Fossil Fools Day - Any Action

[oilfreeandhappy]

Is anybody participating in any actions on April 1st - Fossil Fool's Day? Today was the first I've heard of it.

http://www.energyaction.net/main/index.php?&MMN_position=1:1

I'm thinking of trying to get a lot of bicyclists and ride down College Blvd, the main drag of our town. Not a lot of time to get organized though.

[wageslaveonbike]

that sounds like fun. Im gonna try to organize one in orange county. :beer:

[Reasonable Risk]

You had better pick another street as it is against the law to bike on College Avenue here as well as dangerous!

[oilfreeandhappy]

You had better pick another street as it is against the law to bike on College Avenue here as well as dangerous!

That is absolutely not true. Where did you hear that? "Bike Fort Collins" has adequately addressed that myth on a number of occassions.

[Reasonable Risk]

I think you are wrong but I'll check it out tomorrow. If memory serves me right, there are signs up along College from LaPorte to Harmony that shows "no biking". I've never seen anyone riding along there in the 18 years I've been here. College Ave. is just too insane to ride a bike on, especially with the great alternates nearby. I'll check to see if I'm wrong though and get back to you.

[Reasonable Risk]

I checked with the PD and they referred me to the city code. It is illegal to ride on College Ave. in the downtown dismount zone and from Laurel to Harmony. You can ride on the sidewalk from Laurel to Harmony.

[Brad M]

sounds like the perfect street.

[Reasonable Risk]

Yeah I know. It is the busiest street in the city and riding on it would be asking for death as there is no room for bike lanes. Fortunately for us here, there are great alternatives close by and it really isn't a problem not being able to be on the street. The riding on the sidewalk though does make me nervous as the drivers just don't see us!

[Artkansas]

Well, it sounds like you Fort Collin's folks have a wonderful goal for the year if you want. Take back College Blvd. What do the state laws say about riding on the road?

[Hawkear]

I checked with the PD and they referred me to the city code. It is illegal to ride on College Ave. in the downtown dismount zone and from Laurel to Harmony. You can ride on the sidewalk from Laurel to Harmony.
Can you tell me where in the Fort Collins Code (http://www.colocode.com/ftcollins/traffic/fortcollins_traffic.htm) this is specified? I looked and didn't see anything.

[Mentor58]

Can you tell me where in the Fort Collins Code (http://www.colocode.com/ftcollins/traffic/fortcollins_traffic.htm) this is specified? I looked and didn't see anything.
It's neat that it's available online... wish more places did that. I think that this would be section that applies...

SECTION 1412
(12) Where suitable bike paths, horseback trails or other trails have been established on the right-of-way or parallel to and within one-fourth (¼) mile of the right-of-way of heavily traveled streets and highways, the Colorado Department of Transportation may, subject to the provisions of Section 43-2-135, C.R.S., by resolution or order, and the City Traffic Engineer may, where suitable bike paths, horseback trails or other trails have been established on the right-of-way or parallel to it within four hundred fifty (450) feet of the right-of-way of heavily traveled streets, by ordinance, determine and designate, upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation, those heavily traveled streets and highways upon which shall be prohibited any bicycle, animal rider, animal-drawn conveyance or other class or kind of nonmotorized traffic which is found to be incompatible with the normal and safe movement of traffic, and, upon such a determination, the Colorado Department of Transportation or the City shall erect appropriate official signs giving notice thereof; except that with respect to controlled access highways, the provisions of Section 42-4-1010(3), C.R.S., shall apply. When such official signs are so erected, no person shall violate any of the instructions contained thereon.

[oilfreeandhappy]

Admittedly section 1412 sounds valid. But I was at a Bike Fort Collins meeting at Rio about 2 months ago. One of the speakers asked the question of the 50 or so other attendees, "How many here think it's illegal to ride on College Avenue?". Quite a few raised their hands, including me, and the speaker said that it is legal.

Since then I've actually ridden it for some short stints.

[Reasonable Risk]

Unfortunately your speaker at the Rio was wrong. It is posted with a No Biking sign along that section of College Avenue. He should speak with the city traffic engineer or the police. They know what the law is and he unfortunately doesn't. Misinformation like that will cause someone to ride there and either get hit by a car or ticketed. Neither sounds very appealing to me.

