Last month I had the opportunity to take part in a ‘Road Rally’ in advance of the TBEX travel blogging conference. Not sure what a ‘Road Rally’ is? Think a mini The Amazing Race, but with much less stress and challenges that are more fun than frustrating.

It consisted of nine vans full of people zigzagging their way from Denver up to the mountain resort of Keystone, making stops and completing tasks.

Unlike The Amazing Race, the winner of the Rally wasn’t the first team to cross the finish line, but rather, the one that produced and tweeted the most original content throughout the day.

The Rally had three different topics, History, Beer and Adrenaline (3 vans/teams competing in each). I opted for door #3, Adrenaline.

Little did I know that my day would consist of being flipped upside down (repeatedly), flying through the trees and taking a shot from a piece of sporting equipment.

My team – Team Pink! – included the likes of Ava from Be My Travel Muse, Victoria of Pommie Travels, Dan and Aubrey of Uncornered Market and Katie from Visit Denver, our delightfully excitable leader.

Leaving the Denver Convention Center at 8am on B-Cycle (bike share) bikes, we made our way through downtown, having no idea that this Rally would last for the next 8 hours.

Our first stop was Elitch Gardens amusement park.

Fun Fact: the first roller coaster I ever rode in my life was at Elitch’s, back when I was in elementary school in Denver!

To be back at Elitch’s was elating in itself. But to be allowed in, before opening hours and taken on a personal tour by the park’s Marketing Team and given access its best rides, was surreal.

I recall standing in line for hours as a kid, waiting to ride the coasters. But this day, we just got to walk right on! I was on cloud nine and was subconsciously scoffing at my childhood self, “this is how you go to an amusement park, child”.

After being flipped, spun, whirled and twisted in every direction we hopped back in the van (which had onboard wifi, by the way!) and headed 20 minutes up the road to the quaint town of Idaho Springs.

And what, pray tell, does one do at Idaho Springs? Well, we were there to zip line (!), although rafting is also a popular draw.

Colorado Adventure Center opened over 3,000 feet of zip lines on Memorial Day this year and has already seen thousands of visitors. The lines run between five towers and are situated to send zippers flying through pine groves and over streams.

Having never been zip lining before, I was amped and a little nervous. I mean, is the tower supposed to shake when someone leaves the platform? It was raining when we arrived and lightning was threatening on the horizon – was being attached to elevated metal cables really the best place to be?

Never one to dwell on such practical negative things, I jumped into the experience. Literally. By the end, we were running and hurling ourselves off each platform and zip-racing the lines.

Even though it took over two hours to get everyone through and we were already exhausted from our morning of adventures, it was crazy fun.

Climbing higher in elevation, we made a pit-stop at Red Rocks Amphitheater.

Given that we were running behind schedule and the fact that there was a sound check in progress for an evening concert, we were only given 15 minutes to run down the theater steps, have a look around and sprint back up again.

Sounds easy, but at over a mile above sea level, the thin air barely filled our lungs before it was ripped away again.

Though our time there was brief, it was easy to see why Red Rocks is one of the most legendary concert venues in the country – towering burnt rock formations providing impeccable natural acoustics and a view to be envied.

Further up the mountains, we stopped yet again (but wait, there’s more). This time at the Continental Divide, the point in the Americas that determines whether water drains to the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean.

After running across the freeway and darting up a hill, we were presented with ski shots of beer.

You heard right – shots of beer from boot-shaped shot glasses attached to a ski by way of their own baby-bindings.

Four boots a ski meant that this was a team sport and we queued up into heats.

Even though Team Pink didn’t win the Rally (lame! I mean check out our Music Video!), I cannot think of a better group of people to spend a day with nor a better way to kick-off a conference.

A huge thanks to Visit Denver and TBEX for organizing the Road Rally!