{"id":38668,"date":"2022-08-29T14:06:12","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T20:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/tensions-rise-as-coloradans-debate-how-much-trail-access-to-give-e-bikes\/"},"modified":"2022-08-29T20:06:12","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T20:06:12","slug":"tensions-rise-as-coloradans-debate-how-much-trail-access-to-give-e-bikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/tensions-rise-as-coloradans-debate-how-much-trail-access-to-give-e-bikes\/","title":{"rendered":"Tensions rise as Coloradans debate how much trail access to give e-bikes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Steve
Steve Lee, of Carbondale, left, and Steve Cohen, of Basalt, ride the trails at Coal Basin Ranch in July 2021 near Redstone. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The sun was almost setting when 14-year-old Daniel Giffin crossed the finish line on his electric mountain bike last August, nearly the last in the pack of thousands of cyclists riding across the state of Iowa in the stifling late-summer heat.<\/p>\n

Beneath his teal helmet, patches of Daniel\u2019s shaggy brown hair were loose from his 48th radiation treatment. His left foot and lower leg were weak from a cancerous tumor \u2013 once half the size of a human fist \u2013 lodged on the right side of his brain.<\/p>\n

But with a slight assist from his bike\u2019s motor, the Colorado Springs boy pedaled alongside his mom for 12 hours, stopping for ice cream and dancing on their bikes along the way. He was ready to quit, but pushed through the last 10 miles of Register\u2019s Annual Great Bicycle Race Across Iowa, known to cyclists as RAGBRAI.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like crazy wiped and I didn\u2019t think I was gonna do it. But I put myself in a mindset and we just started listening to music, dancing. And so when I actually finished I was so happy,\u201d Daniel told The Colorado Sun earlier this month, recounting his feat.<\/p>\n

Then an older cyclist rode past him, turned and sneered: \u201cCheater!\u201d<\/p>\n

The young cyclist had just clocked 87 miles.<\/p>\n

But the man\u2019s comment didn\u2019t get him down. For Daniel, already a veteran cyclist by the time he was diagnosed with cancer at age 11, an e-bike is just another tool allowing him to keep doing what he has always loved to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m on an e-bike for specific reasons \u2013 it\u2019s not just because I want a free ride. I push myself,\u201d said Daniel, now 15 and undergoing chemotherapy treatments. \u201cI\u2019m here to try and do something that I wouldn\u2019t normally do and just get out of my comfort zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what Daniel sees as a tool to stay active while battling brain cancer, others see as a vehicle that could sow chaos on trails. While e-bikes are largely permitted on streets and paved urban paths throughout Colorado, the question of whether to allow them on natural surface trails \u2013 like those found on mountains and in parks and open spaces \u2013 has erupted into near-fist fights on some trails as communities grapple with clashing opinions over their off-road use.<\/p>\n

E-bike advocates have long touted them as a safe, environmentally friendly way to extend the promise of the outdoors to those unable to navigate trails on traditional bikes, including older riders and people with disabilities. But critics compare e-bikes to motorcycles and fear they could pit other trail users against cyclists in general, jeopardizing hard-fought trail access for mountain bikes.<\/p>\n

In Boulder, where e-bikes are permitted on paved trails but prohibited on the city\u2019s Open Space and Mountain Parks trails, land managers are looking to amend the status quo on e-bike trail access.<\/p>\n

The city drafted three options for modifying the city\u2019s e-bike rules, ranking each against several criteria, including community support, equitable access, safety, the ability to regulate, and how well it aligns with Boulder\u2019s climate initiatives. Staff has recommended an alternative that allows e-bikes on all 34 miles of city open space trails \u2013 22% of the 154-mile network.<\/p>\n

The city recently used a 19-question survey to solicit community opinion and will use the information to develop permanent e-bike regulations for Boulder trails and open space. Key findings from the survey will be used to present a proposed ordinance to city council later this year or early 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everybody values our open space lands, which is why we have a spectrum of people providing input,\u201d said Marni Ratzel, a principal planner for Boulder\u2019s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department. \u201cDo I think we\u2019re gonna please everybody? I think if we had the silver bullet solution, we might not need this public engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n

While pleasing everyone may not be possible, soaring e-bike sales are forcing Colorado cities to regulate who is allowed on trails and who isn\u2019t. Experts predict 1 million e-bikes will be sold in the U.S. this year. In 2021, e-bike sales outpaced sales of electric vehicles.<\/p>\n

Electric bikes hold enormous potential to limit driving and reduce vehicle emissions, climate and transit advocates say. But there\u2019s also a subset who are also concerned about welcoming e-bikes to pristine backcountry trails where motorized vehicles were once banned.<\/p>\n

Others say e-bikes, propelled by both pedal and throttle, make cycling more equitable and public lands more accessible.<\/p>\n

