Check This Out

[wannaduacentury]

Here's an interesting article on my regular newspage talking about ticketing speeding cyclists in a Denver Colorado park. read on

http://www.wsbtv.com/family/9623231/detail.html

[sarahannecycle]

I rode to and around there this morning with two friends who are just starting out cycling. There was an entire stroller excercise class going on on the "road" (inside the park) and people with their dogs fully extended on their leads... not to mention the many other hazards. (like taking a look at the yoga classes and people who match their dogs) It's definitely not better than riding on the road, and the path leading there has just as many things to run into.

I won't do it again, it was just a way to get out with the girls and be on a bike. We actually checked our speed to make sure that we didn't get a ticket... !! silly.

I have been looking for women riders in Denver, or group rides, or even sites where they would be posted... any advice would be great(not to hijack the thread...)

My husband said that what he heard bicycle colorado say was something like, instead of picking up the speed gun, they should pick up paint cans and work out the lanes so there is cycle-only space. Not sure how it can work at that park considering it's easy to see 4-6 adults, kids walking and their dogs, all in that lane. It's definitely a *busy* park.

[Cassandra_Cain]

I have to admit, I found that article and what's happening, to be utterly ridiculous and typical.

When semi-decent, semi-safe places to ride are soooo difficult to find (thank the cities & government for that), to go target cyclists (and skaters) at parks for the sake of filling the city coffers is insulting.

I do not advocate cyclists or skaters riding around parks as if they were in a velodrome. However, the city ought to be doing everything possible to make more spaces, safe-spaces, available for cyclists as well as educating drivers. Instead of ticketing some poor gal exercising on her bike who hits 16 mph.

[RedRansV2]

OK Cassandra, don't believe everything you read in the paper.

(Incoming rant...)
The Denver metro area, as in Denver all the close in suburbs, has over 100 miles of connected, well maintained, paved multi-use paths. These paths are open only to peds, skaters, and cyclists. The only place busier than these paths is Washington Park. But there's this really nice oval shaped road in the park that used to be open to cars, but it got so crowded that the Parks and Rec. Dept had to close most of it to vehicular traffic several years ago. It's great for training rides. Except all these other tax paying citizens want to use the park too. Shortly after the cars were excluded, Wash Park became THE place for cycling clubs to gather and do some training, and posturing. This coincided with a renaissance in the neighborhood immediately east of the park, followed by a similar trend a bit later on the west side. A beautifully landscaped and popular park got even more popular. Wash Park is also a place to see and be seen and people watching is not conducive to watching where you're going. BTW, Denver has one of the highest concentrations of city parks of any big city in the country. So there's plenty of parks. And remember, anything a city builds, it's gotta maintain--with tax money.
Mr. Grunig's comments about cyclists feeling that they have no place on the street is probably accurate as far as describing what avid cyclists feel. As an avid cyclist, who uses both the roads and the paths, I don't think it accurately reflects how bike friendly Denver is. We do have a number of well marked, designated bike routes, some of which even have adequate bike lanes. I definitely think we could and should, do even better. But there are all these competing constituencies in a city... Mr. Grunig is advocating for his.
What Mr. Grunig should be advocating for is a velodrome. Because that's how too many cyclists use Washington Park. Which is why the cops, responding to complaints from citizens, have to periodically go out to Washington Park and write speeding tickets. Believe me, there are better places to write speeding tickets, with higher speeds and higher fines. Revenue from fines matters, but it's nothing compared to tax revenue.
Come on up to Denver, I'll give you a tour of the bike paths and a pretty bike friendly town.