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Putting a positive spin on cycling - Positive spin on Cycling |
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Written by Erin Frustaci
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Wednesday, 23 August 2006 |
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Erin Frustaci/
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Rafael Cletero, above, works in his garage, the site of Bike Against, a bike co-op in Fort Collins. He runs the nonprofit organization that works to promote more biking.
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At 30, Rafael Cletero has never owned a car in his life. It’s not because he can’t, he simply chooses not to.
From the outside, his home, settled in a comfy Fort Collins neighborhood, looks like any other. But once the garage door is raised, a whole other world is exposed. Tool chests line the wall, tires hang from the ceiling and bike parts are scattered all over.
Cletero never planned on running a bike co-op, it sort of just developed.
“It was a natural thing. I had this place and had people interested in bikes,” he said.
Bike Against, a 4-year-old nonprofit organization at 400 Smith St. in Fort Collins, is one of several area efforts to raise awareness and to promote biking as a means of transportation. The group, like a handful of other cycling groups in northern Colorado, try to develop a sense of community among cyclists.
For instance, Bike Against helps the unemployed and low-income population by providing free bike parts, cheap or free bikes, loaner bikes and public access to tools and workspace. The group operates completely from donations.
“We work to create an army of a self-sufficient bike community,” Cletero said.
Bike Against volunteers use bikes for everything. It isn’t uncommon to see them moving a couch by way of bicycles. They also make frequent trips to recycle discarded steel and aluminum parts.
Although Colorado is a bike-friendly state to begin with, Fort Collins continually puts a positive spin on cycling, drawing more riders all the time.
“Fort Collins is one of the most biker-friendly places in the country,” said John Crowninshield, a sales representative for Full Cycle in Fort Collins. “There’s a lot of nice bike lanes on the roads.”
In addition, the 300-plus days of Colorado sunshine cause active people to migrate here, he added.
Darlene Fishel rides her recumbent bike — a low-to-the-ground rig with two wheels in the front and one in the back — from her home in Bellevue to Fort Collins several times a week. It’s about 18 miles round trip. She started riding a few years ago to lose weight.
“I like being outside. Also, the idea of saving money on gas (is great),” she said.
Like Fishel, Rob Martin, 39, of Fort Collins is a passionate advocate of bicycles as a legitimate form of transportation.
Martin grew up on a bike in Memphis, Tenn. His mom was a single parent of five kids.
“She wasn’t going to be able to get me to soccer practice, so I said ‘I’ve got my BMX bike,’ ” he said.
So at 14, he biked four miles round-trip to practice, which was a big deal for him at the time.
When he graduated at age 30 from Colorado State University, he decided to do something big. He biked across the country. He spent four months riding from Oregon to Maine. He figured he would join the Peace Corps after his trip, however his path took a different turn.
During a conversation with a couple he met along his journey, he had a profound realization.
“The husband said, rudely, ‘Why go over there when you could stay here in the U.S. and help people use bikes as transportation,’ ” Martin said. “Although he was very rude, he had a point. That kind of stuck with me.”
After working for the Smart Trips program, which promotes and markets alternative transportation, Martin started his own little delivery service called Rob’s Bike Courier Service.
Each morning he pedals down to Gib’s Bagels at 6 a.m. to pick up bagels to be delivered to five coffee shops and one co-op store in Old Town. He also sells breakfast burritos from La Luz on his bike three days a week and hauls brown bottles from the bars to be recycled at New Belgium.
“I haul about 1,500 pounds of brown glass on a weekly basis on my bike,” he said. “I have a strong appreciation for the bike system here. It’s very doable to get around everywhere.”
Sure, the peak recreational bike season may be winding, down along with the summer, but Martin doesn’t see it that way.
“From my perspective, you can commute by bicycle year-round,” he said. “Mountain biking in this area is better in the winter because there is less use on trails. Experiencing the seasons on a bike is something people in Colorado sometimes miss. Plus, there are no traffic jams.”
Biking is clearly an activity that is growing in popularity in northern Colorado, particularly in Fort Collins.
The bike lanes, bike routes and bike paths make it safe for cyclists to get just about anywhere, and the city has committed time, money and energy to improving bike routes. Laurel Street was recently revamped, with parking spaces removed for bike routes. And the Mason Trail, which runs north and south between Harmony Road and Spring Creek, will have its grand opening later in September.
“Fort Collins has always been a good bike town,” David Kemp, bicycle coordinator for the city of Fort Collins, said. “Now we are starting to acknowledge it as a big bike town.”
The improvement programs, as well as the existence of his job, are evidence of that. Bike enthusiasts in the community pressed the city council to fund the position. In his position, Kemp is promoting programs such as Bike to School Tuesdays and a Safe Routes to School program.
Also, Kemp said he worked with Cletero on a recent zoning issue that temporarily closed down the bike co-op.
Although they are open again, Cletero said the ultimate goal is to find a more permanent location, but with little money, this could be a challenge.
“Hopefully, we can work within our resources in the community to find a new home as soon as possible,” he said.
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