ACTUALLY, NO ONE CARED: Mountain Towns Have Better 2016 without Defunct Bike Race

Colorado Peakk Politics ^ | November 29, 2016

[snarkpup]

In fact, 2016 tax receipts were up in mountain towns now that the bicycle race is gone. Aspen, Steamboat, and Breckenridge all saw increased tax collections in August, a year after the race shut down their towns for a few hours.

So it turns out it was all spin by PR hacks and the the state’s tourism office, who bragged about how “amped” that Coloradans were to have this bike race – so “amped” that the race went out of business and failed to deliver any tax boost to the communities it impacted.

[snarkpup]

We’ve always looked sideways at the absurd claims made by tourism bureaucrats that the USA Pro Cycling Challenge attracted a million spectators to Colorado each year. Even if they counted people who were tied up in traffic because of closed roads, the number wouldn’t come anywhere close.

Whenever the tourism people (bike fanatics in particular) talk about the economic benefit of stuff that negatively impacts most of the community, one usually needs to lop off some zeros from their figures.

And we wonder if Governor Hickenlooper still wants to burn $100 million of our dollars to make Colorado – a state where you cannot ride a bike outside for almost half the year, the “best biking state.”

Two points here that continually pass over the heads of the anti-motoring people:

1. Except for a couple of Darwin Award candidates who even enjoy cycling in lightning storms, the handful of people who actually use bikes for transportation here (as opposed to just "playing in the street") stick to their cars when the weather is imperfect, which is about half the time.

2. The more money they spend, the worse things get for cyclists, pedestrians and motorists.

[gr8eman]

ditto x1000 with the Olympics

[Cowgirl of Justice]

There was a bike race or fundraiser bike thing through my small town in Ga that shut down the only main road for almost an entire day several times a year . They didn’t buy gas, food, any taxes on goods or stay in the local hotel. We had to plan ahead and stay home or stay out. Almost the entire town was inconvenienced but whatever. The bikers had their beautiful open bike lanes to themselves and that was what mattered.

One sheriff blocked traffic by slowly tailing this obese biker who was walking her bike for an hour down the center of the lane and traffic was stopped in both directions to accommodate her. I was right behind the sheriff and was FUMING.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Same goes for any kind of race on our roads. Here they do it for bikes and for runners. At least once a year each, and that’s not any serious pro race.

[Kozy]

We can say the same thing about football stadiums. We voted down a new stadium in SD. The biggest lie is the financial impact of the Super Bowl. What a joke!

[RayChuang88]

No wonder why the USA is making a serious bid to host the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup, with good reasons:

1. Soccer fans will spending a lot of money around and in the stadium.

2. There are plentiful American football stadiums that only need minor modifications to install FIFA-standard real grass soccer pitches. Can you imagine the final at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, aka "Jerry World"?

The problem with biking races like this is that it ends up hurting local businesses because the visitors won't patronize the local businesses.

[Mr. Douglas]

When I lived in Seattle I bike commuted and also did the Seattle to Portland ride for about 15 years.

I’m a cyclist, but disagree with the “cycling community” on almost everything. The STP clogged a large portion of the state. Many in those areas showed their appreciation by scattering tacks along the sides of the roads. It’s why I avoided being one of the early starters. :-)

And communting, you are correct. I would drive in if it was raining in the morning, I didn’t mind coming home wet, but I didn’t want to arrive at work wet.

Cycling is a great way to stay in shape and not destroy your knees. It is also a great way to commute. But it needs to be seen as what it is - people using the roads for free.

[Steve_Seattle]

Seattle is a city of cool, rainy weather, bridges, and steep hills, so naturally city government is all-in trying to force people to ride bikes. There’s a program downtown in which free bikes were made available: everybody rode downhill, but few rode uphill, bikes were stolen, and the company managing the program dropped out because they were losing money. So the city took it over.

[IronJack]

As both an avid cyclist and a driver, I appreciate both sides of the argument. Bikes are NOT year-round transportation for most of the US, except for a few crazies who ride fat-tire machines and wear 10 layers of insulation.

And if bike race promoters are promising huge financial windfalls, they’re lying. Bike racing in this country doesn’t enjoy nearly the support it has in Europe and elsewhere. More’s the pity.

Closed-road races certainly inconvenience a lot of people and to non-cyclists, it’s probably not worth it. Race promoters need to be keenly aware of that before they force a race into a community that doesn’t want it.

That said, cycling is one of the most demanding sports on earth, and the athleticism of its top-tier athletes is truly something to inspire awe.

