Patterico's Pontifications

6/15/2010

Town vs Bikes in Colorado

Filed under: Government — DRJ @ 5:49 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

A Colorado town with narrow roads has banned bikeriding in town because of a new state law that requires motorists to give bikes 3′ clearance. Black Hawk, Colorado, sits on a scenic route that is popular with bicyclists so Colorado’s cyclists are up in arms (or feet) over being forced to walk a half-mile to get through the town. Cycling associations are urging a boycott of Black Hawk and a Colorado TV channel covered the dispute:

A group opposing the ban, called Dismountblackhawk.com, plans to kill the town with kindness:

“BUT THEY SAY IT’S OK TO DISMOUNT AND WALK… SO LET’S DO IT!! It’s only a quarter mile through town, so let’s get some big groups together and walk our bikes through town. A bunch of bikes on the sidewalk will certainly irritate them more than bikers on the roads! And let’s BOYCOTT THE LOCAL BUSINESSES until this ban is lifted! Instead of avoiding Black Hawk on your cycling adventures, ADD IT TO YOUR ROUTE. Let’s show them how many bikers they are offending and how many bikers are BOYCOTTING THEIR TOWN!!

Let’s KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS THOUGH! Dismount your bike and walk through town without causing any additional problems for the tourists and residents.”

Lots of boycotts going on these days. It’s getting hard to remember them all.

— DRJ

25 Responses to “Town vs Bikes in Colorado”

  1. getcherselfseen DRJ!!!

    Cause of or else the state will be displeased.

    happyfeet (19c1da)

  2. keep up with the rest of traffic or get out of its way.

    here in the PRC, bikes are motor vehicles. i know, because the first time i learned to hate Chpies, one of them gave me a failure to stop for a stop sign ticket on a bike…..

    how soon would these tools* sue the city when they got sucked under a truck because the lanes are narrow?

    *or, more accurately, their estates…. %-)

    Specialist Haiku (fb8750)

  3. Here in Northern California the bicyclists are just like deer…darting out in front of you or hogging the fog line. Well, not exactly like deer…deer don’t wear those sissy-looking costumes.

    Old Coot (f722a6)

  4. better than deer with
    open season all year long
    but meat too stringy

    ColonelHaiku (79bc23)

  5. Cyclists are arrogant and have no common sense (like hanging in a car/truck’s blind spot and refusing to yield…or riding on the center line for left turns in a busy intersection.)

    sam (5ef311)

  6. hanging in blind spot
    riding center line help to
    tenderize rider

    ColonelHaiku (79bc23)

  7. Blackhawk is right.

    I write as a cyclist who travels everywhere by bike, and who frequently cuts corners on traffic regulations. I do so because I can be safer that way, by avoiding motor vehicle traffic.

    I can do so because there is enough extra space to allow it. And there are places I will not ride at all because there isn’t enough space away from the cars.

    That’s because the street and road system was not built to accommodate bicycles.

    If the roads in Blackhawk are too narrow, that’s why. And either the cars or the bikes must give way.

    Cars outrank bikes. Blackhawk should build bike paths that bypass these narrow roads. Until they do, they should enforce their rule.

    Rich Rostrom (a80b26)

  8. rich rostrom make sense
    but plenty room for rider
    on grill next to steaks

    ColonelHaiku (79bc23)

  9. I’m getting a bit tired of the cyclist lobby. To be sure, there are some really rude drivers out there who don’t even try to give a wide berth to bikes, and I’m all for prosecuting them if they endanger the cyclists. But when I’m driving down a city street, I shouldn’t have to slow to the speed of the average cyclist just because there’s not enough room to pass them with 3 feet to spare.

    I’d also point out that most roads are funded through gasoline tax revenues. If the cyclists want dedicated pathways and wide shoulders for their use, I’m all for that… but perhaps their should be a hefty tax imposed on bicycles for that purpose.

    PatHMV (c34b06)

  10. haiku realize
    culinary preference
    most subjective thing

    ColonelHaiku (79bc23)

  11. Just wondering what the kids in this town do when it’s time to peddle to school? Do they get ticketed?

    TimothyJ (a61b05)

  12. geez

    If this wans’t a casino town I’d be sympathetic… but just make a short bike route with the tax revenues. Cyclists gamble too (although hopefully not in those dumb tights)

    [note: fished from spam filter. –Stashiu]

    SteveG (9fb25f)

  13. Cyclists gamble too (although hopefully not in those dumb tights)

    Having been to Blackhawk several times, I can honestly say I’ve never seen any cyclists in their dumb tights in the casinos. Since most of those types in Colorado tend to be bo-bo jerkwads, they wouldn’t sully their image being seen with the proles in those “dirty, inauthentic” casinos.

    [note: fished from spam filter. –Stashiu]

    Another Chris (121ff0)

  14. Greetings:

    Bicycle riders,

    morally superior,

    Do not aggravate.

