Boulder Cycling

From the infamous Bustop ride to the nearly 100 miles of linked bikeways, cycling is an integral part of Boulder's lifestyle and rich with history. To commemorate Boulder's love of cycling, local artist Steve Lowtwait designed a really cool Mod Boulder jersey.

Bustop Ride

Every Tuesday and Thursday, the "guaranteed to make you suffer" Bustop Ride leaves from the Bustop Gentleman's Club parking lot and heads north. Notoriously fast, this ride was the subject of a 1993 Sports Illustrated article.

 Thursday Night Cruiser Ride

Morgul-Bismark Loop

"The Morgul-Bismark Loop is a popular cycling route or stage south of town. It was featured in the bygone Red Zinger Bicycle Classic and Coors International Bicycle Classic, and is still commonly ridden today. Riders who have traversed the stage include Greg Lemend and Davis Phinney.

The loop is 13.1 miles and includes undulating terrain and several steep inclines, including the wall, which is located at the south terminus of McCaslin Boulevard where it intersects with State Highway 128. The wall is a one-mile gradual incline that increases to a 12% grade.

In the days of the Coors Classic, which folded in 1988, riders would circuit the loop eight times and culminate with a dramatic sprint to the top of the wall, which has been attested as a very painful stretch and the source of the climb's name. Back then, the route traversed open prairie land which is now largely developed by the city of Superior. Many cyclists lament the encroachment of urban sprawl onto one of the world's favorite stages, but most cyclists seem unfettered as they continue to ride Morgul-Bismarck to this day. The city of Superior has made an effort to this effect by furnishing most of McCaslin Boulevard with a widened shoulder and designated bicycle lane as of 2007. In 2009, the city began construction on a roundabout to replace the traffic signal at the intersection of McCaslin Boulevard and Coalton Road.

After the Coors Classic ended, Randy Gaffney, Davis Phinney, Ron Kiefel and Art Allen opened the shop on University Hill in Boulder, called 'Morgul Bismark Bicycles'. Following the closure of the bicycle shop, Rainbow Cyclecraft of Niwot purchased the rights to the Morgul-Bismark name from the partners, and produced bicycles from 1998 to 2002.

In the 1985 film American Flyers, the first race in the film was shot on location at the Morgul-Bismark.