Best Auto Art Exhibit 2002 | Customized and Converted: The Art of the Automobile | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Auto Art Exhibit

Customized and Converted: The Art of the Automobile

This summer collection of related shows was so worth the drive -- no, cruise -- south to Pueblo. In fact, the very act of driving was the ultimate way to prepare for the riches awaiting your bone-weary bottom and road-fried mind at the end of that ninety-mile trek. There, high-end automotive art by the likes of Robert Williams, Von Dutch and Ed "Big Daddy" Roth canoodled with sleek hotrod forms and candy-colored lowrider art, and vintage gas pumps and gauges sidled up alongside hubcap collections and car-part assemblages in a good-natured free-for-all. It was like a crash-course trip through a late-night showing of American Graffiti, augmented by a demented stopover in the realm of Zap Comix. The classy Sangre de Cristo Center was definitely on a roll.

Best Public Golf Course With Shifting Holes

Fox Hollow

A public course manicured to country-club standards, the intriguing 27-hole layout at Fox Hollow Golf Course in Lakewood offers a variety of challenges, according to when you play. Depending on maintenance and tournament schedules, eighteen-hole players tackle shifting combinations of two of the facility's three courses: the hilly, demanding Canyon 9; the lovely Meadows 9, which puts water hazards into play on every hole; and the European-styled Links 9, perhaps the most ego-friendly of the three. Regulars praise Fox Hollow's amiable atmosphere and easy-on-the-wallet greens fees, which are under $40.

Best Place to Tune Up Your Golf 24/7

D'Lance Golf

It's 'round midnight, and you just can't believe that hook of yours won't go away. You're tired of the club scene but not your clubs. If you're a member at D'Lance Golf, you can work on ways to fix your game at all hours. With five hitting bays, four simulators and other high-tech gear available 24 hours a day, D'Lance is determined to help you get a grip on your game. (Non-members are welcome until 7 p.m.) And if you need human help, employees are usually on duty until 8 p.m. for instruction and advice.

Best Way to Test Your Tuned-Up Car

Lariat Loop Heritage Alliance Road Rally

Back when life was a bit rustic along the Front Range, savvy tourists tested their roadsters on the challenging-but-not-impossible byways. One favorite was the forty-mile Lariat Loop, linking Golden, Morrison, Bear Creek Canyon and Red Rocks. Last year, a group revived this tradition, giving it a twist: Participants must compete on a mystery course and defeat obstacles. The event returns in a cloud of dust on June 22.

Best Bike-Ride Maps

Latitude 40 Degrees

If you see mountain bikers around Colorado clutching colorful, waterproof plastic-coated contour maps, chances are they're counting on Boulder's Latitude 40 to steer them. The Boulder County Mountain Bike Map is now in its seventh edition, and the Front Range map -- with 101 rides on one side -- stretches from Fort Collins to Chatfield.

Best Mountain-Bike Ride for a Secret Squirrel

Hall Ranch

The 3,206 acres of backcountry purchased by Boulder County Parks and Open Space in 1993 are required to balance wildlife and recreation. That means there's plenty to see along Hall Ranch's dozen miles of multi-use trails, about half of which are open to bikers, hikers and horseback riders. But you'll need to study the open-space rules at www.co.boulder.co.us/openspace before you learn the secret code word to download a map.

Best Bicycle-Built-for-Two Club

Tandem Club of Colorado

For sixteen years, the Tandem Club of Colorado has been promoting togetherness on bicycles built for two with rallies, rides and fun events. Last month's annual meeting, held at REI's flagship store in Denver, has attracted about fifty people of all ages. This season's events include the Tour de Denver on June 9 -- a 55-mile ride from Aurora to Confluence Park and back -- and a seven-day round trip from Leadville and back, which winds through Glenwood Springs and Salida, covering distances of thirty to seventy miles a day. Rides can be any time, anywhere, but helmets are mandatory. Buddy up and take a ride.

Best Wildflower Ride

Hewlett Gulch
Poudre Park, Larimer County

The ten-mile, single-track Hewlett Gulch trail, which starts at the Poudre Park picnic area on the Cache la Poudre River, is full of gnarly challenges like twists and turns and rocky stream crossings. But the initial 3.1-mile climb up the appropriately named Flower Road is flanked by beautiful wildflowers, a soothing sight for sore thighs.

Best Place to Get a Bike Fitting by a Tour de France Racer and Olympian

Wheat Ridge Cyclery

Ron Kiefel finished six out of seven of his Tour de France tries, won a bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics for a team time trial and has probably ridden more than 300,000 miles during his cycling career -- which makes him especially suited to understand all the nuances of riding bicycles. Kiefel believes getting a custom bicycle fitting is important for anyone who is serious about cycling: With the right frame, a cyclist can ride better, faster and longer. Ron and the twelve other certified bicycle fitters who work at Wheat Ridge Cyclery choose a frame best suited for your frame, and with over 1,000 bicycles in stock, it's not hard to find a fit. Even if you're not in the market for an $8,000 high-performance cycle, you can visit when they pedal their wisdom at free monthly bicycle-maintenance clinics.

Best Lowrider Bicycle Store

Dragon Lowriders

Say hi to lowriders: After you've seen a decked-out lowrider bicycle, regular bikes just look like plain, boring, single scoops of vanilla ice cream. Kids go crazy over lowriders' smooth lines, colorfully airbrushed frames, whitewall tires and other accessories, such as headlights and steering wheels. When we stopped by recently to survey the goods at Dragon Lowriders, there were at least five kids in the shop ogling the many pairs of spiffy chrome rims, gleaming, twisting front forks and velvet banana seats; the photographs of colorful, customized lowrider bikes lining the store's windows gave them plenty of ideas. Dragon Lowriders started back in 1994, when owner Santiago Mondragon had trouble ordering parts for his son's custom lowrider. He opened the shop in an empty spot next to his frame shop on Santa Fe Drive, and, eight years later, the shop is busier than ever. Take a little trip.

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