Some of us honest folk even shout it while we curse the never-ending scramble and shale of this delightful 14er.
fitness
Denver She Devils Head to Minneapolis
Today, the Denver She Devils (including myself, Kirsten) start making our way to Minneapolis for the annual Babes in Bikeland race. It’ll be great to see old friends, make new, and have a blast during this race! Follow the Denver She Devils on Facebook to keep up to date on what’s happening in Minneapolis!
Ladies, if you’re looking for a great way to get back into riding or just looking for a new group of gals to ride with, please come join the She Devils for a weekly ride, or contact the She Devils through Facebook. Continue reading
14er #4: Mt. Democrat for Clean Water
Last Saturday, we finished another 14er. This one was especially awesome as it completed our Colorado 54 Campaign to fund clean water solutions for families in Nicaragua.
The DenverSpeax Team on top of Mount Democrat, Aug 2nd, 2014. Photo Credit: Steve Mercer, Aug 2014
Mount Democrat (14,148′) is considered a Class 2 (Difficult Class 2, depending on route) and links to other peaks:
- Mt. Cameron (14,238′)
- Mount Lincoln (14,286′)
- Mount Bross (14,172′)
Unfortunately, with 2 hours of sleep because of freezing weather (that we were ill-prepared to sleep in), we only made it to Mount Democrat. Hopefully, we can crush the other three peaks before the end of Summer 2014!
Kirsten hiking up Democrat – Aug 2nd, 2014. Photo Credit: Steve Mercer, Aug 2014.
Steve and Kirsten holding the Democrat sign at the top! Photo Credit: Jeff Doorn, Aug 2014
Steve checking out the view from how far we had all come. Photo Credit: Jeff Doorn, Aug 2014
Kirsten and Jeff checking out the beautiful view from the top of Mount Democrat. Photo Credit: Steve Mercer, Aug 2014
We had a blast, and (collectively) ended up raising over $1k+ for families in need of clean water. We’d like to thank all of our contributors from the bottom of our hearts:
Michael Moore & Shawna Jones
Robyn Lamson
Ashley & Jason Minard
John Cooke
Jessica Finley
Phil DiTirro
Blake Forslund
Cassy Huidobro
Allie & Dan Price
Hans Smits
Jackie & Tom Lindrup
Katie Braun
Mark Lohman
Barb & George Davis
Please check out The Colorado 54 as well as Second Mile Water to find out ways to help & get involved.
What 14ers or hikes are you looking at conquering before the end of summer? Can you recommend any? There are just SO MANY great ones here in our beautiful state. Also, you may have noticed that we “skipped” 14er #3… can you guess which one it was?? Updates coming soon on more hikes and awesome local places to visit in Denver.
Come hang out with us on Facebook and Twitter!
Circuit Training in Denver Parks
Denver’s City Park, view of Ferril Lake. Photo Credit: Kirsten Ebey, June 2014
There are SO many parks in Denver (over 200 in the city and county combined) offering the perfect landscape for circuit training. Benches, ledges, paths, and your own body weight can go a long way and help your wallet also!
In City Park, where benches are everywhere, we like to pick 20 benches and rotate exercises such as arm dips, step ups, squats, and push ups in small sets. Sprint from bench to bench, in between the exercises performed on the bench, to keep your heart rate up.
Not close to City Park? No problem! Find one near you and get moving. Low cost, high impact, with great results and no monthly fee. Use the resources this great city provides.
Take some great shots while you’re out there!
How do you get active in your local park? Tell us about it!
Urban Hiking – Yes, it’s a real thing.
Denver….er, well, Colorado’s weather hasn’t been cooperating much as of late. Tornados, hail, rain, thunderstorms, you name it. It’s making it pretty hard for us to conquer the remaining miles in the June Hike Challenge.
Planning hikes and then having the weather screw up your plans is not only frustrating, but can cost you gas money, time, and energy. For these reasons, plus not wanting to let another day go by sans hiking, Moguls and I set out on an Urban Hiking Adventure around the capitol this afternoon and knocked two more miles off of our 50 mile goal. 45 more miles to go!
Take a look at our journey!
When life gives you rain, bring an umbrella. Photo Credit: Kirsten Ebey, June 2014
Have you ever noticed the paintings inside the archways in and around Civic Center? Beautiful work. Photo Credit: Kirsten Ebey, June 2014
Swimming, anyone? Photo Credit: Kirsten Ebey, June 2014
Urban hiking is actually a real thing – people document their urban hikes throughout cities, including cool quirks like staircase connections, unseen walkways, and much more. Moguls and I kept to the sidewalks and walkways of the different parks, but look forward to finding interesting, less-traveled parts of Denver on our upcoming excursions.
Urban hiking is not only less costly then driving somewhere to hike, but it’s also good for the environment.
