As long as I can remember I have been deceived by that tiny mouse to believe that Disney is the happiest place on Earth; well, looks like he is finally met his match. It turns out the town I call home has captured Disney’s title. I can hear all the moans as I type, because living in beautiful Boulder, Colorado is as much a blessing as it a curse. I love it here. The people are well educated and open to new ideas. Most of our long bike rides include some sort of discussion of the World’s problems and what our thoughts are on addressing the issues. It is faster to get around town your bike, then a car.
The weather is stunning. We have four seasons and the sun says hello almost every day.
We have very few insects. After living in the South with bugs the size of small birds, that is a welcome change. We have a ton of trails of every level and you can ride from town to get to most of them. We are two hours from amazing skiing. The town is very family friendly and there are very few places that kids are not welcome, mine go everywhere with me. It is safe. My boys can ride their bikes all over town with me only suffering from a small amount of anxiety. It has all the benefits of a big city, with a small town feel. We have amazing training facilities and on any given day; there will be a well known athlete working out with you. We have amazing food, we have to refuel after all those hours of had work. We have fun all year long and in all kinds of weather. We change our sports to suit the weather and the parks become cross country ski courses when it snows.
I remember coming here in the spring of 1993 to visit CU and I swore that I had died and gone to heaven. I had traveled the World, but Boulder was on the top of the list as one of the most amazing places I had ever been. Boulder has embraced me as one of its own and has let me be an amazing Mom, athlete, and career woman.
There is a side of Boulder that has always bothered me though, the curse as I call it. It is how we are perceived by the rest of the country and especially the rest of Colorado. Outside magazine did an article just about how bad Boulder is and how elitist those who live in Boulder are. People think we are stuck up and we think that we are better then everyone else. Not true. People here just value a high quality of life and they are willing to make sacrifices to be able to maintain that balance. Quality of life, not quantity, is really what makes people happy. We think we are all Olympic level athletes, just because we train with those that really are. We just like a challenge here and to push our bodies to be the best that they can be; regardless of age. It is pretty cool that you can go run a local race and be surrounded by elite level runners. Or you can be riding your bike with some of the best cyclist with the World encouraging you as they pass by. Or swimming in the pool surrounded by those you admire the most in the sport of triathlon. The level of fitness here is inspiring. I always say in Boulder we pray for rainy days, so we finally have a reason to be lazy for a couple of hours. Boulderites are all perceived as being hippy, health nuts. Well, that is partly true. We do believe in knowing where our food comes from and there are more Whole Foods in Boulder then there are fast food places, but is that bad? In a country battling childhood obesity, Boulder’s kids are a refreshing alternative to the rest of the nation’s children. Yes, we do work in Boulder. We do have large number of residents that are independently wealthy, but there are just as many of us that are working hard to support our families.
So there you have it, all of the reasons I love it here. If you have some vacation time, come and see it for yourself. I promise you will leave inspired to take your training to new heights, make some new friends, and best of all, you will leave with a smile so big, it will take weeks to remove. Hey, you already have a friend here. See you soon.
Becky