Transcript Golden
July 11, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourgoldennews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 147, Issue 32
The heat is on during fire season Six fires in less than a month By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com
A unique bicycle, with “Welcome to Golden” lettered on the cross bar, was just one of the array of bikes that were spotted at last week’s Golden Bike Cruise. Photos by Glenn Wallace
Cycling in high gear Golden a bicycling community on the move By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com This is the first in a three-part series about bicycling and its role in the Golden community. Part two, focusing on the business of cycling, will appear next week. It’s summer, and on the last Tuesday of June, it seemed like half the city took part in the that edition of the Golden Bicycle Cruise. Hundreds of people milled around the cruise staging area and the bicycle racks. They ranged in age from infants to the elderly. Some came just to enjoy the festive atmosphere and the live music, and perhaps get something to eat and drink. Most, however, came to ride. The theme of the June ride was “superheroes,” as the plethora of capes and spandex clearly demonstrated. Adam “Bo” Boe, a manager at the Golden Bike Shop, says there is nothing extraordinary about cycling in Golden except that 30 to 40 percent of the community is connected to it in some way. “The cycling community here is blowing up, exponential growth,” Boe said as he surveyed the crowd at the bike cruise. Among those community members was Jordanna Quinn. She sported a red cape, as did her 3-year-old daughter, Avery. Quinn said her family was quite bicycle focused, using it as their primary way of transportation, including her means of commuting to work in Denver. “Between all of us, we have about eight bikes,” Quinn said. The allure of the cycling lifestyle is clear, according to Quinn. “It’s fun. It’s easy. It’s exercise. It’s outdoors, and you can do it with your POSTAL ADDRESS
Two members of the Gorman family of Golden, sporting their matching “The Incredibles” shirts, ride off into the sunset during last week’s superhero-themed Golden Bike Cruise.
‘It’s fun. It’s easy. It’s exercise. It’s outdoors, and you can do it with your friends.’ Jordanna Quinn friends,” she said. Down the street from the bike cruise is the office of the Bicycle Racing Association of Colorado, run by Chris McGee. “We were a motorcycle town 10, 15 years ago, and now we’re a bicycle town,” McGee said. A quick look around the city quickly reveals the ways in which this is true. Bicycles parked outside businesses on Washington Avenue outnumber motorcycles nowadays. At certain businesses, they outnumber the
cars too. McGee said it is amazing that a city of Golden’s size could support five bicycle shops. He said a cluster of bicycle-related companies call Golden home as well. With so many riding opportunities, active competitive race, and a bicycle-friendly City Council, both McGee and Boe said the local cycling trend showed no signs of slowing. “With so many active people in and around Golden, I only see it growing,” Boe said.
Things are getting hot in Jefferson County this fire season. In the last four weeks, six named fires have occurred within the county’s borders. “And I’d say we’ve lost count of the small fires that went unnamed because they were quickly extinguished,” Jeffco Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Jacki Kelley. The Jeffco Sheriff’s Department handles organization, evacuation and security duties JEFFCO FIRE INFO for all fires withThe Jefferson County in unincorporatSheriff ’s Department uses ed county land. several methods to commuThe sheriff’s nicate fire and evacuation department was information to residents: the lead agency on the Bluebell WEBSITE: JEFFCO.US/ Fire last month, SHERIFF/ which burned CODERED MOBILE 10 acres in the notifi cation: Sign up Evergreen area, at the website forcing the evacuation of hunFACEBOOK: WWW. dreds. FACEBOOK.COM/JEF“In the grand FERSONCOUNTYSHERscale of fires, it IFF was pretty small. TWITTER: @JEFFBut for the peoCOSHERIFFCO ple affected, they definitely KNOW EVACUATION felt it was a malevels: jor event,” Kelley LEVEL 1) Be ready to leave. said. So far, Jeffco LEVEL 2) Leave soon. residents have LEVEL 3) Leave imbeen spared the mediately! level of fire devastation experienced by the Black Forest Fire victims near Colorado Springs this year, or the Lower North Fork Fire last year. -The latter fire claimed three lives, 23 structures and charred more than 1,400 acres of Jefferson County. Still, Sheriff Ted Mink warns that the dry, hot weather being seen along the Front Range is similar to what was seen last year. At the end of June, he announced a fire ban for all land to the west of State Highway 93 and C-470. Kelley said the area would need days of considerable rain to defuse the level of fire danger. Beyond the potential loss of life and property, all these fires have other effects, straining law enforcement resources and costing county taxpayers. Only five deputies are typically on patrol in the mountain regions of the county. “If we’ve got two of them chasing fire calls, that spreads us pretty thin,” Mink said, adding that he had authorized some overtime for patrollers to do nothing but reHeat continues on Page 18
GOLDEN TRANSCRIPT (ISSN 0746-6382)
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