Mountain Biking: Rubber side down- Time for a TurnaroundWell, my friends, things are finally looking up, and good timing, too, since I’m sure you’re all sick of me bitching. Recent bike build, including wheels… fun! In what feels like a fairly short time, I’ve come from sitting around … Continue reading → […]
- This Raised My PulseHey, baby… wanna ride? I may be injured, but I’m not dead yet. I can still have racy thoughts. Here’s more info. In other news, UBI was an awesome success! I had a blast. I highly recommend it. Overhaul day…. … Continue reading → […]
- Time for a Turnaround
- Edgy Veggie
Courtney Holden
About me: I’m a second year graduate student at the University of Colorado at Boulder with a journalism focus. I spent a summer working in the Grand Tetons, two years living in Steamboat Springs, a summer writing in Estes Park, and I now live (and play) in Boulder. Hiking, biking, telemark skiing, snowshoeing, mountaineering, running and being outside make my world go ‘round. Working at the Daily Camera covering Science and Environment stories is, well, awesome.
Contact Courtney: courtney.holden@colorado.edu
Fourmile burn area has high flood risk
Reread that title again.
Last September's Fourmile Fire has left flood danger in its wake. Photo by Mark Leffingwell.
We’re in danger, folks, especially those living in the Fourmile Fire burn area.
Laura Snider reports that
If more than an inch of rain falls over the area burned by the Fourmile Fire in an hour — an event that happens, on average, every other year — between 20 and 40 homes would be at risk of flooding.
That’s scary stuff. Check out the rest of Laura’s article, “Heavy rain in Fourmile burn area could flood dozens of homes,” for more info about how to be prepared.
Petroleum prices on the rise
So gas prices are going up. Again.
That means it’s time to start thinking about alternate means of transportation.
How will you be getting from Point A to Point B?
By bike? Photo by Paul Aiken.
By bus? Photo by Marty Caivano.
Will you walk? Photo by Paul Aiken.
Will you walk with friends? Photo by Lynne Sladky, AP.
We want to know … so tell us!
Eastern mountain lion declared extinct
Did you read the title and pause a moment for of silence in honor of that once great species?
Yeah, we have our share of mountain lions in Colorado … but that’s the western mountain lion.
Looking back over the years, relationships between Boulder residents and cougars have been tenuous to say the least. Some want them to stay because, after all, the big cats were here first. Others fear for the safety of their children, cats and dogs. David Baron’s chilling tale, “The Beast in the Garden,” provides a particularly detailed account of the early 1990s when tensions were especially high.
Most of those worries are warranted. Mountain lions are scary.
But in the midst of those concerns, the animal itself is a pretty darn cool.
So what do you think? Is Boulder blessed to have them? Or is the east coast lucky they’re gone?
Dinner for a cause
We all need to eat. So plan ahead for Wednesday, March 2.
PLAN-Boulder County’s annual dinner will be held next Wednesday downtown at the Hotel Boulderado (2115 13th St.). Swanky drinks, a delicious buffet and keynote speaker Van Jones will keep you well fed in body and mind.
Jones (Oh, and here’s the Wikipedia link in case you’re headed there next) is known across the globe as a pioneer in human rights and the clean energy economy and was the primary advocate for the Green Jobs Act.
The deets:
Who: You and PLAN-Boulder County, a citizen’s organization devoted to making sure Boulder’s city and county governments comply with environmental causes.
What: PLAN-Boulder County’s annual dinner
Where: Hotel Boulderado
When: Wednesday, March 2; cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. followed by dinner and talk at 7 p.m.
Cost: $50 for dinner and the program
For more info, check out www.planboulder.org.
Not so Xcel-ent for rebates
Homeowners hoping to install solar panels for financial incentives may change their minds. Photo by Zak Wood.
Boulder’s local utility provider Xcel Energy is altering its rebate system to significantly decrease the financial incentives it offers solar panel owners.
Xcel said Wednesday that, effective immediately, the combined incentive for new solar installations would decrease from $2.35 to $2.01 per watt. The company also filed paperwork with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday that, if approved, would further drop the combined incentive to $1.25 per watt.
