The city of Colorado Springs, CO, charges a $4 excise tax on new bicycles. In 2007, retailers in Colorado Springs sold 32,853 new bicycles, compared against 23,512 cars and trucks sold at car dealerships in all of El Paso County.

This bicycle tax was created 20 years ago to fund construction of bike facilities and has generated about $2 million in income since it started in 1988. According to Colorado Springs transportation planners, the current network of bike paths would not exist today without this tax.

Read more about this excise tax in the Colorado Springs Gazette.

More cycling news from Colorado:

A cyclist in Boulder County was injured after a run-in, literally, with a bear.

Tim Egan, 53, was riding on Old Stage Road Tuesday afternoon when suddenly a bear appeared in front of him. Egan hit the bear and ended up skidding across the road.

“This bear looked at me with a look of terror on his face and sort of made a noise,” said Egan. “I looked at him with a look of terror and we went, ‘aaaahhhhh.'”

Old Stage Road is along a popular road cycling route off of Lefthand Canyon Drive in the foothills just north of Boulder, Colorado. Read more in the Rocky Mountain News. There’s some interesting elaboration in this earlier Daily Comrade article:

While the man and bear collided, a buck wandered into the scene playing out on the road. The bear turned its attention to the animal and roared, scaring the deer off before running off itself.

Mentioned also in this 9 News article with the usual stupid comments from psuedonymous cowards.

I’ve had to stop for herds of mule deer and elk while cycling in the Colorado Rockies, and once blundered headlong into a herd of moose(!) but I’ve never encountered a bear on the road while cycling.

Wednesday was Bike To Work Day in Colorado.

I have much more to write about Highlands Ranch in Douglas County, Colorado in particular, but for now I’ll just reprint the press release from the Colorado state legislature and let it speak for itself. I have additional commentary about Highlands Ranch in this map I uploaded to Flickr this morning. For those not familiar with the area, Highlands Ranch is the poster child for suburban cul de sac traffic hell. Aerial photos of Highlands Ranch are used to illustrate articles on the evils of sprawl. It’s a shame that these bozos want to turn bicycling into a partisan issue.

“You’ve got to be kidding!”

That was the reaction today from Colorado State Senator Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, and State Representative Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, when they heard that Democrats are proposing “long bike ride(s)” as a solution to rising gas prices.

“Colorado families are struggling at the pump and the answer we are getting from Colorado Democrats is shut down oil and gas production in Colorado and ride your bike: Unbelievable,” said McNulty. “I’d like to see how they expect a mother of three in my district to get her kids to school and to buy groceries for her family using a bicycle.”

The press announcement that Democrats sent out yesterday states: “As gas prices continue to spiral toward $5 a gallon, many are taking a stand – or in some cases, a long bike ride.”

McNulty and Penry said they are supportive of celebrating “Bike to Work Day” today, but said that it’s not realistic for Democrats to hold bicycling up as a way to address skyrocketing gas prices.

“Bill Ritter’s “New Energy Economy” now has a mascot: it is the bicycling politician who thinks we can peddle our way to energy independence,” Penry said. “This is the most absurd, ridiculous and totally convincing explanation of why Colorado Democrats are clueless when it comes to addressing our energy crisis.”

Penry and McNulty have supported many of the governor’s renewable energy initiatives, but say that it is only part of the solution. They have both been critical of Gov. Ritter’s approach to stunting energy development in Colorado, an approach they say will lead to even higher energy prices for Colorado consumers.

Wednesday, June 25 is Bike To Work Day in Colorado. GO Boulder appeals to all Boulder cyclists to register yourself for Bike To Work Day with DRCOG. According to Boulder transportation planner Marni Ratzel, “We use Bike to Work day numbers to show the potential for biking in Boulder. If we could show that it is possible to get thousands of people on bikes in Boulder, we will make Boulder the biking capital of the world.”

According to Ratzel, even if you don’t work or work from home, any trip you take by bike will count for registration.

If you register you get entered to win all sorts of prizes, including a Yeti bike,a fully load commuter bike, messenger bags and other great stuff.

This registration with DRCOG is for all Denver and Boulder region commuters and is used to gauge the effectiveness of bike promotion efforts. Make your ride count and register yourself now.