Best Full-Throttle Fun for Women 2015 | The Scarlet Headers | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Riding motorcycles isn't just for the boys: Each week, the Scarlet Headers, a group of hog-riding women who promote equality in the world of motorcycling, come together to ride, gear up on motorcycle maintenance and support rookie riders. The group's goal is to encourage women to be comfortable in the scene, and the Headers welcome all interested parties with open arms and a spare helmet.

If you've ever had the inclination to practice your best Miley moves, the Twerkshop at Tease dance studio is the perfect place to burn some cals while learning a sexy new routine. You'll be dancing to some sick beats, for sure, but don't be fooled: This is a high-energy cardio class, and nobody's wasting time twerking in place. You'll be catwalking and crab-crawling across the floor and back before you know it, bouncing, laughing, and shaping your badonkadonk in the process.

In Hinduism, "bhakti" means love and devotion — and that's what Katrina Gustafson's classes are all about. As the owner of Karma Yoga, Gustafson incorporates bhakti elements into every class and encourages her instructors to do the same. The best offering is Thursday night's Live Music Bhakti Flow class, with drumming from musician Zay Alejandro Rios, locally renowned for his work at Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. This class gets packed, with upwards of thirty students doing an active asana series that culminates in freestyle dance followed by a shavasana (deep relaxation) set against soft piano. Drop in for $15, or buy a package and save.

For a sweet new hashtag showing off Denver in all its glory, check out @lafitara's #yograffiti on Instagram to see the Denver resident flexing and posing in mind-boggling fashion in front of street art and city buildings, showcasing often-overlooked parts of the 5280. The #yograffiti project started with ad agency and photographer friends @giggletron4k and @tsirotek, a talented and creative bunch whose aim is to bring visibility to Mile High artists and culture and fitness enthusiasts. If you're wondering how this flexy chick gets her body to bend like that, well, you're not alone. Inversions, man.

It's not easy to run, climb, jump or do lunges before the sun comes up — much less in inclement weather. But it helps when you get support and hugs from fellow members of the November Project. The group, which is an officially sanctioned part of Civic Center Moves, takes free outdoor fitness to a new level with its early-morning workouts in Civic Center and other city parks. The collectively nicknamed Tribe promotes an active lifestyle, team-building and accountability — meaning you're supposed to be there regardless of conditions — but all fitness levels are welcome, and the workouts are adaptable. Expect Taylor Swift songs, some burpees and a positivity award handed out after a solid chunk of time spent running. Oh, and someone might spray-paint "November Project 5280" onto your T-shirt as an official welcome.

Awaken is not your average gym. It doesn't feature rows and rows of treadmills, sweaty exercise bikes and back-to-back episodes of House Hunters International playing on wall-mounted TVs. Instead, the sunny studio on Santa Fe is filled with rings, bars and a pommel horse, and offers classes such as Handstand Strength and Gymnastics Foundations. If you've ever dreamed of sticking the landing like Olympian Nadia Comaneci, or of building rock-hard abs and Michelle Obama arms in a fun atmosphere with no HGTV, Awaken is your spot.

By day, PATH Movement is the country's only fully customizable parkour gym, offering patrons new ways to jump, swing and climb on its movable obstacle course each day. But on the second and fourth Saturday of each month, the place becomes a NERF war zone, a fully stocked tactical training facility offering guns and ammo of the foam variety for hours of fun-infused combat. Learn battle strategies through PATH's NERF Madness sessions and then take that knowledge into its NERF Warz, where sixteen-person teams go head-to-head in glorious, all-out foam-ammunition-loaded scrimmages.

8000 S. Lincoln St., Littleton
720-443-1164

Elitch Lanes attracts everyone from weekday pizza-and-beer leagues to late-night bowling aficionados. Business and blue-collar types, high-schoolers and senior citizens have bowled alongside each other for years as the booze and sodas flowed. A North Denver institution from a bygone era when its namesake family ruled this part of the city, Elitch Lanes will close this May, but there's still time to come in for a few frames, stay for the buffet and cocktails, and hang with your Denver neighbors.

Flush with its success in the Ballpark neighborhood, ViewHouse opened a second outpost last September right off I-25 in Centennial — and it turns out that residents of the southern suburbs had been hungering to get in the game. From almost the moment it opened in a transformed Trail Dust Steak House, this ViewHouse has been packed at all hours, with groups gathering to drink and chat, linger over weekend brunch, party late into the night — and maybe even watch some games. ViewHouse is filled with big screens where you can watch just about every sporting event imaginable live, and there's room to stretch out while you do (and plenty to snack on off that expansive menu). But on the rare occasion when there's nothing to catch on television, you can watch all the action as suburbanites meet, greet, eat and possibly cheat. Or you can just gaze off to the west at that stunning view of the mountains, from both the ground-floor windows and the rooftop deck. Bonus: When you leave this ViewHouse, you don't have to worry about running into the LoDo let-out crowds.

Readers' choice: Blake Street Tavern

The winner and still the champ! Since 2003, Blake Street Tavern has been scoring big with sports-bar fans — and the best got better when Blake Street opened Underground Social, the ultimate solution for a big basement space that now features its own bar, jukebox and photo booth, along with plenty of games: shuffleboard, ping-pong, darts, cornhole, Giant Jenga, Giant Connect 4 and many more. Of course, there are big-screen TVs down here, too, in case you want to watch games as well as play them. And upstairs, Blake Street remains as accommodating as ever, with another game arcade, private rooms that groups can claim for watching their favorite sporting events, big booths and tables that are perfect spots for taking on some of the big offerings on the menu — like the green chile cheeseburger and the Blake Street nachos — and a huge rectangular bar from which you can catch the action on TV, or just around the rest of the room. Score!

Readers' choice: The 1up

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