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Quandary: Breck’s lightbulb sales and biking designation

Dear Quandary,

When is the next light bulb sale?

Thanks,



Illuminated

Well, don’t we sound small town? In case you had concerns, no we don’t only sell light bulbs at special events, however a good light bulb sale is an event all its own. You see in the past, the town of Breckenridge has sold high-efficiency LED lightbulbs for only $1, drawing huge crowds and anticipation for the next big bulb blowout. Well, the powers that be heard your plea, and the next sale will take place Friday, April 29. In case you’ve been sitting in the dark since the last sale, you can nab up to 20 bulbs per household (don’t even think about sending little Billy through for an excess share though, this sale is serious business).



The sale will be held at the Breckenridge Police Department (yes, armed lightbulb sales — OK, that might be an exaggeration, but you get the point) beginning at 8:30 a.m., and chances are no stock will make it through the day. At the previous sale, the town had reached maximum illumination within a matter of hours. The unfortunate news about this sale is that it only applies to town residents. If you happen to live outside Breck, your world will stay dark until you pony up the bucks for bulbs at the store, and sadly, that won’t just cost you a dollar.

Dear Quandary,

What does it mean that Breckenridge is a gold level Bicycle Friendly Community?

Thanks,

Tread happy

It means quite a bit, actually. Communities can apply for the status of Bicycle Friendly Community through the League of American Bicyclists (LAM) to see if the town is cycle crazy. There are five levels of designation for this award: diamond, platinum, gold, silver and bronze. Technically, Breck’s designation falls in the middle, but that can be a little misleading. You see, the people who assess and hand out this designation seem to be a wee bit on the stingy side. Even though they’ve created five levels, they’ve only used four so far as no communities have qualified for diamond level. Think of this level as the giant gorilla at a carnival game: It’s there to look impressive, but the chances of actually getting it are nonexistent. The platinum level is like the big prize you see one guy carrying around: It makes you feel like it’s possible, but really it’s almost as rare as the gorilla. Only five communities have ever reached this mark, and surprise, surprise, two of them are in Colorado — you guessed it, Boulder and Fort Collins. Which brings us to Breck and the gold level — not quite the gorilla, but still better than a life-size stuffed hamster. There are only 24 communities in the country that have achieved this status including Breck, Austin, Texas and Santa Cruz, California, just to name a few. If you count every level, then 371 communities have achieved Bike Friendly Community status, meaning 72 million people live in pedal-happy places.

So what exactly goes into determining just how bike friendly an area is? The little LAM looks at five criterion: engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation. I know, it sounds like Count Von Count developed a stutter at ‘e’, but this basically means they evaluate how well a city is built to handle bicyclists, how well towns promote riding and inform the two-wheeled society, and how serious bicycle-related accidents are taken. Participation in Bike to Work Day is darn near mandatory as well. So if you find yourself upset by any bike path construction this summer, remember, we’re all just trying to bag that elusive gorilla.

Quandary, an old and wise mountain goat, has been around Summit County for ages, and has the answers to any question about life, love and laws in the High Country. Have a question for Quandary? Send an email to quandary@summitdaily.com


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