Posted on 06/15/2010 6:49:48 AM PDT by MissTed
Jamie Webb thought maybe she was speeding when a police cruiser pulled her and three friends over as they rode their bikes into Black Hawk from Central City.
Actually, the crime was pedaling. She was violating Black Hawk's ban on bicycling through town — the only such ban in Colorado.
"They said we had to walk through town. I think this sets a pretty bad precedent," Webb said. "There's really no reason for it."
Webb was the first cyclist ticketed under Black Hawk's new rule, which prohibits bike riding on nearly every street in town, including the only paved thoroughfare in Black Hawk.
City Manager Mike Copp said the reason for the rule, enacted in January, is safety.
The roads in Black Hawk are narrow and do not have shoulders. They teem with tour buses and delivery trucks that feed the bustling casinos. Demanding that those trucks provide 3 feet of space when passing cyclists — as required by a 2009 Colorado law — means trucks and buses must move into oncoming traffic, Copp said.
"We saw the conflicts going on with buses and with trucks, and we decided to be proactive on this," Copp said, noting that no accidents prodded the ban. "We don't want to be the city that knows we need a traffic light but waited until someone gets killed. This is what our city believes is best for its citizens, its businesses and its guests."
But Webb said she has often ridden on shoulderless canyon roads and has had no trouble with trucks.
"To say we all can't fit on the road together is ridiculous," she said. "We are all moving so slow through Black Hawk anyway, it's not like anyone is passing anyone."
After a period of issuing warnings, police this month began citing cyclists. To date, the town has issued eight $68 tickets.
Cyclists using the road to connect to the popular ride along the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway from Black Hawk to Estes Park are decrying the ban, which forces them to walk their bikes a half-mile through town. Another option is to ride over Berthoud Pass — but that excludes most of the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway.
"This is unbelievable. We are going to do as much as we can to fight this," said Rick Melick, spokesman for the 380-member Rocky Mountain Cycling Club. "Now that cyclists have almost the same rules as motorists, the idea a small town can ban bikes is ludicrous."
Since news of ticketing began trickling into the cycling community, opposition is forming. A Facebook page called "Bicyclists and Tourists Boycott Black Hawk Colorado" launched last week. The website dismountblackhawk.com is peddling shirts protesting the ban. Bicycle Colorado, a nonprofit dedicated to all things cycling in Colorado, is fomenting a grassroots push to get Black Hawk to overturn the ban.
"They are singling out one classification of vehicle," said Charlie Henderson, president of the Rocky Mountain Cycling Club. "I wonder if motorcycles will be next."
Black Hawk officials expected the uproar. And they are not going to revisit the rules, Copp said.
"Our council looks at what they think is best for its citizens, for its businesses, which in this case are casinos, and its visitors, which are patrons that come to visit the casinos," Copp said. "We have had positive feedback from citizens, casinos and our guests."
Austin? Why would I want to surround myself with even more liberals?
Montana has plenty already and I would hate to encourage even one more.
the bike paths cross busy roadways at various points and if you don’t stop to let them continue on their merry way you are subject to a $500 fine. so you see people backed up on these roads so as not to impede the dear little bicycle riders.
I don’t know why I’m even bothering. I take that back, I do know. I rankles me on some level that people, like yourself, automatically dislike me just because I ride a bicycle. It’s never made much sense to me, and I doubt it ever will.
This is a problem why? I park my bicycle right up against my desk.
i don’t dislike you bc you ride a bicycle. if you are in front of me on the @#%%ing road in Northern VA, i can assure you i am Pd O, though. i resent that other people’s HOBBIES impede me in my daily life, i don’t have time for it.
why should i pay extra to get a manual transmission? they are the exception rather than the norm these days. i am glad it makes you feel manly to drive a stick shift, if you need that sort of reassurance ; )
You may be an idiot if you drive an automatic. See syllogism above.
Eschew northern VA too.
they don’t have manual transmissions on the lots here. you can eschew whatever you like and cling to your stickshift with both hands. i have a family and a job here, thanks. think i’ll stay and b!t$h about the bike riders.
Apparently, in your case, the auto useage is strongly indicative of idiocy.
your civility speaks volumes. have a nice day sunshine : )
1) OSHA-violating obstruction.
2) Special privilege. I should be able to do the same with my car.
3) Eyesore.
I understand the "rip-off" fear. There should be a place outside the work area for you to secure our property.
“our property” S/B “your property.” Dropped the “y.”
Show me the specifics. As often as OSHA is around here, I have to believe that if there were such a regulation we'd have been cited numerous times.
2) Special privilege. I should be able to do the same with my car.
Only if we dispense with common sense. Besides, you'd complain that your parking space was further away than the bike rack and still scream special privilege.
3) Eyesore.
Eye of the beholder. Being that we're in the business of designing, building and selling bicycles, I doubt that you'd be able to find a single employee who'd object on aesthetic grounds.
Your arguments are valid. I’m just being a pain in the a$$.
However: There are OSHA regulations governing the minimum allowed space between desks in an office (for traffic throughput), but since I am not an OSHA expert, I can’t cite the chapter and verse for you. Besides, it is likely you are not violating the rule because you strike me as one who has enough common sense to avoid blocking the access of others through your workspace.
Nobody here dislikes you just because you ride a bicycle. (It may be that you give folks lots of other reasons to dislike you, but we could explore those possibilities on another thread dealing with one of those subjects.) In fact, as long as you're not one of those granola-eating, spandex-wearing, days-without-bathing, hypersensitive, arrogant, condescending Volvo drivers with a bike-rack and a "share the road" bumpersticker and an overblown sense of moral superiority, I don't care if you ride your bike to the moon and back. It won't impact my opinion of you one way or the other (although I guess I'd be impressed if you managed to break free of the earth's atmosphere and gravity pull on your bicycle).
QED.
only a fool rides a bike in heavy traffic....my dem lib SIL used to do that till she got hit by a car and got a concussion. she stopped. even she can learn. I ride a bike for pleasure. to get outside in nature....not to be in heavy traffic unprotected. no dinky little helmet will help me then.
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