\"Tom
Tom Fiorentino of Edwards rides on his purchased QuietKat e-bike in 2020. The bike makes it practical for him to go to work up a significant hill without getting exhausted, and run errands without a car. (Steve Peterson\/Special to The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The mountain bike world also has a complicated relationship with e-bikes. More urban cycling groups are wholeheartedly welcoming e-bikes as a way to grow the sport. But many mountain bikers fear that allowing them on single-track trails built for human-powered bikes could lead to reclassifying nonmotorized trails as motorized trails.<\/p>\n

E-bikes vary in power and speed, complicating the effort to regulate them.<\/p>\n

On a class 1 e-bike, a motor kicks in when a rider starts pedaling and stops when they reach 20 mph. A class 2 e-bike has a pedal-assist motor but also has a throttle that can boost a rider up to 20 mph without pedaling. A class 3 e-bike only has a pedal-assist motor, which is capped at 28 mph.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis type of conversation around e-bikes is definitely something that trail and cycling advocacy organizations around the state of Colorado have pretty much agreed is a complicating factor for a lot of our outreach and advocacy campaigns,\u201d said Laraine Martin, executive director of Routt County Riders. \u201cThere\u2019s almost no two organizations that have the same statement on this. We\u2019re all kind of walking a really deliberately careful line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Routt County Riders, a mountain biking advocacy group, promotes trail diversity throughout the Yampa Valley and beyond. But when it comes to e-bikes, the Steamboat Springs-based organization has yet to take a stance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there is a sense of trepidation among our board members that if we were to come out in full support of granting e-bikes full access across trail networks, we would be jeopardizing a lot of the progress we\u2019ve already made over the past 30 years or so when it comes to just traditional bikes,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n

The mountain biking community has a prominent voice in Steamboat Springs, but it wasn\u2019t always that way, she said. Many hikers and trail runners \u2013 groups with broad access to trails \u2013 showed resentment when cyclists started \u201cimposing their will\u201d on trail systems in the county by requesting access to trails.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople get nervous when they get passed at high speeds by a mountain bike coming downhill,\u201d Martin said. \u201cThere\u2019s already tension around cyclists on trails.\u201d<\/p>\n

E-bikes could further complicate that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt opens up options for folks and so we\u2019re certainly interested in that conversation. We just haven\u2019t been specific about where and when,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re just walking on eggshells.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kent
Kent Drummond, 80, and his wife Taydie log about 14 miles of biking daily. \u201cThe bikes enables us to work as hard as we want to work,\u201d said Taydie, 74. \u201cAnd we want to work to keep in shape.\u201d<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kent
Kent Drummond, 80, replaces an e-bike tire at his home in Divide. (Photos by Olivia Sun\/The Colorado Sun via Report for America)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u2018The aging athlete\u2019<\/p>\n

On most mornings, Kent Drummond, 80, and his wife, Taydie, 74, are navigating the dirt trails through Mueller State Park, west of Colorado Springs. On their e-bikes, they record about 14 miles every day, reaching places a traditional bike could never take them \u2013 at least not now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI classify myself in the category of the aging athlete \u2013 I\u2019m still very active, climbing mountains and doing all of that stuff. But I have just found that riding the e-bike is a whole lot more fun than going out working hard on a conventional bike,\u201d Drummond said.<\/p>\n

The Divide cyclist, who rode a traditional mountain bike for more than 40 years, pushes up hills as hard as he can, using the pedal assist as a last resort. Earlier this month, he raced up Pikes Peak alongside 26 other e-bike riders for the Broadmoor Cycle to the Summit race. (That\u2019s up from 15 e-bikers registered for the race last year.)<\/p>\n

This year, his third time racing up the 14,115-foot mountain on an e-bike, he finished 17th.<\/p>\n

For Taydie, riding her class 2 e-bike is good physical therapy, getting her muscles back in shape and regaining flexibility after having a total hip replacement in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has restored the enjoyment of riding a bike, especially up here in the mountains,\u201d Kent Drummond said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of uphill and downhill and the uphill can be fairly strenuous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drummond was hooked when his son gifted him a class 1 fat tire e-bike for Christmas about three years ago. E-bikes allow the couple to keep up with their son, a competitive mountain biker and coach, and their granddaughters, who are also competitive cyclists.<\/p>\n

Last month, Drummond surpassed 6,000 total miles on his e-bike.<\/p>\n

He rides on the several urban trails in Colorado Springs, where e-bikes are permitted.<\/p>\n

But last May, the city hit the brakes on a yearlong pilot program that would have allowed e-bikes on all of the city\u2019s trails.<\/p>\n

The pause, the city says on its website, will allow the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services department more time \u201cto continue its due diligence in seeking further clarification\u201d on the definition of e-bikes on how it aligns with the city code.<\/p>\n

