As longtime Flagstaff Mountain resident Susan Femmer steered her car along the narrow, paved road that runs across the top of the mountain, she pointed out her neighbors — and their issues.This one has a heart problem. That one has advanced Parkinson’s disease. Another is more than 90 years old, and yet another is due to have her baby at the end of the summer.How emergency medical issues will be handled Aug. 25 — when the cyclists participating in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge will end the sixth stage of the seven-day race on top of Flagstaff Mountain — is one of the concerns Femmer and some of her neighbors have about the race.News that the Boulder stage of the race would end on top of Flagstaff Mountain was met by cycling fans with cheers of elation. But to some Flagstaff Mountain residents and other Boulder residents, the announcement raised immediate concerns over the logistics of having racers cruise up a narrow, shoulderless paved road that is surrounded by open space on either side.Femmer said her concerns range from the possibility of a wildfire starting during the race, to the ability to get a sick or injured person to the hospital, to the crowds of people she expects to swarm the mountain, even if officials try to control the numbers.”People are going to find the back roads,” she said.Camping will be allowed by the Colorado Department of Transportation in the rights-of-way along state highways. Flagstaff Road is not a state highway, but that may not keep people from trying to camp on top of the mountain, much of which is private land, Femmer said.

Read more about the residents’ concerns.

The D-11 board at a work session earlier this year. Photo by The Gazette file

Crowds built through the week at the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge. That has some Flagstaff Mountain residents worries. Photo by Gazette file

CRAIG F. WALKER