After having some cereal for breakfast, we got on the single speed bikes we've been using and headed towards the trails to go on a hike. The ride to the trail head was mainly uphill and for some reason when we got to the top, we both felt dizzy. We took a quick rest and then found a bike stand to lock our bikes to. There were so many trails that we could have taken and I'm sure they all would have been great. The route we ended up taking was probably about a mile and a half to two miles up and the same back. The trail was pretty steep for most of the climb and very rocky. At one point there was what Joey called a "rock garden" that was just a huge pile of rocks on the side of the hill. It looked pretty cool and once we got to the top of that area was a little frightening because looking down it was really steep with a ton of jagged rocks. Eventually we made it to a little place to look out to the SE and we were able to see Denver off in the distance which I was not expecting. The view of Boulder was incredible too. Although we couldn't climb to the very top of what were called the flatirons, we still climbed to an elevation of about 8,000 ft. After climbing for an hour and a half to get to the top, we started our decent, which to me is always a lot more challenging that climbing up. When we made it back to Ed's it was around 1pm. We had a left over piece of pizza each, a package of Ramen, and some brownies (Joey had a little of the ice cream we bought yesterday too). Once we were full and knew we would be tided over until we got back from the speech, we got our things together and headed to Colorado University. When we got to the campus all of the roads around the event center were blocked off with police and signs that said if you crossed that point you would be arrested. We found a good spot to lock up the bike and then made our way to the line. By the time that we had gotten there, the line was already pretty long, past where we initially got in line yesterday to get our tickets. Although it was only around 2:30 when we got there, the line quickly grew longer and longer. By 4pm, when the doors were supposed to open, the line had doubled back around campus. We finally made it into the event center around 5:30 and found pretty good seats. The university band was playing for a while, as well as a band that I think may travel with the president. Other than that, nothing really happened until around 7pm. It was pretty neat hearing the president discuss the issues surrounding the possibility of interest rates doubling for student loans and what they need to do so that doesn't happen. His speech revolved around the idea of "An america built to last," which kind of sounds like a ford commercial. There was a restaurant in town that our Warm Showers host suggested we visit, and it turns out that Obama had lunch their sometime today. Although we didn't go to the restaurant because we figured it would be packed, it was a pretty neat coincidence. When we got back to Ed's, we made some mac and cheese and Ed helped us plan out our route for tomorrow. We've decided that since we spent an extra day in Boulder that we wouldn't go as far south as Denver and cut into the mountains a little sooner. Our hope was to see a Colorado Rockies game, but the timing isn't right since the next home game won't be until this weekend. I am so glad that we were able to get tickets to see the President speak and that our Warm Showers host let us stay an extra day. Today was another fantastic day.
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