Matti's SuperFlag - Cheaper Than Therapy

We love asking our athletes what their favorite ride is. Not necessarily their favorite workout, but their favorite fill up the bottles, stack the pockets with food, and head out for a fun day. For some athletes it’s a ride they do weekly, for others it’s a ride they did once and they’ll never forget. Below is what Matti Rowe had to say about his favorite ride.

My favorite ride is unimaginative and straightforward - four times SuperFlag under 30 minutes. Other cyclists ride more rad routes. I'm jealous, but my favorite ride is a reflection of new realities - kids. I have two now, and between work and diapers, long gone are my freewheeling days living in Boulder and waking up to an open-ended day filled with endless exploratory kilometers.  My passion for riding isn't.

I don't manage a hedge fund, so my ride begins out in the Longmont suburbs, 15 miles distant from the base of Flagstaff.  As my wife and I moved from our small apartment in Boulder, I inwardly cringed because of the yawning distance between Flagstaff and my new home.  It turns out that instinct was wrong.

Taking the diagonal from Longmont to Boulder is the perfect warm-up, and also a useful preamble to my favorite ritual - stopping at a Shell gas station to pick up Bon Sole powdered doughnuts.

As I enter the town, I buy a sleeve of 8 mini-doughnuts and crush half of them.  By the time the insulin finishes madly flushing through my body, I'm already two reps done on SuperFlag, which is a useful time to unwrap the last four to see me through the final efforts.

I climb Flag four times for two reasons.  First, it's my favorite climb and the better part of why I fell in love with cycling.  The pitches reveal the truth of your condition, Jeeps buzz past reeking of marijuana, and the descents keep your adrenal glands in working order.  Flagstaff captures the essence of Boulder in 4.5 miles.

Second, I don't have to think.  As a father, it's all I do. On Flagstaff, my mind is blank.

Climbing Flag four times removes the burden of logistics and the pressure of wondering if I'll get back home on time. No headphones, no distractions, just the sound of my breath and a basic task.  It's simple when nothing else in my life is.

On the way back home, the Shell gas station tempts me again, but I'll let the hunger pangs sink in.  I'll be just in time for dinner, back to reality, but with a better version of me coming through the door.  My family is waiting. I'm ready.