A letter from a local
The city is the basecamp. Use it that way.
People treat Denver like the airport for Colorado. Wrong frame. I ride Green Mountain's singletrack before work, and the Cherry Creek and Platte paths mean I can cross the whole city on a bike without hating anyone. Clear Creek Canyon starts twenty-five minutes west with hundreds of sport routes stacked up the walls.
Yes, I-70 on a Saturday is penance. So don't do that: Loveland and Echo Mountain midweek, Waterton Canyon at dawn, Golden's trails after work. The Front Range game is timing, and locals win it constantly.
What the mountain towns can't give you is everything else — a real career market, direct flights, a show any night of the week. Denver's the compromise that isn't one, if you use it right.
— Nate