Family bike ride in Ft. Collins, CO

A few weeks back we packed the family up and headed to South Dakota for a wedding and then to Colorado for some rest and relaxation. Having heard about the bike friendliness of Fort Collins, I searched for bike rentals in the area and came up with a couple options. One company gave me the run around for several weeks, so I called New World Sports and explained that we wanted to ride the local trails and needed a variety of bikes for 7 people. Joe delivered in a big way. Curtis wanted to try a road bike, Trevor and I opted for cruisers (mine with the high handlebars I remembered from my childhood), Peter grabbed a mountain bike and Katie, Jon and my wife rode hybrids.

From Ft Collins family ride July 2010

We knew we wanted to ride the Spring Creek and Poudre trails and hoped to make a stop at the New Belgium Brewery. Joe had us grab a copy of the FCBikes map (12 meg PDF available HERE) and gave us a couple different route options. He checked and adjusted all the bikes, gave us water bottles filled with ice water, equipped us with a pump, tools and extra tubes (just in case), made sure we could get in touch with him if something happened that we couldn't take care of and off we went.


We started on some very bike friendly side streets.


Riding with a view of mountains was a treat.

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I've got to admit, riding the Monkey Bike brought back a lot of memories.



The bikes were wonderful. The trails were smooth and riding a cruiser didn't pose any problem. If you're ever going to be in the Fort Collins area and want to ride the trails, mountain bike or participate in the Tour de Fat and need a bike, contact Joe. Reasonable prices and great service. Thanks for some great memories Joe.


Joe of www.NewWorldSportsLLC.com

Note: I wasn't compensated for the review in any way. I was just truly impressed with the guy and wanted to pass the information along.

Visibility

In the first chapter of the wonderful book The Invisible Gorilla, by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, there are a couple of paragraphs on inattentional blindness to which cyclists and motorcyclists should pay close attention.

Analysis of over sixty accident reports involving cars and motorcycles showed that none of the car drivers had any experience riding a motorcycle themselves. It appears that those of us who ride vehicles that the majority of car drivers don't expect are more likely to notice similar unexpected events.

Wearing bright clothing should make a bike or motorcycle rider easier to notice. However, as Chabris and Simons point out in their book, looking at something doesn't guarantee that you will actually see it. Wearing conspicuous clothing "will increase your visibility, making it easier for people who are looking for you to see you. Such bright clothing doesn't guarantee that you will be noticed, though."

Just remember, hi-viz clothing is not an excuse for you to stop paying very close attention to the road and traffic around you. This has been a public service announcement from the Committee to not get Squashed Like a Bug.