Ten to 20 minutes. That’s how long it would take the average cyclist to ride from the Alamosa Library to the San Luis Valley Behavioral Health Group. Divvying up on different routes on Tuesday morning, seven cyclists and one car commuter went off to see just how long it would take to commute that distance. This small group is not alone. There is an international effort taking place with the same goal in mind: to see what commuting times are like on foot, on bike, via public transportation, or behind the wheel.
“What they found so far in bigger cities is that bikes often beat all of the other modes of transportation substantially. They’re collecting data from all different types of cities, all different countries to make it more of a meta-study to show the advantages of bikes,” said Grantley Showalter, executive director for the Alamosa Bicycle Coalition.
This is the first of what organizers hope will be a few more of these traffic study commutes brought on by San Luis Valley Great Outdoors and the Alamosa Bicycle Coalition.
The Citizen joined the group early Tuesday morning at the library and we timed our ride: 10 minutes, 50 seconds. Showalter and SLVGO’s active transportation coordinator Annie Altwarg took it slow and arrived in just under 20 minutes.
“We were participating today even though it’s probably going to show that the car is a little bit faster, but at least we can participate and show that it doesn’t take that long to bike around Alamosa,” Showalter said.
Fernando Gonzales drove his car and arrived in just over eight minutes, showing that a car is in fact just a little bit quicker.
Brian Pucerrella of SLVGO! and the City of Alamosa’s newly re-established bicycle working group cooked the route and arrived on his single-speed bike in just over nine minutes.
“I pushed it maybe a little harder than normal. I’m on a single speed bike so there’s only speed I can go here,” Pucerrella said.
Local cyclists Marty Jones, Jan Oen and Don Thompson arrived in between 12 and 15 minutes.
Altwarg hopes that on top of gleaning some useful data the goal is, “First just to get people out on bikes and allowing them to try a transport in a different way than they might have previous times. But also to show the difference between an e-bike and a bike, as well, and promote that Colorado e-bike rebate that they have going on, too. Showing that you don’t have to show up to your destination sweating, you can still feel refreshed as well. Or just even on an analog bike, that’s the case, too. Just getting people out there, I think.”
Alamosa has some work to do when it comes to bicycle infrastructure. There are still many streets without bike lanes, which forces cyclists and motorists to share the road in what can often be tight quarters.
Some bike lanes just sort of end. For example, on the end of the 1400 block of Ross Avenue the bike lane ends in dirt and the road narrows.
“Alamosa’s not that big,” Showalter said. “It doesn’t take very long to get pretty much anywhere in Alamosa. It’s flat. There’s not a big barrier to using a bike in Alamosa. The challenge would be that some of the infrastructure is kind of lacking. There’s some gaps. On our way here, we were noticing that the bike lane literally goes into dirt when it ends. There’s no merging into traffic or anything. It just stops in dirt. There are definitely some improvements we can make. I think we have a lot of resources here and some energy behind making those changes. I’m excited for that.”
State Avenue’s bike lane ends just past 13th Street where the road also narrows.
The bike lanes on the resurfaced First Street are smooth and extend the entire way past Adams State University. Main Street, on the other hand, is supposed to allow for cyclists to ride, but between the congested traffic and the parked cars on both sides of the road, the reality is riding down Main Street may be feasible but feels unsafe.
Sixth Avenue has no bike lanes, but plenty of parking. Navigating Alamosa on a bicycle can be tricky. Plenty of Alamosa’s roads are wide enough to accommodate both motorists and cyclists. Being visible and following the law, as Don Thompson says, is one of the best defenses to keep yourself safe.
Despite some lackluster infrastructure and being years behind in some ways in regard to Alamosa accommodating all forms of transportation and mobility, there’s nothing quite like riding a bike through town. Especially on a bright, sunny day.
“It was such a beautiful ride in,” said Altwarg. “We were so lucky with the blue sky, sunny morning today. I can tell you it was a lot more relaxing and rejuvenating to even take a leisurely ride. … At the same, just slow down a little bit and look at what’s around you. As usual, just cars passing by you and making sure they give you the three feet you need.”
“I don’t think drivers always know what to do around bicycles,” Pucerrella said. “It definitely makes it a little bit more dangerous. To compensate, cyclists kind of have to take safety in their own hands, which just probably leads to more ambiguity about what cyclists should be doing.”