Just because Black Hawk, Colorado, banned bicycling on nearly every street through town doesn't mean that they wouldn't welcome a bunch of conventioneering bicycle-types.
That's what Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists, learned when he opened an e-mail solicitation from a Black Hawk casino asking him to steer some business its way. His description of Black Hawk sums up his reaction:
“… an unlikely destination for a national bicycling organization to choose for a meeting, unless perhaps we are planning some civil disobedience, or a field trip to see what life would be like in a town where bikes were not allowed.”
Playing safety card
Black Hawk, you no doubt recall, is the Rocky Mountain town with 16 casinos and 105 population (2008) that banned bicycling on nearly every street in town. The city manager defended the City Council's vote on safety issues, and later told the L.A. Times that it was done partly at the urging of the casinos.
It's ironic that one of those casinos was soliciting LAB for business. Obviously, whoever does marketing for that casino doesn't read the newspaper. But it did give Clarke the opportunity to riff about cities that are bicycle-friendly and offer bicycle attractions in their promotional literature.
News of the bike ban came to light in June when police started issuing $68 tickets to bicyclists. Eight tickets were issued that first weekend.
Court fight
This past month, three of those ticketed appeared in Judge Ronald W. Carlson's courtroom and pleaded not guilty. They asserted the bike ban was “an invalid ordinance,” says Bicycle Colorado, which is helping to represent them.
The three were on a bicycle loop that they started in Golden. They had passed through Idaho Springs and Central City when they were pulled over in Black Hawk.
In the motion to dismiss the charges, the three men's attorneys explained the Black Hawk ordinance unlawfully conflicts with state law because it prohibits bicyclists from using access roads connecting Black Hawk to other communities.
“Further, the city made an arbitrary decision without a lawful basis; the reference to “safety” in the ordinances is pretexual, and the ordinances were not enacted pursuant to reasonable exercise of the city's policy power. Finally, the ordinances are discriminatory, treating local residents of Black Hawk differently from nonresidents (such as defendants) without a lawful basis….”
According to the newsletter sent out by Bicycle Colorado, the judge has scheduled a hearing for Oct. 20 where the bicycle riders' attorneys can plea their case.
Since the Black Hawk City Council has no interest in reviewing its ordinance, maybe the court will do so.
Here's the “bicycle map” for Black Hawk
Read the Q. and A. and other information at the Bicycle Colorado website.
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