Halfway through our Urban Hike, the sun started to shine again! Photo Credit: Kirsten Ebey, June 2014
Love the contrasts of all of the different colors, shapes, and sizes of the buildings downtown. Photo Credit: Kirsten Ebey, June 2014
There’s artwork all around – go walk around and snap some shots. Photo Credit: Kirsten Ebey, June 2014
More amazing artwork around Denver. Photo Credit: Kirsten Ebey, June 2014
Moguls’ favorite part – the fountains! Photo Credit: Kirsten Ebey, June 2014
Get out there, Denver. Urban Hike! Get to know your city using the power of your own body.
Our favorite shots from the Urban Hike. Get outside and check out your own city! What new things will you find when you’re face-to-face? Photo Credit: Kirsten Ebey, June 2014
Check out more hiking adventures on our Facebook Page.
Help End Water Poverty with The Colorado 54
Growing up in Michigan, a beautiful place surrounded by (what seems to be) an endless supply of water, it’s easy to take for granted how incredible of a resource the Great Lakes truly are. When I was much younger, I didn’t really understand why my parents were constantly reminding my siblings and I to conserve water; it was everywhere, wasn’t it? It’s not like it would run out! Silly parents. What I didn’t understand at that time was how precious clean, accessible water is for a healthy, sustainable living.
Beautiful Lake Michigan. Photo Credit: Jackie Balcom, July 2013.
In such a prosperous, developed nation-state as the United States, it’s hard to think about water as a limited resource; it’s difficult to wrap our heads around the fact that, worldwide, 783 million people are in Water Poverty, meaning their closest source of water is far away, or possibly unsanitary/unclean, or just not affordable.
According to National Geographic, Americans spent $21.7 billion on bottled water in 2011, finding it convenient, appealing, and healthy (click Nat Geo link for article). Honestly, I’m not including this information to shame people into not buying bottled water, but instead to bring to light an incredibly prevalent issue:
There are individuals in the world who do not know when they will have their next drink of clean water.
Women carrying water in Central America – photo is courtesy of National Geographic, accessed June 2014. Click through for provided image.
Late last month, Denverspeax was contacted by a group with not only big hearts, but an amazing plan: The Colorado 54. Organized teams of 500+ men and women will ascend 54 total 14er’s (14,000 vertical foot mountain) simultaneously throughout Colorado in an effort to end water poverty for 1000+ families in Nicaragua.
Click on the logo to visit The Colorado 54 Official site! Photo Credit: The Colorado 54, June 2014.
While the actual hiking event takes place on August 2nd, 2014, registration is required ahead of time for a cost of $50, which guarantees the arrival of each participant’s welcome kit, including a Colorado 54 athletic shirt, stickers, and snacks from Colorado 54’s sponsors. Each participant can join or start their own campaign team to raise $500, which is the cost for a permanent, clean 
water solution for two families in Nicaragua.
Register fast as the limit is set to 540 participants!
To find out more regarding the actual event day including awards, how individuals will be tracked, etc., please check out The Colorado 54 Official site.
Nervous about campaigning? Don’t be – they’ve made it easy to get donations from friends, family, and coworkers. Sponsors donate directly to your customized campaign page and receive an email confirmation with their tax deductible receipt.
Even though the hiking event is taking place in August, register and participate now to be a part of interviews and exclusive give-aways!
This is an incredible opportunity to not only unite as a Colorado community, but also to help end a serious issue. What I think is amazing is that both can be done by banding together and hiking – definitely something Coloradans are known for! Why not hike for a cause? Why not make a difference in others’ lives with this special 14er on August 2nd? Think about it – what an extraordinary feat we can all accomplish together.
Special thanks to Kayleen Cohen for getting in touch with us regarding this event; we appreciate all information and pictures you all have provided, and look forward to spreading the word regarding this awesome event moving forward!
DenverSpeax – A Reminder
The power of reminder can be very interesting and thought-provoking, to the point of near meditation:
A song comes on the radio, and you’re instantly placed into a time previous of extreme joy, or maybe content, or possibly sadness.
You head west out of Denver to visit the Rockies, and you’re reminded of your first trip to Loveland Pass, or your first drive through the Eisenhower Tunnel.
View from Arapahoe Basin – Click on the photo to see more beautiful pictures in this area.
These places serve as reminder for us as to why we moved here, and why we started DenverSpeax. It’s important to reflect, and have our reflection over the past (almost) year rejuvenate our spirits and provoke motivation. I thought it would be good to pass this along to you all who have supported us.
The Story:
When we moved here, we had a few friends from back home, but they were fairly new as well. It was difficult to find places to go or see because we didn’t know what we were looking for, per se – try using Yelp to find a restaurant when you’re in the mood for a certain atmosphere, or when you’re trying to make friends – is there a filter for those? Although we believe Yelp is a great application and very helpful, sometimes a star-rating just doesn’t cut it. Sure, there’s another great site called TripAdvisor – we use it when we are traveling…but we weren’t traveling any longer. We weren’t looking for advertised Bed & Breakfasts and their ratings – we were looking to call a place home.
