Metro to Mountain Journal

A few bicycling stories ...

Bicycle Decorations

On our daily walks (with Augie, our five month old pup), a short time ago, as we passed a neighbors house, we noticed a slick town bike leaned against a tree in their front yard. We didn't think our neighbors biked, so we wondered if it was perhaps an early Christmas present.

A few days later we noticed that our neighbors had decorated the bicycle. It looked great, but their still seemed like there was more to the story. Then seeing our neighbor, we asked ...

The bicycle was for some unknown reason left in our neighbor's yard. After a few days they decided, what the heck - they'd decorate it.

The bicycle has been there for almost two weeks and still no one has claimed it. So if you forgot where you left your bike, it might be in our neighbor's yard, but I hope you don't need it until after Christmas!. The mysterious bicycle makes a great Christmas decoration and better story. Ho, ho, ho!

It's Okay to Pass

While visiting Rocky Mountain National Park, we were driving on Trail Ridge Road. We were able to drive close to the speed limit until near Milner Pass. We were then stuck behind a line of cars traveling at 10 mph or so. Getting behind a slow moving vehicle is not unusual in the Park. Motor vehicles in the Park have a tendency to just stop in the road, but driving at a slow speed for a long distance is odd.

We were a bit anxious (we were heading to the airport) but could not see ahead. Traffic was light, there were no cars coming toward us in the other lane. A few minutes later, as we came near the large parking area at Milner Pass, a large pickup truck at the head of the line stepped on the gas with a roar of exhaust.

The driver was enthusiastically passing the bicycle rider.

As we neared the rider, we saw that he had moved to the parking lot side of the white lane stripe. We tried to figure out what was happening and soon decided that the pickup truck driver would not pass the bicycle because there was a double white lane divider line. He was literally treating the bicycle as a vehicle. But, there was more ... we believed that the driver was intentionally not passing the bicycle so as to bring attention to bicycles on the road. He obviously didn't like bikes.

We felt sorry for the bicyclist. He was riding with the large pickup close behind that would not pass.

As for the driver, laws are different in every state, but in Colorado, a motor vehicle may pass a bicycle if the vehicle can give the bike three feet of cushion. In this case, we did not meet any vehicles, it would have been easy to pass the bicycle on the relatively straight section of the road. The pickup driver was just unfortunately just being difficult.

Yes, this is My Bike

Yesterday, my wife left her phone and handbag at home. She emailed, that it was no big deal, but I decided to ride to her school (where she works as a teacher) to deliver it to her anyway. The school is only a couple of miles away, and is a nice ride. You know, Christmas is just around the corner, so I was trying to be real good!

Yesterday, it was cool (40's) with a breeze, so I dressed warmly and made quick work of the ride. I parked my bicycle just outside the office and walked inside. One of my wife's good friends was in the lobby and offered to take the purse to her. In less than a minute I was outside and on my bike. The school had recently been remodeled with the accesses reconfigured, so I was looking at the available options to exit the parking area on my bike. I heard someone calling out as I rode, but I did not pay attention to the calls.

I decided to ride out through the parking area and then started passing the school on the street. A woman hurrying along the sidewalk called out to me. She wanted to know if that was my bike. She carried a radio and had obviously been using it to contact someone. I stopped and talked to the woman and told her why I was at the school. Soon a security officer arrived. I had seen him inside the lobby and he immediately said everything was okay.

Come to find out, an expensive bicycle had been stolen from the parking area earlier in the week. The woman saw me taking my bike and riding off. She was just being alert and concerned. She called security and chased me down to confront me. I matched the description of the bike thief, white, riding a bike, and dressed in warm clothes. I do believe there was a chance that if I had rode off instead of stopping and talking to the confronting woman, the police would have been looking for me.

It only took a second to defuse the situation. The woman was very apologetic, after she discovered who I was and why I was on school property. If I had driven my truck instead of riding a bike, there would have been no incident. I guess old guys are not supposed to ride their bicycles in cold weather. Ha!

Happy Bicycling in the Winter trails