>As a non-Coloradan hearing Trostel for the first time, he sounded reasonably
sincere for somebody who runs a government agency. I'm sure he DOES
get a
lot of complaints about these rides from motorists who don't like being
inconvenienced in the slightest.
Well, if I was a motorist on a narrow mountian road tryin to get
somewhere for a meeting or whatever, and in order to do that I needed
to pass over 2,000 bicyclists and a whole horde of support vehicles
(many folks bring their RV's, driven by wifes or relatives, plus
support trucks and whatever) in order to get there, I might be a bit
frustrated.
One of the problems in Colorado is that due to our mountains and
passes, there are few alternative roads available. For example, there
are only 4 roads west from Denverthat would get you to the western side
of the state, and one of these, Trailridge Road, is closed due to snow
all winter and att imes even in summer, and is through a National Park.
The other three - US 6 - and I-40 through Steamboat, I-70 through
Dillon/Frisco and US 285 through Fairplay and South Park are extremely
busy. Similarly, roads between mountain towns are similarly situated,
so often a motorist (or bicyclist has no or limited options.
And, in my experience, some of the bicyclists totally disregard the
"rules of the road" and motorists are rightly irritated. Of course,
motorists do the same thing, irritating (rightly so) the bicyclists.
Remember, Colorado has
* Ride the Rockies
* Bicycle Tour of Colorado
* Pedal the Peaks
* MS 150
* Challenge Classic
* This year the Livestrong ride
* Triple Bypass
* Elephant Rock
* and numerous other large rides/centuries travevling through the
mountains and front range during the summer.