[SGCOS]

...Colorado – a state where you cannot ride a bike outside for almost half the year

That's a bunch of bologna..I see bikes all the time all year round... motorcyles too...Mine included!

[RegulatorCountry]

In fact, 2016 tax receipts were up in mountain towns now that the bicycle race is gone.

That's because the roads aren't blocked to motor vehicle traffic containing paying customers going to local businesses. The cyclists and spectators were there for the event only. If they bought anything at all, it was bottled water, maybe a meal or two and a hotel room, if it was more than a single day event.

[RayChuang88]

Heavy use of bicycling works best if the topography of the land is relatively flat. That’s why bicycling for commuting is very popular in the Netherlands and Denmark, given the majority of the population of these countries live in flat, low-lying areas.

[cicero2k]

We’ve always looked sideways at the absurd claims made by tourism bureaucrats that the USA Pro Cycling Challenge attracted a million spectators to Colorado each year.

When they first did this in 2010, the final stage in downtown Denver was well attended. There were six by six mile laps of the downtown. Many persons lined the route. The other stages, not so much.

In Golden, the pack passes by in under a minute. Bells are clanging, shouting; but it is over in less than a traffic signal time.

No, it is not an economic boom.

But Golden is booming for other reasons.

Then there are the cheating scandals. It's hard to root for a rider when you don't know if he is also a good cheater.

See Lance Armstrong.

[Steve_Seattle]

For a number of years I watched the Tour de France on television, and have wondered what it is like for the live spectators and businesses along the route. As a spectator, it would seem that - depending on your location - you wait for hours, and the body of the race (peloton) flashes by in the space of a minute or so, followed by a few stragglers over the next ten minutes. Only a few hundred of the spectators are positioned where they have a clear view of the end of the race.

The race is stretched out over 2000+ miles, and barriers must be set up within the last kilometer or so of each stage, and at various choke points along the way. Traffic is obviously disrupted, limiting local access. I don't know if businesses along the route benefit or suffer from all that.

[HLPhat]

[the handful of people who actually use bikes for transportation here (as opposed to just "playing in the street") stick to their cars when the weather is imperfect, which is about half the time.]

Half the time ehh?

"a state where you cannot ride a bike outside for almost half the year, the “best biking state.”

That's bovine excreta.  I've ridden my bike to work, in Colorado, 12 months out of the year.  The only exception being when the streets were packed with ice and made riding more of an exercise in balance than in cardio endurance -- So that's when I ran to work instead of riding.

The Denver area has a superb network of bike paths.  Used to ride a loop including I470, Platte River, Clear Creak... after work.   It was sadly amusing to be riding faster than the morbidly obese slaves, inching along and cursing each other in their metal coffins, on the parallel "free"ways.

YMMV!

That being said - I, even being an enthusiast who's somewhere in the crowd for the start of the "Hell of the West"(filmed in conjunction with the Coors Classic) in "Breaking Away", don't miss Chickenlooper's "USA Pro Cycling Circus" at all -- Good riddance!

[Steve_Seattle]

"Heavy use of bicycling works best if the topography of the land is relatively flat. That’s why bicycling for commuting is very popular in the Netherlands and Denmark, given the majority of the population of these countries live in flat, low-lying areas."

My sister spent two months in England last year, and said bicycling is common, even among older people, who sometimes drive three-wheelers. But, as you said, it's relatively flat. She was there during a fairly pleasant autumn, and the cycling probably drops off during the winter.

[RayChuang88]

Well, given the many, many years of running the Tour de France, the organizers have carefully planned out everything to make sure all the locals along the race route benefit.

[MileHi]

Sick of the spandex nazis, and money wasted on bike lanes. The spandex nazies won’t use them because they can’t screw up traffic there.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I was traveling through my beloved Southern Colorado years ago when, between Silverton and Ouray I got behind a truck going so slow it was almost stopped. Could not figure out why until I saw the bicyclist in front of him huffing and puffing trying to get his bike up the mountain. He was determined to get up that road with no place to pass.

I finally found a safe spot to pass and went around I realized the truck was the support vehicle for the bicyclist.

My thoughts would have been to throw the bike in the back of the truck and drive to the top, then get on the bike and coast down, but No-0-o! HE wanted to huff and puff his way over the mountains, slowing everyone behind.

[Mr. Jeeves]

When Phoenix hosted the Super Bowl two years ago, the consensus among downtown Scottsdale retailers was that business was quite a bit slower than normal. Regular tourists and locals avoided the area because of high hotel rates and fear of huge crowds that never materialized. And the football fans who did come spent nothing on items without team logos.

Soaked up a lot of our tax dollars, though...