New limits may mean end of line for bike tour

Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 30, 2005 at midnight

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Elephant Rock, the state's largest organized bicycle tour, "will likely simply go away" because of a new order by the Colorado State Patrol to limit such tours to 2,500 riders, the tour's director said Tuesday.

The annual Compass Bank Elephant Rock Bicycle Festival attracted some 6,800 people to the tour through Douglas and El Paso counties in June.

"This will make Colorado one of the least bicycle-friendly states in the nation," Elephant Rock tour director Scot Harris said.

"Elephant Rock is one of the real affordable cycling events, geared to cyclists of all abilities and ages," he said.

Harris is helping spur a petition campaign geared at persuading Colorado State Patrol Chief Col. Mark V. Trossel to reconsider his directive, issued earlier this month.

Bicycle Colorado, the organization that promotes bicycling in the state, and serves as a lobbyist for bicycle promoters, is spearheading the petition drive.

Trossel last week said that bicycle tours can't be conducted safely on state highways unless there is one motorcycle-riding state trooper for every 300 riders. And because he doesn't have the manpower to free up more than eight troopers at a time, he set the maximum number of riders at 2,500.

Col. Trossel did not return telephone calls Tuesday seeking comment.

Last year, the Triple Bypass tour had 3,500 riders. Next year, the MS 150 bike tour expects to have 3,000 people who want to ride. Ride the Rockies limits itself to 2,000 riders, and most of the remaining tours don't approach the 2,500 figure.

"There is no safer time to be on the road than on these organized rides when you have the support of the Highway Patrol and the counties," Harris said. "The Highway Patrol and the county sheriffs do a fantastic job."

Last year, Harris hired 16 state troopers and another 30 officers from El Paso and Douglas counties and the cities of Castle Rock and Palmer Lake to ensure safety.

"We far exceeded what they asked us to do. Cost is not the issue. It's got to be the safest event ever."

Harris said he looked into rerouting the course, moving the 30 miles that is on state highways to county roads, but that isn't feasible.

"Could it be reinvented as something else? That's very doubtful. Being restricted to 2,500 simply doesn't work."

Harris said Elephant Rock each year pumps $350,000 into Castle Rock's economy. Twenty nonprofit agencies, including Colorado Neurological Institute and the Rise School for developmentally disabled children in Denver, split $100,000 from the ride last year.

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