This is the second part of Bikes, Buses, and Automobiles, a three-part series about commuting, congestion, and transportation in the Roaring Fork Valley.
Pueden encontrar la versión en español aquí.
The Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys are big mountain biking destinations, and home to lots of avid cyclists.
But advocates want to make it possible for locals to be able to bike for practical purposes, as well: whether it’s to the grocery store, work, or to school.
One way to do that is through “Bike There” events.
When class starts on a sunny Friday morning in May, Glenwood Springs Elementary School has full bike racks out front.
Steve Smith, founder of Glenwood Springs Bicycle Advocates, is pretty happy about it.
“It is not this full everyday here, but…there'll be bicycles at every one of those racks on a spring and fall school day, even without a special event,” he said.
His organization has put together a “Bike to School Day” event for the students, with stickers, snacks, and bike bells. It’s part of Smith’s goal to get residents to see that bikes can be just as practical a mode of transportation as a car.
Some students, like Matthew Mendes, already ride their bikes to school every day. He’s accompanied by his dad, Francisco, who’s rocking an electric scooter.
“A la escuela? Todos los días. Sí, porque vivimos por acá cerca,” he said. “Entonces, bien pues usa bastante la bicicleta. Cuando salimos al parque, Veltus Park.”
He says his son Matthew rides his bike to school every day, because they live nearby, and he also rides to Veltus Park on the weekends.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, over 60% of all trips taken each day in 2021 were under five miles.
Steve Smith said that short distance lends itself well to bicycle trips… and may, at times, be faster than your car.
“You can get to a trip that is that short without using your car,” he said. “Getting rid of the car, when you get there, you have to deal with parking. You have to deal with traffic jams, depending on the time of day.”
The biggest bike thoroughfare in Glenwood Springs is the Rio Grande Trail, which connects riders to other local bike paths. Smith said the other towns in the valley follow a similar model.
“The towns from here to Aspen…are kind of jewels on the chain, and within each town, they use that through line, but create their own little local networks,” he said.
Local officials are also interested in bikes helping close gaps in connection with other forms of transit. The idea is that people will take the bus or other public transit to their destination, but they need a way to get to transit stops from their home, work, or school. That gap is what experts call the “first and last mile” of their trip.
In the Roaring Fork Valley, that mile often looks like biking, whether it’s a personal bike or a bike from the WeCycle bikeshare program.
Smith credits WeCycle with helping to lower the barrier to entry for people wanting to try getting around by bike.
“Having bicycles at strategic locations that you don't even have to own or maintain, that lock themselves, that are always waiting for you, and then you have a convenient place to put them away when you're finished with it and walk away,” he said of WeCycle.
But not everyone has the ability or access to easy cycling. Other services like on-demand shuttles through RFTA and Car-to-Go create other options for the first and last mile gap in the community. But having more bikes on the road, and maintaining good infrastructure for those bikes and their riders, benefits drivers, as well.
Smith said if there’s fewer cars on the road, there’s less traffic.
“The more people who bicycle for a few short trips…that's that many cars that aren't out conflicting with, getting in jams with, slowing down people who are driving,” he said. “So yeah, everybody benefits when some of us ride our bike or walk or ride the bus.”
In the same way that having just a few more people out of their cars and on bikes makes a dent in congestion, it also has an impact on the environment, Smith said.
“Out of our 15 or 20 trips, take two or three or four or five of those by bicycle, and our neighbors do the same thing,” he said. “It is remarkable how that is a tangible benefit for the very planet.”
But Smith wants to emphasize that bikes aren’t just practical and environmentally friendly. They’re also a lot of fun.
“There's sometimes a reflex to say, oh, a bicycle is a toy. That's for kids. Well, darn tootin’ it is,” he said. “Yes, but it's not limited to that, any of us at any age can put a bicycle to good practical use.”
Events like a bike to school day help emphasize that.
“That kind of youthful enthusiasm, helps those young people develop this habit that hopefully they'll carry on as they grow up,” he said. “But it also shines and sparkles to the rest of us to say, oh, yeah, that looks like fun. I'm going to try it.”
And for Francisco and Matthew Mendes, it’s a nice way to get a little father-son time.
“Que ya que el trabajo le quita mucho tiempo, puedo por lo menos dedicar un tiempito venir con él.”
He says when work takes up so much of his day, it’s worth it to spend a little bit of time with his son.
But for folks who aren’t as lucky as the Mendez family, and have much longer commutes, RFTA and the towns in the valley are working together to get folks out of their car for longer trips, as well.
You’ll hear more about those efforts in the third part of this series.
