From the ReporterHerald of Fort Collins

It is being reported that the Berthold cyclist attacker will be avoiding jail time. His attack on a group of cyclist July 18th of 2010 around the town of Berthod with a baseball bat left the group terrorized one bike destroyed. The attacker, Bryce Barker, was found guilty of criminal mischief charge to $500 to $1,000, making it a Class 1 misdemeanor. The menacing with a deadly weapon charge is a class 5 felony.

Berthoud resident Bryce Barker will spend two years on probation but no time in the county jail for an attack on cyclists near his home – an incident surrounded by differing perceptions.

.....

“You totally misperceived the situation,” the 8th Judicial District judge said Tuesday while sentencing Barker for felony menacing and misdemeanor criminal mischief.

“You perceived a threat that just wasn't there ...You are guilty of these offenses as the jury found. You reacted inappropriately.”

From Brandon Smith
Bicycle Planner/ Employee Transportation Coordinator
Boulder County Transportation Department

Motorist/Cyclist Working Group,

As the new Bike Planner for Boulder County, I’d like to introduce myself and say thanks for all the time and hard work that you have already put into improving relationships between motorists and cyclists in your community and on the roads. I have read through the information I could find of your past efforts and now would like to set up a meeting where I can meet you all, gauge the success of the implemented programs, talk about upcoming efforts, and ask for any additional ideas you all may have.

In a brief summary here is what has been implemented so far:

Friday is Earth Day and for kids in the Boulder Valley School District it is Walk and Roll Day! and for some schools this is a week long event with Friday being the big day. If the name doesn't say it all, Walk and Roll is a day/week where kids are encouraged to learn a life skill and find green/healthy options to arrive at school, like by bike. Heatherwood Elementary school has been running a Walk and Roll campaign for the last 4 years and every year they have seen substantial growth in the number of kids participating.

For the Heatherwood kids and some other schools in BVSD, Walk and Roll is one day out of the entire school year for walking and biking and many schools tie this into their already running school year long Safe Routes to Schools program. Kids at Heatherwood Elementary receive recognition and awards for 5, 30 and 100 days of walking or biking and over 40 kids have already logged 100 days of biking or walking! Have you commuted by bike half as much since September? Who is really the teacher here?

This year Heatherwood Elementary received a Safe Routes to Schools mini grant to help kids with Autism join in on the Walk and Roll week. To make this possible they will be teaming up will Assisted Cycling Tours who has a fleet of tandems specially equipped for people with autism and they are located right here in the Denver area!!!

I had the luxury of riding with Chris about 3 weeks ago in Golden up Lookout and around roads I have no clue where we were but Chris could probably recite the route and alternative routes like rain man dropping numbers. I learned that studying maps is one of his many hobbies so that guy knows every route! Above all Chris is a funny guy who likes to talk to you, about anything, especially football if you happen to be a Steelers fan.

Below is a bio I got from Chris, because I could never get it together and do a interview of him... darn day job keeps getting in the way. Thanks Chris for sharing

1985 started riding and racing at 14 in Pennsylvania. We couldn't drive, so created our own stage race "The Tour of Visette". Don't really know where that name came from. We made leaders jerseys out of white t-shirts from JC Penney.

We found somebody who could drive, and got to the Tour of Somerville, where I got crushed by the 7-11 junior team with Jonas Carney. Wow - a serious eye-opener.

Started working at Klein Bikes in Chehalis WA in 1987, did my first mountain bike race in Ashland Oregon - The Revenge of the Siskiyous. Then went to Crystal Mtn, WA - the Specialized Rockhopper series. Greg Herbold was racing XC at the time. Got 7th in juniors, and got beer poured on my head by the Klein family. Was 16. Worked at Klein after high school and summers in college until 1992. Did my first century at Seattle to Portland with Gary Klein.

I raced both mountain and collegiate road while I lived in Pittsburgh - talk about awful racing conditions. We did a lot of 3 stage omniums: tt, crit, rr. One tt we still call "the Blizzard time trial" because it was snowing so badly that nobody warmed up, we just sat in the cars with the heat on. Then we got out and raced, and everyone fell down at the turnaround - it was so slushy. We raced the Month of Mud cyclocross series in western PA. One race had a creek crossing, and at registration they would always post the water temperature so you'd know what to expect. 38 degree water is cold on racing legs!