Black Hawk Bike Ban

Another article. This one's dug up dirt on the mayor.

Bikes banned in Colorado town roads

 

That's great. He pistol whips his wife and fires in anger and instead of being in jail, he's now the mayor. It seems like if he wants to keep people safe he would resign, or at least stop pistol whipping people.

 

I found something interesting in one of the answers to one of the questions. That was about federal hwy funds being with held if something like this happens. Right now the FHA does not with hold funds if communities do things like this. Perhaps they should. Would anyone like to join me in contacting our law makers in Washington D.C. to change this? I will admit my motives for this are to protect Iowa cyclists form a possible upcoming attempt at another ban, but it will protect all across the country as well.

 

If you put together a letter SUX I'll contact my reps.

 

Will do. But I also contacted the LAB about this to see what they say. Have not received a response yet. Before I draft a letter I will wait and see. Perhaps something is already in the works and maybe a letter already exists that we can send to our law makers in Washington D.C. I'll let you know.

 

And who says there are no politics in bicycle advocacy? It may not be as sexy as some other political issues but it does have teeth.

Case in point, last year a group calling themselves the Iowa Safety Coalition tried to have bicycles banned form Iowa roadways and use the state law makers to do so. So a grou of cyclists countered, with political power by going after the spokesman and whom some believed to be the groups leader, and went after his livliehood and business. He is a firearms dealer and has a shop in an central Iowa town. Some cyclists decided to start asking law makers and those opposed to people owning guns to pass stronger gun control laws.

I don't know if this is what caused the group to back off, but they did. It was a political battle between 2 special interest groups.

 

It isn't seem right to attack a constitutional right over road way safety. I'd say the cyclists in this case were jerks.

 

I think the way it was viewed is if this group was going to ban cyclists rights/privilges to the roadways by changing laws they were going to do something in turn. BTW, not to start a debate on owning a gun, but the right to own firearms is not an absolute and neither are any of the other parts of the Bill of Rights. Our founding fathers never meant for them to be absolute.

 

That's petty. It makes them seem childish.

You are correct. But they intended the use of firearms to be a preventative measure towards tyranny. When I see government led initiatives to disarm the population, I think, this is exactly what they meant. Also the constitutional protection of firearms only really applies to those that could be used to preserve democracy from terror foreign and domestic,Assault weapons and hand guns. Therefore "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. " is pretty self explanatory.

 

I called the LAB about asking the FHA to wtih hold federasl hwy funds if states banned or attemtped to ban cyclists from the roadways. That is not something they think should happen. What they do think is working from within the state advocacy groups and with law makers and maybe even with groups like AAA and such to prevent such a ban in the first place.

I am not sure if I should take this to mean they do not have the balls to step forward and become more militant about it or what. Sure becoming militant and more aggressive can alienate people, but when it does work it does obtain fast, long lasting results vs. the slow, painstaking, not achieving a whole lot, and have very little if anything to show for the effort process. So it's a coin toss and a gamble. Should cyclists become more militant and aggressive and run the risk of alieanating everything they have worked for so far? Or do we stick with what is being attempted now knowing it will be years before the full achievment is accomplished? Is there a middle ground between the 2?

 

We're working on it!

Bicycle Colorado.org and other bike clubs are looking into the bike ban in Black Hawk. Bicycle Colorado is a strong bike advocacy here in Colorado.
Black Hawk is a small former gold mining town west of Denver. It is now home to multiple casinos. The 2 or 3 roads are very narrow through this small town, but traffic doesn't move very fast. Stay tuned.

 

I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying as adults confront the issue instead of parlaying it to the 2nd amendment issue. Feel free to be militant, just don't mess with my guns. Of course SUX I have to say that if a population finds cycling dangerous on their roads and then outlaws it, with the populace behind it, it seems within the rights of that community. My only real issue was just don't go attacking other issues because you can't do anything else. It's the mark of the ignorant and childish.

 

I will admit to being a part of the group that contacted those opposed to guns and wanting more gun control. I signed an already existing petition for it. This was not something the cyclists started themselves or convinced others to start for us. It was something already in the works that got an increase in support from a group of cyclists. Our motivation was if the group was going to try to ban cyclists then we were going to attempt to have stronger gun control or at least support the possibility.

 

I still see it as petty. Not to mention that guns are a necessary part of our existence. We have two choices when we choose to persuade people to our way of thinking. There's force and there's reason. When reason doesn't work, force is applied. Owning a firearm puts people on equal measure and ensures that reason and not force must be used. You want to progress as a culture? Arm everyone. Only allowing segments of the population the right to force ensures that a population will always be oppressed by those who have force and are willing to use it.

 

The word is getting out to boycott some of the casino's that support the ban, at elast amongst RAGBRAI participants. isle of capri has 2 casino's in black hawk, CO. They also have a casino in Waterloo, Iowa, on of the overnight towns on RAGBRAI this year.

After finding this out here is a communication I sent to isle of capri's corporate office, both black hawk, CO locations and the Waterloo, Iowa location:

I'm a avid cyclist. The recent enforcement of a bicycle ban in Black Hawk, Colorado raises concerns. The city manager was quoted as saying the city created the ban for the casinos, two of which are yours. I would like to know your official stand on the ban in Black Hawk. Can you please provide it in a press release?

Over 15,000 cyclists will be coming to Waterloo in about 4 weeks during an event called RAGBRAI. The word is out about the ban and the cyclists are infuriated. There are plans being put in place for the RAGBRAI participants to actively boycott your casino in the area because of the ban in Black Hawk. To avoid the boycott it is recommended you take action to lift the ban in Black Hawk. A ban such as the one in Black Hawk opens the door and sets precedence for other communities to do the same across the country.

Finally so you know the kind of person the mayor of Black Hawk, Colorado is that your casino’s there likely helped put into office, he is a convicted felon. Is this the kind of person your casino’s in Black Hawk want leading a community or to be associated with and therefore any other casino you have are associated with by extension?

 

You should have mentioned the pistol whip. Pistol whipping scares people.

 

We must be the good guys not more unconstitutional jerks! I agree.

 

What? no one has organized a naked critical mass yet? LOL!

This is some crazy stuff but I'm glad to see the advocacy group is trying to keep the government out of it.