Levi Leipheimer racing at the Cascade Classic in 1998. Photo by BikeRide.com
According to a post on BikePortland.org, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner will be racing in the Cascade Classic form July 9-13 in Bend, Oregon. With Team Astana being left out of the Tour de France, they will be using Cascade to prepare for the Olympics.
In 1998 Lance Armstrong raced the Cascade Classic, then went on to win the Tour de France the next seven years, so maybe it will be good luck for Levi too!
Another top rider who will be at Cascade is Tom Danielson who was left off the Team Garmin / Chipotle roster for the Tour de France.
According to a news article from The Daily Review, Alameda County in Northern California is proposing a law that would require “organizations with advertised rides and 50 or more riders” to pay costly fees for permits and informational road signs along the route.
The article states that “For years, bands of bicycle riders have irritated residents living along rural roads”.
County Supervisor Nate Miley said “we want people to ride bicycles, and not to impose unfair burdens on people who live along (rural) roadways.”
Is it really an “unfair burden” for local drivers to have to slow down for a few seconds, and be a little more careful when driving? I’m not sure how they are measuring this “burden” that these “bands of bicycle riders” are causing.
Should bicyclists pay extra for their right to travel on public roads than other road users? The Supreme Court has stated that the right to travel “is a right that has been firmly established and repeatedly recognized”, and went on to say that the right to travel “is a right broadly assertable against private interference as well as governmental action.”
I’m not a lawyer, but it seems like these types of laws that aim to restrict groups of people from traveling on the road is a slippery slope. There is a lot of traffic on the freeway that is a burden to a lot of people. Maybe the government should set up checkpoints and charge people extra if it is determined that your car trip isn’t as nessesary as someone elses. Not a good idea.
I wonder how many of the complaints are due to organized tours versus your average weekend club ride with groups smaller than 50 riders. This type of law is only going to cause a burden on charity rides, and probably will not do much to solve conflicts between bicyclists and local residents who think bicyclists shouldn’t be on the road.
This morning when I arrived at my office in Collinsville, Connecticut, there was a couple from Seattle eating outside on the patio of La Salle Market with a fully loaded Rodriguez tandem. They had ridden across the country, and were now heading south to Florida.
They said they had ridden from Stockbridge, Massachusetts the day before and said it was some of the most scenic riding of the entire trip. I have to agree that I live in a great area for bicycle touring.
It was nice running into some people from my home town.
In response to a lawsuit due to a bicyclist that was killed in the RAGBRAI bicycle ride, supervisors in Dallas County, Iowa are set to vote on an ordinance that “would require liability insurance for any organized bicycle ride featuring 20 riders or more.”
Just how this would effect less “organized” cycling club group rides is unknown, but it could have a big impact on any charity rides, bicycle tours, or road races in Iowa.
As usual, the comments associated with the news article bring out the cries from the anti-bike crowd to require insurance and license fees for all cyclists.
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