<rant>

So I'm busting ass up the Platte River bike path today (it's actually called the Arapahoe Greenbelt, but geez), when I spy a parks dept truck parked alongside the trail at a 90-degree angle. There's a guy in the driver's seat pointing something at me. Is it a camera? Binoculars? A gun? Well, kind of. It's a radar gun. The guy is actually measuring my speed as I ride up the trail with my tongue hanging out and spit dripping down my chin from effort. Of course, I look down at my bike computer and see that I'm doing 21mph. I have a hazy recollection that they actually posted 15mph speed limit signs along some sections of this trail a while ago. I didn't think much of it back then -- I just sort of harrumphed as I sped by at nearly 50% faster than the limit.

But this -- this parks-cop actually sitting there in a sort of low-speed speed trap is shooting cyclists with a radar gun. What's he going to do, write me a ticket? I have to admit that I looked over my shoulder after a minute or so to see if he was speeding alongside the trail to catch me. And what if he did, and what if I kept riding instead of stopping? Would he call in a parks dept helicopter to track me as they tightened the noose on my scofflaw self? Would I end up on Cops? If I stopped and got a ticket, what would happen if I didn't pay it? Would they revoke my cycling license? The questions abound.

Anyway, this whole situation got me fuming. When I ride on the street I have to put up with inbred simpletons yelling at me to get off the road and ride on the bike paths, or worse, the sidewalks. Now, when I ride on the bike paths, I'm going to have the man tracking my speed to make sure I don't break this ridiculous 15mph speed limit. So where the hell is a fit cyclist supposed to fit into this scheme? I don't have the ability to even coast as slow as 15mph if there's a decent tailwind. Hell, I averaged over 20mph over this section of path today, and there was a decent headwind (but I was hurting a little).

So what are they trying to accomplish with this speed law? I suppose it's supposed to increase safety for the families out there with their gaggles of crooked-helmeted kids wandering around the paths on their little tiny bikes. Or the hybrid bikers riding on the left hand side of the trail, with their rubbernecks in full gear, headphones blaring, looking at everything but the trail ahead. Or the hybrid bikers riding three abreast, oblivious to everything, including the freakin' squeaks coming out of their unmaintained drivetrains that makes it sound like they're towing birdcages full of parakeets.

I don't suppose it ever crossed the rule-maker's puny minds that it's not the fast moving cyclists that are the problem. Believe me, we're paying attention. It takes focus to propel a bicycle at a high rate of speed. I'd say that the average fast-moving cyclist is paying a hell of a lot more attention than the average 10mph cyclist. I've seen it over and over again -- slow moving cyclists tend also to not be paying attention and are slow to react to verbal announcements. So, IMO this speed limit is fixing the wrong problem. Here's my idea for a proper safety sign:

</rant>