Some Hotspots Of Cycling

It is home to the Mountain Biking Trips and the U.S. Cycling Federation, both in Colorado Springs, and to world-class courses such as the Morgul-Bismarck in Superior, about halfway between Denver and Boulder.

Many of the Mountain Biking Trips have been converted to bike paths, breathing new life into the summer economies of ski towns like Vail, Breckenridge and Winter Park.

But it is Boulder that has become the state's most visible cycling center, a training ground for some of the world's top competitors. In last month's Coors Classic, all six members of the winning men's 7-Eleven team were residents or former residents of Boulder.

Andy Hampsten, who was third in the Coors and first in the Tour of Switzerland this year, came to Boulder from Grand Forks, N.D., to "get bike racing out of my system.'' At that time, he says, Colorado Springs was where all the cyclists in the nation wanted to be.''

Then Boulder took over, drawing so many cyclists "that some of the newer ones think they have to live in Boulder to be good. Which isn't true. But I know that for myself and a lot of people I know, Boulder is the ideal place to live and train.''

Hampsten says it's Boulder's bike culture -- the widespread enthusiasm for recreational cycling -- that makes it a good place to train. The enthusiasm runs both ways. Watching the pros race stimulates many people to go out and try cycling themselves, says Ned Overend, the mountain bike champion of the world who sells bikes at The Outdoorsman in Durango and pedals off at lunch hour to train in the back country of the San Juan Mountains.

"Colorado has become a real cycling hub,'' he says. "Here in Durango, the Iron Horse Classic is what piqued my interest in racing,'' says Overend, who came to cycling from running, via triathlons. "That and the Coors Classic really get the interest going.

"At the store, we see a ton of carry-over interest after the Iron Horse from people who just saw the race and come in and want to buy bikes.'' Overend says 95 percent of the bicycles he sells are mountain bikes, which he says are especially popular with women. The fat-tire bikes were introduced a decade ago in Marin County, Calif., another hotspot of cycling.

Mountain Biking