My wife and I recently took a little trip to visit some family in Missouri and since we elected to drive….the bikes came with. Now since this was a family visit, the bikes just came along for that “just in case” moment. We had no scheduled routes or destinations, just thoughts of slipping away to cruise some tree lined back roads. I think Jeff Foxworthy said “you know when you’re in Colorado when the bike on your car is worth more than your car and you have your own special bike lane”. Well Toto, we were far from Colorado – I can’t remember seeing one roof rack, bike lane or ‘share the road’ sign. As for those nice little back roads, they had speed limits of 55 mph and not even enough room for a white line, let alone a shoulder! So we opted for a ride in the nearby State Park. On the way back to our family, while in our car, we couldn’t help but be grateful that our city listens to us cyclists and gives Jeff Foxworthy material for his act.
Upon returning home to Fort Collins, I had a chance to speak to one of the people that plays a big role in making FC such a bike friendly town. Jeff Morrell is the president of Bike Fort Collins, a non profit organization with a mission to advocate safe and enjoyable bicycling in Fort Collins, nice and simple, right? I met up with Jeff at the Bean Cycle while having a juice and chatted a bit about cycling in and around Fort Collins and the role Bike Fort Collins plays in making cycling a part of our community and identity.
Safety is job one at BFC and surveys across the nation show that people would ride their bikes more if they felt safer while cycling. BFC offers free cycling education to local organizations, businesses and schools, claiming “teaching the younger community about safe cycling not only makes them better cyclists, it also makes them more aware of cyclists when they begin to drive”. Have you seen the ‘share the road’ signs around Fort Collins? BFC was instrumental in getting them installed. One of their current projects is to create a safer downtown area by discouraging people from riding on the sidewalk in the dismount zones and promoting cycling within traffic. How about if you don’t own or can’t afford a bike? Try signing out a bike from the downtown bike library which BFC developed, funds and staffs, sharing the kiosk with the downtown ice rink in the winter. Bike Fort Collins is currently comprised of five board members, 50 or so active volunteers and approximately 800 subscribers to their email. I’m guessing there are more than 800 cyclists in this city that have concerns or ideas about cycling around Fort Collins, so here’s the link to sign up for their newsletter or volunteer for any of their community events. http://www.bikefortcollins.org/ClubPortal/ClubStatic.cfm?clubID=1895&pubmenuoptID=19595
Not only is Jeff the president of BFC, he also holds a seat on the Bicycle Advisory Committee and is closely tied to our City Council, Streets Department and FC’s bike coordinator. If you have any cycling concerns or ideas, BFC would be a pretty good place to voice and bring them in front of the right people. BFC makes this easy by providing two Community Bike forums each year where they discuss the state of cycling in FC, upcoming programs (I’d say more but was sworn to secrecy) and also listen to the community. The next Community Bike Forum is scheduled for the evening of November 12th at Become Fit; check their website for the exact time.
My sincere thanks to all those involved with Bike Fort Collins, I enjoy your efforts!
Borkur.net provided the photo
Steve Lacey
Another adrenalin filled event this past weekend was the Fort Collins 
Last night the city council of Fort Collins met and one of the items brought to their attention was the allocation of a $38,000.00 grant from the Colorado Dept. of Transportation for the Safe Routes to School Program. Compared to the $192,500.00 for the FCBikes enrichment program and $100,000.00 for the bike library program, which are both great programs in their own right, this number seems rather small. I must say, however, that I was really delighted to see the support the city council members have for bicycling in our community as a whole, and how they listened to those who spoke on the matter. Thanks to all in attendance.
The days of a solo training ride in the morning and a leisurly ride on the bike trail later in the day together are long gone. Used to be that if a leaf happened to finally lose its grip and fall to the ground, it was too windy for a ride; now, riding the Masonville loop into a stiff head wind doesn’t raise a whimper. Used to be that if the temperature was warm enough to require shorts and single digit SPF, that the bike stayed in the cool garage; now it’s SPF 50, an extra water bottle and a trip up Centennial Drive, waving to the boats on the lake. And it didn’t stop there, oh no! A new mountain bike and a couple rides of through Pineridge and Lory and someone thinks they’re ready for the Antenna Hill!
On a four lane road with no shoulder such as Horsetooth, near College Ave, or Riverside, cyclists are allowed and encouraged, for safety sake, to ride in the right lane. I hope you’ve noticed the “share the road” signs posted in these areas. They’re there for just this purpose! On a two lane lane road with no bike lane, this also means a cyclist can ride in the lane, but it does not mean we can hold up a car from passing in a reasonable amount of time (impeding traffic)….how long is ‘ a reasonable amount of time’ you ask? As soon is it is safe for you to move over. The reason you ride in the lane is to ensure vehicles see you and make a conscious effort to pass safely. I call it a little take and give; take the lane and then give it when it’s safe. Riding in the far right or in the gutter on such roads encourages and forces drivers to violate the three foot 
The race starts at 6:00 AM on Sunday, August 2 at the 
Beyond the outpouring of support for Stuart, still more evidence that Fort Collins is a thriving bicycle community lies in the numbers we were able to post during our Bike to Work day — 5,175 participants, 25,463 miles ridden, 1669 work sites, 28 breakfast stations……wait, 28 breakfast stations?? If that doesn’t show community support for bicycling, I don’t know what does! Some of the businesses receiving top honors were REI, The Neenan Company, and you guessed it the New Belgium Brewing Company. The Neenan Company had a whopping 97% participation – way to go Neenan! 
Finally, a safety reminder — report any close calls while riding your bike in Fort Collins due to a road hazard or motor vehicle at the following site– 
Wow! What a start to this year’s 
How can Fort Collins compete with such a race? 
