I lived in Boulder for 10 years and have worked in town for an additional 3 years. This tour took us to places I have never seen before and would have regrettably missed if not for Boulder Tour Company. Let me break it down into 3 segments:
1) The Tour - We started downtown and cruised through some local parks. We'd stop and learn about some of the history of these parks and Boulder in general. Most of the information was new to me and really interesting. Next we hit up the CU campus. Riding up The Hill has never been so easy or fast! Again, I have been on the CU campus numerous times, but there were so many awesome locations that we visited, it was a whole new experience. Next we took a nice, uninterrupted cruise down the bike paths to the East side of town before turning South and winding our way up Baseline and into Martin Acres. We had a quick stop for a drink and then we whizzed up to NCAR for a breathtaking view and a delicious snack. We then wound our way back down and through quiet neighborhoods on the way to the famous Colorado Chautauqua. Quick break for photos in front of the majestic Flatirons and we were off again. Eventually we made our way back North and the tour was regrettably over. I'm not sure how much mileage we did in our 3 hours but it felt like we saw everything South of Pearl St.
2) The Bikes - I can tell you there is much envy of these bikes. Everywhere we went people stopped and looked at our bikes. You'd never expect to see someone on a heavy cruiser style bike, roaring up to NCAR at 30mph. The pedal assist is a little strange at first, but after a few stops and starts, you'll wonder how you ever rode a bike without it. I think just about every person on our tour asked the tour guide how they could buy one of these bikes. If you're more hardcore and want to still feel like you got a workout, you can turn the pedal assist down, or even off. Simply, riders of all levels can easily handle the worst terrain in Boulder.
3) The guides - Russ clearly had a passion for taking people on this fun tour. He had answers to any questions the other guests could throw at him, whether it was about Boulder, biking, or the specific landmarks we were at. The snack stop was a nice surprise as well.
Overall, I have to say, before the tour, I was mildly annoyed with the thought of biking around a town I (thought I) knew so well. There was just too much real life happening to waste an afternoon on a bike seat. Afterwards, I realized that perhaps, zooming around through a scenic town and forgetting about the real world for a few hours was just about the best way I could have spent my afternoon. We'll definitely be using Boulder Tour Company again and my girlfriend has promised me that we're getting a set of those bikes.
Thanks Boulder Tour Company!