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Colorado lawmakers, event organizers to meet with patrol chief over rider cap

By VeloNews Interactive
Published: Dec. 2, 2005

The chief of the Colorado State Patrol will meet with state legislators and event organizers after an outcry from the cycling community over the chief’s decision to cap the size of organized rides at 2500 cyclists.

Rep. Michael Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, told VeloNews on Friday that he, two other legislators and event organizers will sit down with Col. Mark Trostel on December 12 to discuss the edict.

Critics say the cap threatens established rides like the Elephant Rock Bicycle Festival, which attracts nearly 7000 cyclists each year, and will drive away new events, like the Denver ride planned for 2006 by the Lance Armstrong Foundation, whose signature Ride for the Roses in Austin draws more than 6500 riders yearly.

"If we can't get the patrol to back off their declaration, we will take stronger action," Merrifield said.

Rep. Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, and Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, also have been critical of the decision in a letter to Trostel, calling it "poor public policy (that) displays disrespect for the public you are sworn to protect."

Brophy told the Colorado Springs Gazette that if some accommodation cannot be reached, he will schedule a legislative hearing on the issue for December 14.

"Nobody likes bureaucrats who make rules from behind their desks wiithout consulting the people who are impacted," Brophy said.

All three legislators are cyclists.

Event organizers like Scot Harris of Elephant Rock and Beth Wrenn-Estes of the Bob Cook Memorial Mt. Evans Hillclimb say they were not consulted regarding the cap.

"I wasn't asked boo about it," said Wrenn-Estes. "The press department says that they met with major players, but I have asked them specifically who those players were and no response."

State patrol spokesman Jeff Goodwin told The Denver Post that state statutes give the chief the authority to issue such an edict without public participation.

Wrenn-Estes, who also serves as executive director of the American Cycling Association, said she didn’t expect the cap to have much effect on Colorado road racing. Iron Horse Bicycle Classic organizer Ed Zink agreed, telling the Durango Herald that the new rules probably won't affect his race, which puts some 2000 riders on the road between Durango and Silverton.

"They do not seem unreasonable to us," Zink said. "We have enjoyed a very positive relationship with the Colorado State Patrol in the past, and we look forward to that continuing."

Still, Wrenn-Estes and the advocacy group Bicycle Colorado expressed concern that the limit is arbitrary and could be lowered without warning, endangering smaller events.

"It could make Mt. Evans into a financial disaster in a matter of moments," she said.