# Peter from Vecchios being reasonable?



## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

Hard to believe, but it's true. 

http://www.velonews.com/article/75604/tech-report-with-lennard-zinn---more-big-things

"First, however, I should mention that when I talked to both Gary Fisher and to Peter Chisholm of Vecchio’s Bicicletteria in Boulder about their opinions on the Next Big Thing in road bikes, I got an entirely unexpected answer, particularly from a gear designer like Fisher. 

"Their answers are so pivotal and important that I’m mentioning it first, lest I get too far away from what it’s all really about when talking about gear. Both of them discussed access to riding and efforts in that regard as being the most important development on the horizon. 

Chisholm says that, while it’s “not very sexy and not very likely, I think (hope) the next big thing won't be about equipment but about where we ride. As energy gets more expensive and actually approaches what Europeans pay, perhaps a more centralized way of living, complete with paths and 'LANES' to use alternative, non-car forms of transportation. I can understand why some drive when the snow is flying in Colorado, but to ride a bike in say, Tampa, is downright dangerous (I lived there for two years), same for Pensacola, same for Phoenix. Warm places where you would think riding would be common, but nope.”


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## TiBike (Aug 2, 2004)

*Reasonable*

...maybe so http://www.portlandonline.com/TRANSPORTATION/index.cfm?c=deicg


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

KarlW said:


> ...maybe so http://www.portlandonline.com/TRANSPORTATION/index.cfm?c=deicg


Great development.


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## BKRyan (Apr 15, 2008)

This is a good posting and a good article about Portland, Oregon. Even some of the paths around the Denver metro area are not very bicycle friendly because of the main roads that you have to cross. My commute by bicycle is from Highlands Ranch into the Inverness area of the Tech Center. I always catch on the 470 bicycle trail going east. Going in the morning isn't too bad because I go to work early and for some reason there are less cars, bud going home from work is downright dangerous some days. Crossing near Park Meadows mall is awful and then crossing at Acres Green road (the road is about a 0.30 miles away to the East from Quebec Street) is bad because the cars do not stop and there is no crosswalk. Some days I feel safer riding on the road than I do on that path. I keep hoping that they will improve this bike trail, but my hopes aren't real high.


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## TiBike (Aug 2, 2004)

*Front Range commuting*

I hear ya. I commute from Boulder to Lakewood on occasion by way of Rt 93. 93 has good shoulders all the way EXCEPT for a one mile stretch from Rock Flats to Coal Creek where you must balance the white line between trucks. busses and cars on one side and a drop off onto a soft shoulder to the right. I have asked CDOT on more than one occasion about paving this one mile stretch which would raise the safety of this ride immensely. Nothing has happened although they reassure me they "hear my concerns." I sleep better now.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

KarlW said:


> I hear ya. I commute from Boulder to Lakewood on occasion by way of Rt 93. 93 has good shoulders all the way EXCEPT for a one mile stretch from Rock Flats to Coal Creek where you must balance the white line between trucks. busses and cars on one side and a drop off onto a soft shoulder to the right. I have asked CDOT on more than one occasion about paving this one mile stretch which would raise the safety of this ride immensely. Nothing has happened although they reassure me they "hear my concerns." I sleep better now.


That is a death-defying strech. I'll ride pretty much anywhere, but that is sketchy. Do you ride on the pavement or the gravel?


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

BKRyan said:


> This is a good posting and a good article about Portland, Oregon. Even some of the paths around the Denver metro area are not very bicycle friendly because of the main roads that you have to cross. My commute by bicycle is from Highlands Ranch into the Inverness area of the Tech Center. I always catch on the 470 bicycle trail going east. Going in the morning isn't too bad because I go to work early and for some reason there are less cars, bud going home from work is downright dangerous some days. Crossing near Park Meadows mall is awful and then crossing at Acres Green road (the road is about a 0.30 miles away to the East from Quebec Street) is bad because the cars do not stop and there is no crosswalk. Some days I feel safer riding on the road than I do on that path. I keep hoping that they will improve this bike trail, but my hopes aren't real high.


Elsewhere on the Front Range it's similar. It's especially bad where areas are still in development. Paths start and stop almost randomly.


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## BKRyan (Apr 15, 2008)

Good point. The trail probably wasn't as dangerous when they developed it, and thinking back when I first started commuting on this route, it wasn't as bad then either. Oh well. Maybe my company will move closer to my house in a few years.


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## TiBike (Aug 2, 2004)

The Rt 93 stretch is particularly frustrating. Basically the rest of the stretch from Boulder to Golden is fine for riding. Last year (or maybe the year before) CDOT's contractor was out fixing asphalt on the stretch west of Rocky Flats. Inexplicably, they ignored this one mile stretch of missing shoulder. Plenty of new asphalt was laid on top of existing asphalt (and some other shoulders were improved) but they ignored the suicide (homicide) mile. Oh well, I guess messengers in larger urban cities deal with this daily so maybe I should be grateful for the rest of the ride.


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## TiBike (Aug 2, 2004)

Pablo said:


> That is a death-defying strech. I'll ride pretty much anywhere, but that is sketchy. Do you ride on the pavement or the gravel?


I just hold the white line on the pavement and push hard for a mile. It's better after that.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

KarlW said:


> I just hold the white line on the pavement and push hard for a mile. It's better after that.


I only rode that stretch once, going north after coming down Coal Creek Canyon. A flat-bed semi trailer passed me and came within 6" of my handlebars. Yikes. I always went around Rocky Flats after that.


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