Call

Blog

Law
02

Blog

Lakewood Bicycle Advocate Gary Harty

The founder of the Lakewood Bicycle Advisory Team loves his life on two wheels.

Gary Harty was born in Bellows Falls, Vermont, and raised in Colorado – Denver Metro area, and now makes bicycling in Lakewood, Colorado safe and fun.  Gary is part of the baby boomer generation. He attended Colorado State University (CSU) and graduated with B.S. in Psychology. Gary began using the bicycle for commuting as a 19 year old.  What he was spending on gasoline over the summer could be converted into a Biology text book by substituting the bicycle for gas.  

Gary’s first motivation for riding bikes was simply economic.  Later, it was for health and fitness.  Then because of environmental concerns. Each of these motivations remain important to Gary.  Gary says that “is more enjoyable to be on the bike than being a part of traffic.”

Gary Harty Bike Advocate

Gary has been all over the bicycle industry: bike mechanic, briefly bicycle shop owner with partner, bicycle advocacy in non-profits, bicycle education – safety and maintenance.

Gary and his wife rode from Denver to New England on a self-supported bicycle trip for their honeymoon.  They made our own panniers and tent from one of our sleeping bags.  They bought food daily and prepared our evening meal over a small back-packing stove.  They finished our trip on Prince Edward Island before meeting friends for the long drive back to Colorado and the return to work and reality.  The Hartys’ friends and relatives still talk about the Colorado couple who rode 2,400 miles across the country for a honeymoon.

Gary and his wife have discovered the joy of visiting other cities to see the bicycle infrastructure, the architecture, and the museums.  Gary is planning trips to Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Utrecht on our bucket list.  

In his younger days, Gary was fascinated with bicycle racing.  He raced a time trial at CSU as an amateur racer around the CSU Oval.   One his favorite rides was a 40 mile team ride around the Hughes Stadium, up to Horestooth Reservoir and the back roads to Loveland before returning to Ft. Collins.  He recalls riding his Schwinn Continental, with quick release wheels, dual brake levers, and 38 pounds of steel, I found myself in the lead group of six riders on their fancy light-weight French made bicycles.  Gary’s cycling clubs promoted some pretty big races including the original Golden Coors Stage Race, the Rocky Mountain News Classic, and the Littleton Twilight Criterium.

Gary founded the Lakewood Bicycle Advisory Team (LBAT) in 2016 because he  was not happy with the lack of bicycle friendly facilities in Lakewood.  Improved bike facilities is the goal of LBAT despite many our the Commissioners who prefer private automobiles.  One of the most successful projects of LBAT was bringing Cycling Without Age from Copenhagen to Lakewood.  

Cycling Without Age

The Hartys operate an active chapter where volunteers take seniors from their affordable senior living communities for rides in specially designed 3-wheel rickshaws (popularly referred to as trishaws) for rides to enjoy nature, feel the sunshine and the wind, and reconnect with the community at large.  This is an extremely rewarding activity and we have met some fantastic people, both residents and volunteers who have participated.

Cycling Without Age Colorado Bike Law

Currently, Gary enjoys riding dirt or riding quiet side streets in Denver.  I recently become involved with the BIKE STREETS Project, the brain child of a brilliant entrepreneur named Avi Stopper.  We have developed a network a low-stress streets that allow bicycle transportation to most places within the City of Denver and beyond.  The first map has recently been printed and is available at the Bike Law Colorado Office free of charge. The Hartys have fallen in love with riding BIKE STREETS. 

Gary Harty

The world needs more Gary Hartys, but we are happy that we have one in Colorado.

 

Comments

Ann Groninger Jan 04, 2024

Many of our cycling clients find themselves having to interact with the criminal justice system. Typically, it’s because the driver who hits them (or their family member) is charged with a crime or traffic offense. Occasionally bicyclists themselves are charged with traffic offenses! Every state’s criminal laws are different, but there is a lot of […]

Read More
Bike Crash Road Defect Georgia
Peter Wilborn Jun 14, 2023

We recently shared the story of a trial victory from the State of Texas where a bicyclist was injured due to a defect in a road maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation. Texas Road Defect   We now can tell the story of another huge win in a road defect case, this time from […]

Read More
Road defect dangerous to cyclists
Charlie Thomas Mar 14, 2023

Recently, attorneys with the Bike Law network took a case to a trial against a titan of a defendant: the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT was represented by the Attorney General’s Office, one of Texas’ largest legal teams. We had a great client, but it was a tough case to prove. So tough, in fact, […]

Read More
bike path charlotte
Ann Groninger Jan 13, 2023

  2023 got off to a rough start for Charlotte, North Carolina, particularly in the context of road safety. Within about a week, we lost a young woman who was riding her bicycle, a pedestrian killed in the same area of town, and four people were killed in a car wreck on I-85 in the […]

Read More
North Carolina Bike Crash
Ann Groninger Dec 06, 2022

Unless you’re a very recent follower of ours, you’ve heard us talk before about “contributory negligence.” To recap: “pure contributory negligence” is the law in North Carolina and only 3 other states (Alabama, Virginia, Maryland). In pure contributory negligence states, if a person is injured by someone else’s fault and the injured person contributes even […]

Read More
Is It Illegal to Ride Your Bike on the Sidewalk bikelaw
Peter Wilborn Aug 01, 2022

The laws dictating whether you can ride your bike on the sidewalk differ depending where you live. Different states have different laws on this matter, and local ordinances also vary. Let’s take a look at the legal framework behind various state laws related to cycling on sidewalks. The laws of sidewalk-riding can be very complicated […]

Read More
Ebike crash
Bruce Hagen Apr 26, 2022

DRIVER ON METH KILLS 17 YEAR OLD BICYCLIST, BARROW COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY REFUSES TO CHARGE DRIVER WITH FELONY.   On August 23, 2020, at approximately 8:40pm, 17-year old Obianuju Osuegbu was on her way home from her summer job working at a grocery store. She had earned enough money that summer to buy herself a […]

Read More
Stop as Yield
Brian Weiss Apr 25, 2022

Finally, “Stop As Yield” (the much sought after common sense traffic law for bicyclists) is coming to Colorado in 2022, likely July 1st.   Stop as Yield, aka the “Safety Stop” After the Governor Polis signs the law and the Safety Stop becomes effective, anyone who rides a bicycle or scooter on public roads will […]

Read More
Contributory Negligence
Ann Groninger Apr 25, 2022

It took losing at trial and a long appellate process, but it ended in a blow to contributory negligence in North Carolina. We just won an appeal on a bicycle crash case that happened in 2016 and came to us in 2018. The case went to trial during the spring of 2021. Our client was […]

Read More
Load More