Members of the Colorado solar industry say the deep and sudden cuts to the incentive program could be ruinous.
Read the rest of Laura Snider’s story “Boulder County solar industry decries Xcel’s plan to slash incentives.”
Cycle tracks to replace bike lanes?
We like bikes here in Boulder. Some of us use them to get in a great workout. Others pedal to and fro to wherever they need to be. And those who drive are typically kind enough to share the road.
We’re proud of this bike-laned land we call home. But are bike lanes good enough? Advocates of cycle tracks don’t think so.
Question: So what the hell is a cycle track?
Answer: It’s a completely separate lane for bikers protected by a curb or a concrete barrier.
The cycle track is an idea we Americans have adopted from our neighbors across the (big) pond in Europe. The cycle track makes biking super safe, but building them might mean adding a lot more cement to our beautiful city.
So what do you think? Are Boulder’s bike paths extensive enough, or do we need cycle tracks as well?
Read more about them at Grist.com in Elly Blue’s article, “Cyclists shouldn’t ‘share the road,’ they should have their own.”
EPA in trouble?
Are you siting down, fellow Boulderite? You’re about to read some scary stuff.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton is sponsoring a bill to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to reduce carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
It appears, however, that Upton might have trouble rallying support.
“The bottom line is now clearer than ever: Democrats, Republicans and Independents across America want politicians to protect the health of America’s children rather than the profit-driven agenda of big polluters” said Pete Altman, Climate Campaign director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Chairman Upton and other members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will now be hard-pressed to ignore the fact that their constituents want Congress to let the EPA do its job of safeguarding the health of American families.”
What would this mean for Boulder?
Cold vs. Green
We don’t have to tell you this, but in case you’ve been stuck inside: IT’S BEEN REALLY COLD OUT THERE for the past few days.
Uncharacteristically cold even.
Are you as burly as Rich Rotunno? Photo by Jeremy Papasso.
So I’m curious (no, not nosy, curious) about whether the harsh bite of the frigid air has superseded your dedication to being green.
Are you still biking to work?
Did you take a longer than normal shower this morning after your run?
Other thoughts?
Hit us back!
Want more info on winter weather? Stay up to date at the Daily Camera.
Climbers’ stewardship
The Boulder Climbing Community, a local group of, you guessed it, climbers, wants to clean up its own mess in Boulder Canyon.
The BCC’s proposal suggests a cooperative effort to restore damage already done and to prevent harmful impacts in the future. Briggs lists five to 10 approach and descent routes that are in critical need of attention, but he hopes to eventually establish marked trails to the nearly 100 climbing rocks in the canyon.
“We’re trying to get permission to be our own stewards and to solve our own problem,” said Roger Briggs, who founded the BCC last January and is known as a local climbing legend for his 104 ascents of the Diamond, Longs Peak’s treacherous east face.
Beetle woes to continue
Boulder residents are wondering if something good could come from this bitterly cold weather, namely a decrease in the pine beetles attacking lodgepole and ponderosa pine trees.Unfortunately, the answer is no. Despite highs of 12, 3 and 10 degrees for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, the beetles will return this summer.
“It’s very unlikely that these temperatures will be cold enough to significantly affect the pine beetles,” said Tom Veblen, professor of geography at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Data collected by D.A. Leatherman, I. Aguayo, and T.M. Mehall in their report, “Mountain Pine Beetle,” determined that temperatures of at least 30 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit) must last for five days at the least in order for freezing temperatures to make an impact on the pine beetle population.
Yes, we hate you Mr. Beetle. Photo by Jeff Mitton.
Veblen explains that the cold’s duration is necessary because the beetles are in an extreme state of dormancy during the winter, offering them great protection. Also, the recorded temperatures are vastly different from what the beetles experience.
“The temperature at the weather station is likely to be quite a bit colder (than where the beetle is,) beneath the snow and beneath the bark,” he said.
To the dismay of many, the beetles will be back.
For more information about the recent cold spell, see “Temperatures in Boulder climb back towards normal.”