There isn\u2019t a whole lot of controversy surrounding e-bikes on paved paths. They are a common sight along Colorado Springs\u2019 Pikes Peak Greenway, which runs north to south across the whole city.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more concern when it comes to rugged single-track trails studded with roots and rocks and some trails extending deep into the backcountry and farther from help if one may need it.<\/p>\n

That concern exists for underprepared or uneducated people traveling on traditional bikes or by foot, too, Martin with Routt County Riders said, but because there are so few trails in Steamboat Springs that allow e-bikes, people must travel farther from the center of town to use motorized trails on the BLM or forest service network.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose trails tend to be further flung from town,\u201d she said. \u201cSo it just complicates where people are even able to kind of take these out to recreate right now. It\u2019s not necessarily within, you know, what we would consider a \u2018safer distance\u2019 from Steamboat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mountain
Mountain bikers climb up Moonstone trail Friday in Breckenridge. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
A lot of angst<\/div>\n

One of the most frustrating things for e-bike riders is the lack of consistent guidelines for where and when they can be used. It\u2019s causing uncertainty \u2013 and frustration \u2013 for some e-bike users who want to do the right thing, Cory Sutela, executive director of nonprofit Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates said.<\/p>\n

And that frustration carries over to people who frequent trails on foot and are bothered by \u201can increasing proliferation of uncontrolled electric devices\u201d on the trails, Sutela said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of angst among existing trail users because it feels like we\u2019ve got a new form of transportation or recreation that\u2019s happening and it\u2019s not being managed in any kind of thoughtful way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His advocacy group is pushing a collaborative process \u201cbringing the whole community to develop a thoughtful pilot\u201d to decide which e-bikes are allowed and who yields to whom and to measure impact on the trails.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some sense, we don\u2019t need to take a position on e-bikes, if we can help create the conditions where all users can have their input and it can be a transparent discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Divided opinions<\/div>\n

Two game-changing orders \u2013 one on a state level, another on a federal level \u2013 fueled the debate over where e-bikes fit into the thousands of miles of natural trails and paved pathways stretching across the state.<\/p>\n

The first was in 2017 when Colorado state lawmakers defined classes of e-bikes, adopting a nationally recognized model. By doing so, class 1 and class 2 e-bikes became legal on all trails and paths where bikes were permitted, but allowed local jurisdictions to set restrictions, prompting a patchwork of regulations.<\/p>\n

Then in 2019, an order by the Department of Interior secretary flipped the way federal land managers regulated e-bikes and stopped classifying them as \u201coff-road vehicles.\u201d The order was made with a desire to reduce management burdens and clarify \u201cregulatory uncertainty\u201d around e-bikes rules on land, as well as increase recreational opportunities, then-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt wrote.<\/p>\n

Along the Western Slope, the order allowed e-bike access to trails in Fruita\u2019s North Desert and Kokopelli networks, Grand Junction\u2019s Lunch Loops, McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area, the Palisade Rim and hundreds of miles of other Western Slope trails in Glenwood Springs, Delta, Eagle and Montrose.<\/p>\n

A year later, BLM issued its final rule on e-bikes, giving local managers in each field office the final say on where e-bikes can go after conducting an environmental review of impacts on certain trails.<\/p>\n

It pitted accessibility advocates and traditional mountain bikers against each other. And in some cases, it even divided members within the same organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a noncontroversial subject. You\u2019ve got really divided opinions,\u201d John Howe, president of the five-chapter Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Trail Association said. During the first COPMOBA board meeting where e-bike trail access was discussed, a board member resigned and several others threatened to for \u201ceven considering e-bikes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tensions between cycling groups are still simmering as cities adopt policies outlining where to allow e-bikes and where to pump the brakes on access, especially on trails on federal land.<\/p>\n

On some trails, fistfights have nearly broken out between hikers and e-bikers, Howe said. The lack of trail etiquette is an issue, too, as some e-bike users nearly overrun traditional mountain bike riders as they zip past them on a steady climb with the help of their inconspicuous motor.<\/p>\n

More frustrating, though, is when e-bike users ignore regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that it\u2019s disconcerting that these are trails that are not open to e-bikes and the e-bike users, most of them I think, are certainly aware that it\u2019s not permitted and they don\u2019t care,\u201d Howe said.<\/p>\n

Signs at trailheads are either ignored, he said, or \u201cdisappear\u201d if somebody doesn\u2019t agree with the message.<\/p>\n

\"In
In the semiarid desert in Grand Junction, Anne Chamberlin goes for a post-work mountain bike ride at the Lunch Loops Trails in December 2021. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cBut my impression is that a significant number of e-bike users on unauthorized trails know that e-bikes aren\u2019t authorized and they\u2019re doing it anyway,\u201d Howe said. \u201cThey know what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In April, the BLM approved a master plan for a popular trail network north of Fruita, off 18 Road, which attracts riders from across the country. It allowed class 1 e-bikes on new and existing trails.<\/p>\n

