Colorado State Patrol Bans Large Cycling Events

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3 replies [Last post]
Anonymous's picture
Anonymous

Has anyone heard about this?

According to the League of American Bicyclists, Colorado is banning cycling events of more than 2500 riders.

diane

Anonymous's picture
Sign Petition (not verified)
See their homepage
Anonymous's picture
Basil Ashmore (not verified)
Colorado - proposed ban on events with 2,500+ riders

"I just received this from a friend in Colorado.
It's a petition against the proposed ban on events with greater than 2,500 riders there.

Here's the link for details of Colorado petition if interested.

If above hyperlink doesn't work, here's the text to cut/paste:
www.BicycleColorado.org/to/petition


"

Anonymous's picture
Alfredo Garcia (not verified)
"'Final"" my foot (pedal)--Colorado State Patrol flinches"

"Just in: From current email Road Bike Rider. Alfredo

Colorado: Cycling State or Police State?

Last Friday, three days after a Colorado State Patrol spokesman said its decision was ""written in stone,"" the cops backed down.

Under heavy fire from two sides, the CSP announced that its 2,500-rider limit on Colorado cycling events would not be implemented for at least a year to allow input from those affected -- yes, even from cyclists.

The cap had come out of the blue a week before. The CPS imposed it for ""safety"" reasons, citing car/bike dangers. Another issue, added later, was ""the underlying lack of civility"" between cyclists and motorists during the state's biggest rides.

But the two rides directly impacted by the cap -- Elephant Rock Cycling Festival and Triple Bypass -- reportedly have had only one minor car-related accident in 18 years despite putting as many as 6,800 riders on the road.

Cycling advocates fear the cap could be a model for restricting rides in other states. Colorado ride organizers fear it could arbitrarily be lowered even further, putting more events in danger. Other concerns include a reduction in charitable donations generated by large rides, loss of tourism dollars, and damage to Colorado's reputation as a great place to ride.

In fact, the Lance Armstrong Foundation announced that it would cancel a new LiveStrong fundraising ride planned for Denver next year. LAF says it needs at least 3,500 cyclists to make the effort worthwhile.

The outcry against the CSP was immediate and strong from Colorado's cycling community. No one representing the sport was asked to attend the closed-door meetings that produced the limit. A protest petition gathered 3,000 signatures in 48 hours, which was when the CSP said don't bother -- its decision was final.

""This is an in-house policy on how we do business in the State Patrol, and it's not something that we invite the citizenry to participate in,"" said CSP spokesman Jeff Goodwin, defending how the ruling was made.

And that's when several Colorado politicians (all of them cyclists) brought their bipartisan weight to bear.

""Nobody likes bureaucrats who make rules from behind their desks without consulting the people who are impacted,"" said state senator Greg Brophy (R).

""If we can't get the patrol to back off their declaration, we will take stronger action,"" warned state representative Michael Merrifield (D).

The CSP acquiesced. Chief Mark Tostel told the Denver Post that he will entertain the cycling community's and legislators' concerns during the next 12 months. But he still contends that 2,500 riders ""may be the best number in terms of safety.""

Sen. Brophy, for one, says he won't accept any limit. ""I am not going to negotiate numbers. I am more than willing to negotiate with them about how we can continue to make these events safer as Colorado grows.""

The state's advocacy organization, Bicycle Colorado, reportedly has collected 15,500 signatures (2,500 from out-of-state cyclists) on its petition urging the CSP to undo the limit. The petition can be signed online at http://www.bicyclecolo.org

"

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