Platinum Bicycle City: What's That Mean?

Local Art - at Compass Cider

You recall hearing about the "Faux Collins Tour" as one of our standard tour options, and "Experience Platinum Tour" is its slightly more sophisticated, well-manicured sibling. That's right, the second new tour route for 2016 is all about the trails, bike lanes, and inter-connected nature that makes Fort Collins a Platinum Bike City as evaluated by the League of American Bicyclists.

So, what makes the trails/lanes/etc in Fort Collins unique and worthy of being a top five bicycle friendly community in the entire United States? Well, my short list includes:

Bike Parking!

• Bike paths: miles upon miles of paved paths criss-crossing the city
• Side-street bike routes: efficient yet beautiful, and they just feel safe
• Bike racks, bike racks, bike racks... You can't go half a block without tripping over them
• Clubs, teams, festivals, and bike-share: there is Something quite literally for every type of bike rider, and chances are there's a (bike) shop dedicated to your style, too
• Drivers: bike racks and pasing with wide berths are fairly common, truly the inconsiderate driver is the minority
• Mapping and way-finding: the city makes it pretty easy (intuitive?) to find where you want to be and how to get there through maps, signage, and a ranking system for why some streets are better than others in this regard

The Platinum Experience takes you through several different decades of what it means to be Fort Collins while giving you the truly local experience. Enjoy!

Cheers for now!

Adventure Jes

On Tour!

Where Has All the Lycra Gone?

"Fort Collins is surprisingly lacking in lycra..."

This quote - regardless of accuracy - makes me giggle every time I read it. You see, it's phrases like this that end up in my "business journal of inspiration and accomplishment" (yea, that's a real thing).

It's true, though: Old Town Fort Collins has bikes all over. The riders are a blend of casual carnie-looking guys, boho-chic ladies, functional commuters, and business-casual retirees! The more you look around Old Town, the more you realize how often the cyclists are overlooked because they look surprisingly human. You know what I mean: everyday clothes, helmets optional, shoes of every variety...

If Fort Collins is Platinum on the bike-friendly scale (which it is, again!) and hales as home to the likes of Georgia Gould and TJ VanGarderen, there should be a healthy collection of lycra-clad Cyclists, right? So - where are they?!

A Map of Lycra For Your Viewing Pleasure!

Fort Collins is no stranger to traffic at all daylight hours excluding, perhaps, the "hangover" hours on holidays. As such, your daily exerciser takes the shortest and least-traffic route to either the fun mountain roads and trails, or the rolling plains. So no, there are not many lycra-clad riders in the cultural center of the city, but I promise you the train of grinning quintessential, lycra-wearing riders are a-plenty!

Cheers for now!

Adventure Jes

I'll Take the Faux-sperience, Please!

I love a good story, and I love retelling a good story to the best of my ability. Therein lies my greatest challenge, though: does it matter if the retelling of a story actually matches its origin, or can the beauty of a totally embellished tale be a memorable experience in itself?

This year Leisurely Pedaling is adding a Faux Collins Tour as a pre-planned, standard tour option for either half-day or full-day enjoyment! You'll get the full tour experience with anecdotes, fun factoids, and a whole lot of hoop-la that has limited - ok, I'll be honest, has almost zero - factual basis. You could probably ride this same tour a hundred times and never get the same rhetoric.

Oh the stories Old Town Fort Collins could tell!

Many questions you didn't know you had, and will laughingly embrace our answers for include:

• What is a council tree - and where is it?
• Why "horsetooth"?
• So, where did they stash the powder?
• Which street was paved first?
• What's the story behind the CSU Aggies becoming CSU Rams?
• Where was the original Fort?
• I hear the city has tunnels under Old Town, what are/were they used for?
• Tell me about Balloon Boy...
• What was the incident that inspired local legislation banning horses from being ridden into public buildings?

I know, we're just as excited to experience this tour as you and can't wait to share our knowledge along the ride or over a beverage with you and your tour buddies!

Cheers for now,

Adventure Jes

The city's oldest tree is in there somewhere...