It's easy to dismiss Boulder as a granola-sprinkled idyll, and it is a healthy kind of place: Triathletes flock here during the first week of August to compete in Ironman Boulder, a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and 26.2-mile run past creeks and parks on the Boulder Creek Trail. But look closely and you'll see a city on the verge of transformation. Thanks largely to startup accelerator Techstars, it is home to more than a hundred startups. From its gold-mining days to its rep as a hippie haven, Boulder has championed discovery, and its entrepreneurship scene underscores what residents already know: Boulder is a city of the future.

SEE | I. M. Pei designed the National Center for Atmospheric Research, nestled at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, to complement the surrounding rocks. CU-Boulder's Heritage Center houses a 1,200-pound Lego model campus, featuring a tree-climbing bear and the Foucault pendulum at the university's Gamow Tower. Tour the robotically operated Celestial Seasonings tea factory. Catch a Jenny Lewis show at the Fox Theatre, hailed by music snobs for its stereo four-way line array system.

EAT | Swing by the Cup for some banana bread, but secure your seat before the startup crowd moves in. The Bitter Bar, Bramble & Hare, and T-Zero Lounge in the St. Julien hotel all serve up craft cocktails and local beers. Or bike from brewery to brewery until you can't bike no more (at least not safely). And if you can manage to change out of your spandex, head to Oak at Fourteenth for locally sourced white asparagus and short ribs.

DO | Rent an e-bike from local favorite Optibike and ride around the city's 52 miles of multiuse paths. Greet the Ironman champs at the finish line at Pearl Street Mall. Contemplate the power of cesium: The NIST-F2 atomic clock, which opened last year, operates out of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Boulder campus. Take advantage of legalization with a limousine cannabis tour by Green Tripz, featuring intel on smoke shops and the best places to satisfy the munchies, like Cheba Hut or Boulder Baked.

BENJAMIN RASMUSSEN

“My post-Ironman 2014 meal was a Rueben's Burger Bistro's buffalo meat burger with sweet potato fries. I also love their boneless buffalo wings. (All-white-meat chicken balls—no bones!)” —Laura Bennett, professional triathlete

GOOGLE BUILT A SATELLITE CAMPUS HERE IN 2006. // LOCATED IN “THE NAPA VALLEY OF BEER,” BOULDER IS HOME TO 22 BREWERIES. // BOULDER'S TALLEST FLATIRON (IT'S A ROCK FORMATION, NOT A BUILDING) SOARS TO 7,628 FEET. // THE SECOND AMERICAN ASTRONAUT IN ORBIT, SCOTT CARPENTER, GREW UP HERE.

Kyle Hilton (Portrait); Patrick Hruby (Illustrations)