President Obama!

President Obama at Sloan's Lake (10/4/12)

I was fortunate enough to go and hear President Obama speak at Sloan's Lake this morning.  It was an amazing experience to hear him speak in person.  I was pretty far from the stage and it was difficult to see him but to hear him live was very moving.  It was also neat to hear him just 13 hours after he had his first debate against Romney last night at DU. Black Eye Peas, will.i.am, even performed while we waited.

 (The line to get to the main stage)

 

(This picture was from the Daily News...wish I was that close)

Flagstaff (Boulder, CO)

Flagstaff (9/30/12)...

One of the classic 'must do climbs' for cyclist in Colorado is Flagstaff.  For some reason I have not climbed all the way up Flagstaff until last weekend.  Evan and I started at Chautauqua Park and climbed up to the amphitheater.  

(Beginning of our ride looking at Flagstaff)

As I was making my final climb up to the amphitheater Evan came down and said his cable broke and could not change his gears. This is an issue when you are climbing up a road that has an average of 11% grade. So, we went back down and road to one of the local bike shops had them fix it and went back to finish our climb.  Boulder is not a flat town so we had a a lot of climbing just to get back to Flagstaff. We made it past the amphitheater this time. Evan completed the entire route and I missed out on a couple climbs (maybe 1-2 miles) as he was coming back and we headed back down. I only had to stop and get off of my bike after climbing one of the 'snake' sections which is about 15% grade to catch my breath. But, I got a pretty picture!

 (Looking out from the amphitheater)

( picture of the 15% grade climb)

 (Nice view to look at as I calm my breathing down)