The move has been welcomed by e-bike users, Howe said, and he hasn\u2019t heard of any conflicts sparking from the new order.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s also a value to preserving certain trails for traditional mountain bike use, where riders don\u2019t have to worry about getting off a bike to let an electric one pass and without hearing the electric whir of an e-bike as it races up a steep incline, Howe said.<\/p>\n

An option would be to create trails exclusively for e-bikes and others for transitional mountain biking. But enforcing the rules is another challenge and one that Howe doesn\u2019t feel the BLM has the capacity to tackle when it comes to e-bikes.<\/p>\n

There also are concerns that e-bikes could make some trails ineligible for state grants set aside for trail development on nonmotorized trails, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been pretty divisive,\u201d Howe said. \u201cI think we\u2019re going to see how it\u2019s going to continue to evolve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Changes made in March allowed local Forest Service rangers and supervisors more freedom to manage e-bikes, which were already allowed on Forest Service roads where motorized vehicles could travel. (That\u2019s about 60,000 miles of trails, or 38% of all Forest Service trails).<\/p>\n

The new directive gives rangers a road map for deciding access based on community input.<\/p>\n

It comes after the Forest Service\u2019s proposed plan released in September 2020. The final plan requires local public meetings and input when land managers weigh e-bike off-road access and includes ways for forest supervisors to create trails for e-bikes only.<\/p>\n

A hodgepodge of regulations<\/div>\n

At the local level, e-bike regulation has been varied.<\/p>\n

In Durango, class 1 and class 2 e-bikes are OK on the city\u2019s paved recreation paths and class 1 e-bikes are allowed on natural surface trails at Twin Buttes, but electric mountain bikes are prohibited on any other natural surface trail in the city. Snowmass Village has banned them on dirt trails. Summit County allows e-bikes on paved rec paths, but not natural surface trails.<\/p>\n

Aspen city council members approved a mandate in May requiring e-bike rental companies to show a safety video to customers before they head out to the trails, according to the Aspen Times.<\/p>\n

After a one-year pilot program in 2018, Jefferson County adopted a permanent policy in 2019 that allows class 1 e-bikes on all natural surface trails in county parks and class 1 and class 2 e-bikes are allowed on paved paths. Class 3 e-bikes are prohibited.<\/p>\n

The county, which boasts more than 7 million visitors a year to its roughly 250 miles of trails, has received few, if any, complaints about e-bikes, said Matt Robbins, a spokesman for Jefferson County\u2019s Parks and Conservation Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot think of an example of where we received a notable conflict because a cyclist was on an e-bike that wouldn\u2019t have been on a regular bike,\u201d he said. \u201cHave we had hiker-biker conflicts? 100%. But it\u2019s not because of the type of bike they\u2019re riding.\u201d<\/p>\n

He credited the county\u2019s success with e-bikes to its pilot program, which included eight events in five parks and stretched across the county\u2019s urban trails and foothills.<\/p>\n

The county offered free demos of e-bikes for those interested in trying them.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverwhelmingly, when they got done, whether they rode for 2 minutes or 20 minutes, they came back saying, \u2018hey, these aren\u2019t so bad,\u2019\u201d Robbins said. \u201cThe approval rating really shifted in someone who could try it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The county also deployed \u201cghost riders\u201d on e-bikes along trails and then surveyed people asking if they\u2019ve seen or heard e-bikes before.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have footage of us riding bikes by people and they\u2019re telling us that e-bikes are loud and that they\u2019re everywhere,\u201d Robbins said. \u201cWe asked if you\u2019ve seen one or heard one and they said \u2018no\u2019 and there\u2019s an e-bike right behind them.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 65% of people surveyed by the county were unable to detect an e-bike, county data shows.<\/p>\n

During the pilot program, Robbins recalled pushback from the traditional mountain bike community. Some were concerned with the degradation of trails with an influx of heavy e-bikes and with people getting stranded miles and miles from the trailhead.<\/p>\n

Others saw faster times recorded in Strava, a social fitness network site popular among mountain bikers to record trails and document times.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of value to (Strava), but not in the ego department,\u201d Robbins said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t spend much time worrying about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

JeffCo\u2019s pilot program was \u201cnetwork wide\u201d as compared to some that are \u201ctoo finite\u201d or \u201ctoo fragile,\u201d limiting experiences to a subset of trails or a fragment of cyclists, Robbins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the technology emerges and more and more people want to get out, as a land manager, we want to encourage people to get outside,\u201d Robbins said. \u201cAnd if this particular device helps them and gives them the confidence to go out and do that, then we\u2019re happy that they found us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more at The Colorado Sun<\/div>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

they\u2019re a great tool for accessibility. Others argue they\u2019re bringing chaos to the backcountry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,346],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-38668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-sports"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38668"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=38668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}