Thursday- Open water swim of stroke and stride in Denver, or short track mtb race

So, it is really easy to do too much. But, it is also really easy to get in some quality fitness tests if you need. And for the age grouper you can do a full season of kick ass races with never having to travel more then a couple of hours.

But, the biggest downside is that with all the athletes here, all the media attention, the fact that nearly every race sells out, and the crazy popularity of triathlon around here WE STILL DON'T HAVE A REALLY TOP NOTCH SIX FIGURE HIGH PROFILE RACE.

(Perhaps Without Limits Racing will have something to say about that in a few years, but for the time being there are some races with the obvious opportunity and possibility of stepping up to this level. But, they haven't done it in 15 years, so why would they do it now?)
Well, here's to hoping...