BOULDER - When Josh Kravetz finished college he was like a lot of new grads. He wanted to make money, but he really wanted to play.

Eventually he figured a way to do both.

Out of college and in Austin, Texas, he started work at a dot-com, but he really just wanted to ride his bike.

"I'd do work as quickly as possible so I could hit the road," he said.

Then the Internet bust hit, and the company he worked for went under. He found himself looking for a job.

"There were plenty of sales and marketing jobs, but I wanted something to be passionate about," Kravetz said.

He was passionate about his bike, so he started a small business called Adventure Fit to teach customers how and where to ride their new road bikes. After spending six hours a day pedaling, he began searching for an easier way.

"Scaling the concept seemed to make the most sense, so I focused on clinics teaching the skills," he said.

He added other sports to the clinics - running, rock climbing, kayaking and cycling. He ended up with six trainers and taught 20 clinics a week.

Then the idea came to combine all of the activities into one event, and Adventure Fit came up with "Urban Assault Races" - races that were fun, tough, but not too tough.

The company held a hill-climb race on Austin's steepest hill. "It was a feat in itself just to make it to the top of the climb, and it was really you versus the mountain," Kravetz said.

As the idea began to take hold, Kravetz realized that there were few events for untrained athletes.

The focus of the company then settled on the urban athlete - a demographic that enjoys, "being active, environmentally conscious, has a family and career - yet they are not going to quit their day job to train for an event," according to Kravetz.

Kravetz moved the company to Boulder in October 2005 because, in his words, "The mountains were calling us. I love to ride and race bikes, and Boulder is a Mecca for cycling.

"The riding is wonderful, and it doesn't hurt that there a lot of other folks who live the lifestyle we like to support," he said. "Colorado is centrally located. Because we do business in many states, Boulder County is a good home base. Over time we've realized that we can really make a difference in people's lives."

Adventure Fit creates events and services for companies that want to reach the urban athlete. Revenue comes from event sponsorships, entry fees and consulting fees.

"We're a full-service sports marketing company that creates strategies for companies to reach an active audience, particularly within the cycling market," Kravetz said.

Adventure Fit has expanded its reach and produces events in Texas, Colorado, California and Wisconsin.

He said the Urban Assault Race requires teams to choose their own course to checkpoints around town. They ride their bikes to destinations where they would typically drive. As a result many participants have started using their bikes for transportation and not just recreation.

"Ultimately we would like to make the Urban Assault Race the biggest participatory cycling event in the country," Kravetz said. "It's a great event because anybody can do it (ages 7 and up), it's a ton of fun, doesn't require a high level of fitness and can be produced almost anywhere."

Adventure Fit events in Colorado

July 22 - Urban Assault Race, Boulder
July 29 - Urban Assault Race, Denver;
  The Fiesta de Bicicleta, Denver.
Oct. 14 - Urban Assault Race,
  Fort Collins