It's spring break week and it seems like we are the only ones who did not go anywhere. Some friends went to the 10th Mountain Division Hut up in the mountains, others to Steamboat to ski. Our son's best friend went to Germany to visit family. We stayed home. So we ask Benjamin, what do you want to do besides watch Arrested Development on Netflix all day? And he has a great idea: Let's ride our bikes to Boulder!
We live in Longmont, Colorado, which is about 15 miles north of Boulder nestled in the foothills of the Rockies, so it would be a 30 mile more or less round trip ride. Ambitious for an 11 year-old, and perfect. I love it when he stretches a little further than he feels comfortable and particularly when it comes from him.
I get the mountain bikes down, because are going to be riding the LOBO trail (Longmont to Boulder) and it can be rough terrain. And we head out at about 10 am. Turns out it was chillier than we had anticipated and since he had refused to wear an additional layer, as I had implored him to do, the wind was a bit too cool. Fortunately, Elise had brought a pair of sun sleeves along, which added a layer of warmth, but of course also protected him from the sun. We live at over a mile high and that means that the sun can be much stronger than at sea level. There is one mile less of atmosphere to absorb the UV, after all. Benjamin is wearing the small size adult sun sleeves and they fit him just fine.
Elise wore the neck gaiter, which protected the sides and back of her neck from the sun. Elise is also sensitive about a bit of rosacea on her chin (I don't even notice it) and so she likes to wear the gaiter over her chin. In order to keep the gaiter up without falling down, she used the adjustable velcro tabs, a design feature that she came up with.
We got to Boulder at around 1:00 with a lot of stops along the way and decided to go to one of our favorite brunch places, Tangerine. Boulder, by the way, is a foodie mecca, with some of the best restaurants in Colorado and that is saying something. Benjamin does not like to linger at table. No time for leisurely chatting with my wife, Elise. We're done eating, time to go. Our daughter had an invitation from a 7th grade school friend to go with them to Moab and the Canyon Lands, and we made sure she had her own sun sleeves and neck gaiter.