Going for the Gold: A Message from Your City Bicycle Coordinator
Dave Kemp ("DK") writes:
(Please Note: We are all hopeful that by May 15, 2007 Fort Collins might have a gold medal in hand. Keep your fingers crossed. Rick Price, April 15, 2007)
Spring is here. The temperatures are warming up, the days are longer, and the rusty chain on your bicycle squeaks in unison with the chirping of the birds. It's time to make bicycling your preferred method of transportation and we have the resources to help you do it! The City of Fort Collins is offering a variety of events this spring to help you go the distance and make bicycling a part of your everyday life (see below for list of spring events).
In 2003 and 2005, Fort Collins received Silver Awards from the League of American Bicyclists' "Bicycle Friendly Community" program recognizing our outstanding efforts to encourage bicycling in our community. The City is up for renewal again this spring and is striving to achieve the "Gold Award." Since 2005, Fort Collins has accomplished much in the way of bicycle encouragement and engineering.
The construction of the Mason Trail, the City's first north to south bike trail with connections under S. College to Fossil Creek Park, and the near completion of the Power Trail have aided greatly to the engineering aspect of the application. In addition, we have identified the need to create a year-long itinerary of events to maintain momentum in the bicycling community. This is just the tip of the iceberg for bicycling in Fort Collins. Other "Gold" awarded cities include Boulder and Portland, Oregon. The highest level a city can achieve is the "Platinum" award. The only city to receive this recognition is Davis, CA. Davis is renowned for their adoption of the bicycle as a primary means of transportation and as a tool for economic development.
Fort Collins is a bike town all year long, but due to the severity of this year's winter, many bicyclists have been forced to park their bikes while the snow and ice melts. For this reason, we are expecting a substantial increase in bicyclists hitting the bike lanes and trails this spring and summer. Fortunately, we are prepared to support and encourage the bicycling community as we ride into 2007, the year of the bicycle.