The best way to learn and begin to understand a community is by fully emerging yourself. This is what we’ve learned in our various travels domestically and internationally, as well as with this move to Denver. Out of boredom, and lack of known resources within the Denver community & beyond, DenverSpeax was born.
City Park hosts City Park Jazz for many Sundays each summer. Click on the picture to read more!
We roam around Denver and the surrounding areas looking for what’s good in the community. The good comes in all shapes, sizes, and experiences. We support small, local businesses when we eat out, and prefer to stay local with our purchases as well. Luckily, there are so many festivals, parks, food and beverage, volunteering, and natural beauty here that we’ll never run out of things to write about.
Walking around on the 16th Street mall can be a ton of fun. Click on the picture to check out more!
DenverSpeax exists to promote positivity within the community, helping out natives and transplants alike with what to do, where to go, and how to experience all of the good that’s so aplenty here. Know someone who’s moving to Denver? Show ’em our website. Ran out of things to do and experience? Look through the site! Planning a trip to Denver and want the real feel of our diverse community? Well, we have a website for that!
Thank you for your endless support. We are devoted to continue to bring you the low down on what’s good in Denver. A few things we’re looking at tackling next:
- Volunteering – how can we give back to the community we love so much? There are so many ways – we just need to DO IT.
- Collaboration with other Colorado start-ups that need support with getting noticed in the community.
- Visiting Bed & Breakfasts local to Denver so that we can provide our visitors with features on great places to stay.
How you can help: Come with us! Or, let us know…
What other features would you like to see on the website?
What is local and positive that you just can’t live without?
For more on what’s good in Denver, follow us in real-time on Facebook, Instagram (@denverspeax), or Twitter (@denverspeax).
Gociety – Get Outside with Awesome People
Gociety hooks you up with people of same outdoor interests – what a great platform to motivate more Coloradans to get outside and mingle with like-minded, awesome people! Check out Gociety on Facebook by clicking on their logo above – Photo Credit: Gociety Facebook Page, April 2014
Gociety is a site we’ve been watching for a while, and for good reason; their concept is fresh and new, and provides a GREAT service to the Colorado community. With Gociety, you can meet people from all over Colorado getting outside and doing what they love!
For example, we are avid bikers and appreciate meeting new people to bike all over Denver with – Gociety is a platform that will help us out with this.
Road biking lets us exercise and see new parts of town; on Gociety, I can meet new people that love to do the same. Click on the picture above to check out the Gociety Facebook Page. Photo Credit: DenverSpeax Archive, 2013
Creating a Gociety profile is super easy – we just made one! By visiting Gociety, you can join via Facebook profile, OR email. Fill out info about how you get down in the great outdoors of Colorado, and BOOM! – you have a Discovery Feed outlining multiple outdoor activities in areas all over Colorado. From Cat Skiing to to Fly Fishing to multiple runs and triathlons, there is a TON to do – and what better way to find it than one, organized Discovery Feed via your personal Gociety profile. Search options on the right-hand side make it easy to limit the feed to your interests only.
Get outside and hike Mount Evans! Photo Credit: DenverSpeax Archive, 2013
With an easy-to-use platform, it’s no wonder more and more Coloradans are catching on to Gociety‘s awesome idea. We can’t wait to sign up for a few events (aka, Gocieties) and meet new, awesome people that love getting outside. We’ll be sure to give you an update as well as an inside look of our experience. Stay tuned!
For the meantime, go check Gociety out on the web or on Facebook and see what they’re all about for yourself.
OneSpark 2014 – CitySpeax Project Promo Video
Thanks to all of our friends and family that have made this trip to OneSpark in Jacksonville tomorrow possible. Watch our brand expansion project’s video – CitySpeax – your city, your love.
Also, please please PLEASE vote for our project to get NOTICED and FUNDED here. “Bookmark” it, and help us rise through the ranks of popularity. Thanks again for your support!
Support the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Denver at Crossfit DeCO!
This weekend, February 23rd, 2014, CrossfitDeCO and the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Denver are teaming up to hold a fundraiser to sponsor student athletes.
Thanks to CrossfitDeCO for posting this awesome photo for the fundraiser – click on the photo to be re-directed to their site for more information on the event and how you can help. Credit: CrossfitDeCO, Feb 2014
Stop in at CrossfitDeCO from noon to 2 pm this Sunday to see how you can help a student with an 8 week Crossfit membership. No donation is too small, and this is a great way to get kids active in the Denver area. Don’t believe us? No worries – there will be a sample workout performed to make you a believer. Note that while childhood obesity is increasing in awareness, Colorado’s childhood obesity rate continues to increase, per the Denver Post. What a great fundraiser to help out with this issue!
Check out CrossfitDeCO’s Official site for more information.
Like CrossfitDeCO on Facebook! DenverSpeax, too!
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