[Hawkear]

Unfortunately your speaker at the Rio was wrong. It is posted with a No Biking sign along that section of College Avenue. He should speak with the city traffic engineer or the police. They know what the law is and he unfortunately doesn't. Misinformation like that will cause someone to ride there and either get hit by a car or ticketed. Neither sounds very appealing to me.The police are not an accurate source when trying to determine the actual law.

When reading the above section of the law, and looking at satellite images of the area (I'm not from Fort Collins, so I have to improvise), there doesn't appear to be any "suitable bike paths, horseback trails or other trails ... established on the right-of-way or parallel to and within one-fourth (¼) mile of the right-of-way" of College Ave. If there is, please enlighten me, otherwise those signs are misplaced.

By the way, riding in the road does not make you fair game for getting hit by a car. You should read these forums more.

[Reasonable Risk]

The police are not an accurate source when trying to determine the actual law.

When reading the above section of the law, and looking at satellite images of the area (I'm not from Fort Collins, so I have to improvise), there doesn't appear to be any "suitable bike paths, horseback trails or other trails ... established on the right-of-way or parallel to and within one-fourth (¼) mile of the right-of-way" of College Ave. If there is, please enlighten me, otherwise those signs are misplaced.

By the way, riding in the road does not make you fair game for getting hit by a car. You should read these forums more.

Hawkster,

I'll try to help out here but you will need to not jump to conclusions. There is Remington St. 1 block to the east of College Ave. that has bike lanes. Great street for commuting. I agree that cars don't have the right to run over bikes. Where do you get that impression that I would ever advocate that?

The simple fact is that College Ave. is a busy street with no bike lanes and people here would likely never expect to see a bike on this street. Riding on it would simply be asking for an accident. It is bad enough that the idiot drivers kill over 40,000 of themselves every year and they certainly aren't paying close enough attention to bikers.

I ride almost 20 miles a day on my commute to work and have done so for about 15 years here in Fort Fun. You'll just have to trust me when I say that College Avenue is not the place to ride a bike. If you were here, I think that you would agree. What I am seeing these days is that drivers are being so aggressive it is getting really scary. Putting yourself on a street not designed nor permitted for riding is a recipe for disaster. But that is just my opinion!

[noisebeam]

Hawkster,

I'll try to help out here but you will need to not jump to conclusions. There is Remington St. 1 block to the east of College Ave. that has bike lanes. Great street for commuting. I agree that cars don't have the right to run over bikes. Where do you get that impression that I would ever advocate that?

The simple fact is that College Ave. is a busy street with no bike lanes and people here would likely never expect to see a bike on this street. Riding on it would simply be asking for an accident. It is bad enough that the idiot drivers kill over 40,000 of themselves every year and they certainly aren't paying close enough attention to bikers.

I ride almost 20 miles a day on my commute to work and have done so for about 15 years here in Fort Fun. You'll just have to trust me when I say that College Avenue is not the place to ride a bike. If you were here, I think that you would agree. What I am seeing these days is that drivers are being so aggressive it is getting really scary. Putting yourself on a street not designed nor permitted for riding is a recipe for disaster. But that is just my opinion!
And what do those N/S bound commuters do who need to commute more than the few blocks that Remington parallels? What to cyclist do who wish to visit businesses on College?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=college+ave+fort+collins+co&ll=40.580251,-105.074959&spn=0.006698,0.009978&t=h

Shame on local cycling advocacy for letting this become a no bikes street in attitude and perhaps even in law, supporting the idea that some localities are not accessible by bike.

I can't see why this street should not allow or not be safe to bike on. It has 2-3 same direction lanes letting faster vehicles to pass in adjacent.

Al

[oilfreeandhappy]

Since I started this thread, I should chime in one more time. Reasonable Risk is correct. I would normally never ride on College Avenue (other than the aforementioned day). I just thought it would be an attention-getter for Fossil Fuel Day. I often ride Remington, and there are plenty of other connecting roads for North/South commutes. Fort Fun is actually a very Bike Friendly community, especially compared to my birth-city - St. Louis.

I've kind of given up on the Fossil Fool Day this year. There's not enough time to get anything substantial organized. Maybe next year - perhaps a slow-paced Bike/Walk down the sidewalks of College Avenue!