    11B40 (8abff9)

  15. Cyclists disgust me more and more.

    Everyone seems to think they are pushing for people to use bikes instead of cars, for commuting to work or whatever. Hey, I used to commute to work in the city via bike until my bike was vandalized. No, they are not biking to save fuel. That is just good public relations.

    The reality is that these guys are recreational cyclists with hours to spare riding $1000 bikes and insisting that we all accomodate them and their hobby. And they curse the kid on the tricycle who is in their way while they are trying to do their century on the bike path my taxes paid for.

    Go pound sand.

    Amphipolis (b120ce)

  16. Most cyclists also work, drive cars and buy gas, thus subsidizing the roads with their taxes. Instead of being aggravated that you must wait a few extra seconds to get to your destination, try looking at the positives. There’s one less person to fight for a parking spot with, less fuel being consumed, and the person is getting the exercise that so many of us need.

    Yes there are rude people of all stripes – including cyclists. It doesn’t mean you castigate the whole group (stereo types anyone?)

    If the people of Blackhawk like this law and it works, good for them. Like the people of AZ, they will survive any misguided protests.

    AndyS (55d9b2)

  17. AndyS – do you honestly believe that, for every cyclist you see on the road, there is one less parking space being taken and one less gallon being burned?

    These guys are biking for pleasure. Black Hawk is not Shanghai.

    What I object to is the attitude of entitlement on the part of a small group of devoted hobbyists masquerading as green supermen saving the earth from automobiles.

    Amphipolis (b120ce)

  18. Amphipolis – I don’t know who the laws in Blackhawk were originally targeted at, but all cyclists are affected – those who would commute to work/school, and those who ride for a hobby.

    I live in CT and commute to work occasionally by bike. I’ve never lobbied for wider roads, special lanes, or special laws. I simply ask that drivers show me the courtesy of not passing too close or intentionally trying to run me off the road or startle me with their horns. In turn I obey the law and do my best not to obstruct the flow of traffic. In addition to getting in better shape I find I’m filling up the car a lot less, and yes, my parking space is empty at work.

    I find your rhetoric as extreme as those you vilify. You engage in class warfare (cost of the bike) and imply that these people dislike kids (yell at tricyclists) and aren’t saving a gallon of gas. Pretty broad brush strokes. No, every cyclist is not a commuter, but neither are they all some sort of greenie/snob/elitist out to infringe on your rights.

    AndyS (55d9b2)

  19. Comment by AndyS — 6/16/201

    Andy, I think you’re missing the point. Black Hawk is a small mountain town. I can literally walk across the entire town in 15-20 minutes. There’s a reason the law was passed–the roads are too small to accomodate both kinds of traffic, and to help prevent oncoming car accidents, bikers must walk a whole half mile or so before they can get on their bikes again (horrors!)

    What’s cheesing people off is the ridiculous sense of outrage and entitlement the bicycle organizations are showing over this. The members of these organizations–particularly in Colorado–tend to be a bunch of self-righteous brats with a victimhood streak a mile wide.

    I know one thing–walking through town sure beats getting hit by a car or being run off the road into Clear Creek.

    Another Chris (2d8013)

  20. Funny thing I heard a while ago that is vaguely related: If it has more lug nuts than you do, it has the right of way.

    Steve (81dc80)

  21. As Dave Despain said about motorcycles, the crush structure on a bicycle is the rider.

    AD - RtR/OS! (eef339)

  22. Pretty broad brush strokes

    Yeah, that’s right. I think that in general it is accurate. Have you ever gone out with a toddler to ride on a bikeway?

    We remove travel lanes that serve thousands of vehicles a day and turn them into bike lanes for a handful of almost exclusively recreational cyclists. I have worked on highway projects that do this. I actually saw an instance where one bike took the place of 500 cars. The congestion resulting from this burns real fuel.

    Bike commuting would be great, but from what I have seen it is mostly a fantasy callously used to promote a hobby at public expense.

    Amphipolis (b120ce)

  23. #

    Funny thing I heard a while ago that is vaguely related: If it has more lug nuts than you do, it has the right of way.

    Comment by Steve — 6/16/2010 @ 10:51 am

    So that’s why Lance lost the Tour.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  24. Black Hawk’s recently passed ordinance is an unconstitutional and discriminatory violation of the fundamental right to mobility. It prevents people from traveling from point A to point B using the most efficient and environmentally friendly form of transportation ever devised, and it is incompatible with a free society. The speed limits are reportedly below 25mph/40kph, anyway, so where is the safety issue? Allowing some local yokels to sever a major travel route through town sets an unacceptable precedent — we have a uniform national vehicle code for a reason.

    John E (6a16a1)

  25. Bull Shit!

    AD - RtR/OS! (4ae013)


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