Ok that’s done. So… Bike To Work Day. Nicole and I have participated in Bike to Work day for I think 3 years now. It’s an awesome event, and a fun morning. Even though I worked from home and now work from Uncubed, the coworking space I run, I still go out and “bike to work” because it’s awesome. Denver is a bike city. And it’s great to see so many other cool folks on the road doing what (usually) they do anyways, but with a celebratory edge.

The day starts with riding around downtown Denver stopping at various stations for breakfast and energy (courtesy of great companies!) and ends with an awesome party at Cactus.

I threw a banner up on the side bar, click that and check the site out, it’s a great reason to go outside!

See ya around town!

Just last night a drive nearly killed me so he could pull into the parking lot for the rockies game. I was right there, he passed me, then cut me off. As a driver, I’ve had to swerve as I come around a blind corner to face bicyclists who don’t grasp what “shoulder” means and ride in the center of the road. As a pedestrian I’ve been nearly run down on more than one occasion by bikers on the sidewalk. Conversely I’ve been “That” biker 2x. Both in cases where cars parked on the side of the road blocked my view and I thought it was clear to pull out, when it wasn’t. It goes both ways and I get that.

I had heard that DPD was cracking down on sidewalk riding, which in general I completely agree with. The problem, as mentioned in this examiner piece is that the three groups can’t get along. I take to the sidewalks in extreme cases, when the road isn’t wide enough for me to feel safe with the cars. I ride slowly, and try to not disturb the peds.

Jake and I were talking about this a bit a while back, that even when we’re driving, we’re more aware than most drivers we see. Because we’re used to being aware. On our bikes is a true safety matter to know what’s going on around you.

I think Denver is doing an awesome job of making the city more and more bike friendly. New bike lanes north of Broadway are great steps in that direction! I hope motorists try to think a little outside the box though, and I equally hope bikers try to not be so douchey. Yeah as a whole I despise most other bikers.

If everyone followed the rules a bit more I think all three groups could share the city with fewer problems.

Obama website banner

I wasn’t sure I wanted to go, but when Juan pinged me to ask if I was going, I figured why not. I walked down to 16th st and took the mall ride to Civic Center park.

I was there by 10am. Found the (long) line, and headed towards it. At the end of the line, was a volunteer telling people that we needed to go to the other line, that was running down Colfax and around Bannock. I merged in with that line, which was moving, surprisingly. We wind into the park, and abrutly hit a volunteer telling us that our line wasn’t going anywhere. Imagine a stream of water hitting a wall. That was us.

I met up with Juan and Grace on my way to the end of the line (again). The line went down Bannock, to 12th, then headed toward Lincoln (I think it was) and headed north again. It ended just about where it began, near the park. There was a nice volunteer waiting at the end to tell people, that those at the end, wouldn’t likely get in to the rally.

We headed back into the park, figuring we’d at least hear Obama even if we couldn’t see him. Then suddenly, some of the gates opened up and we found ourselves quite a bit farther into the park, yippee!

Once we suffered through the usual politico-speak from congressmen and senators seeing who could use the most metaphors, Obama came out, a little after noon. The above clip, is a short bit of Obama’s speach. It was very very good.

Oh and all those folks in the video, according to the Huffington Post, there were 100,000 people at the rally. The filled the park, overflowed up the steps of the capital. It was amazing.

Somewhere around the red oval, that

Despite the frustrations of getting in, I’m glad I made it down to the park. Hearing Obama speak was very powerful, and moving. While I hope this isn’t the case, i’m guessing, once he’s Prez rally’s will be much harder to attend.