Colorado Trail - Keep is Open to Bikes

Last Thursday Ramine and I rode Kenosha Pass on the Colorado Trail - all pictures in this post are of the Colorado Trail from our ride. Look for another post soon with more pics (it was awesome), but this is important! The US Forest Service is considering closing some of the best mountain biking in Colorado on sections of the Colorado Trail including Kenosha Pass and the Monarch Crest. Here's an article from July 27 in The Rocky Mountain News:

Parts of Continental Divide Trail may be banned to bikers
By Brian Metzler, Special to the RockyJuly 27, 2007

Several popular mountain bike routes in Colorado and other Western states could become off- limits under a new management initiative for the Continental Divide Trail.Under a proposed directive, the U.S. Forest Service could ban bikes on sections of the trail in non wilderness areas where they currently are allowed. The Forest Service, which announced the potential changes June 12, extended the deadline Thursday for public input until Oct. 12.

The proposal could affect some of the most popular mountain biking routes on the Continental Divide Trail in Colorado, including sections of Monarch Crest Trail from Monarch Pass to Marshall Pass, Peaks Trail and Georgia Pass in Summit County and many portions of the Colorado Trail between Copper Mountain and Twin Lakes.

"Closing it to bikes could affect us economically," said Heide Andersen, open space and trails planner for Breckenridge. "People come there to ride those destination trails."

Congress commissioned the route as a National Scenic Trail in 1978, providing a 50-mile

corridor on either side of the Continental Divide to locate the path. About 70 percent of the 3,100-mile trail has been completed through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, but a lack of funding has limited the development of new portions and maintenance of existing sections.

"This is a really big deal," said Drew Vankat, policy analyst for the Boulder-based International Mountain Bicycling Association. "We're talking about some trails that offer some pretty unique opportunities for backcountry mountain biking that you're not going to get in other areas." The aim of the proposed directive is to clarify the nature and purposes of the trail and align it with Forest Service land-management planning processes, said Greg Warren, Continental Divide Trail administrator for the U.S. Forest Service.

The trail was established to provide scenic and non motorized recreational experiences while conserving natural, historic and cultural resources along the Continental Divide. Warren said he biked part of the trail near Monarch Pass last weekend and encountered 90 mountain bikers, about 10 motorcyclists and four hikers in a three-hour period.

"That's why we need to wrestle with this," he said. "It was an epic ride and it was fun, but there's no way you'd want to have a pack string up there because of the intense mountain biking use. That wouldn't be safe. So we're trying to figure out how to set guidance for local management decisions to deal with those issues."

No changes are expected to be made until at least Jan. 1.

"We're not necessarily promoting mountain biking on the CDT, but we're not opposed to it, either," said Paula Ward, co-executive director of the Continental Divide Trail Alliance. "There is a lot of debate between wanting mountain biking and not wanting it. But we still need to meet with a lot of these groups to see what their concerns are."

Public input can be mailed to CDNST, P.O. Box 25127, Lakewood, CO 80225-0127 or e-mailed to mailto:cdnst@fs.fed.us.us.

Copyright 2007, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.

As the article states above, mountain bikers are by far the most prolific users of the Colorado Trail. Mountain bikers have a tremendous responsibility to be good stewards of our sport to maintain our fragile relationship with other users of the trails. Courtesy and commons sense must prevail if we are to succeed. This time of year I would never consider riding Kenosha Pass or Monarch Crest on a weekend due to the high volume of hikers, but people do.

On a summer weekend in 2005 I witnessed a mountain biker / hiker collision near the Kenosha Pass trail head, where the highest volume of hikers are. It was a group of mid-20's aged weekend warriors from Denver. I worked my way through their group on the last climb back to the trail head and it reeked of ego. Each time I passed a guy he would try to attack me, then blow up and fall off my wheel after a few minutes. I stopped at the top to wait for my friend and they caught up. I was mildly annoyed by the toxic vibe of the group, but their ego was somewhat muted by respect for me out climbing them. My friend caught up I warned everyone that we should chill on the rest of the ride because of the hikers. They took off first while we enjoyed a GU. The pic below the climb mentioned above.

About half way down to the trailhead we came upon the group standing around a bruised hiker. One of the weekend warriors was just going too fast and couldn't stop before he hit the hiker. They were all just standing around like the idiots they were! After patching up the hiker with my first aid kit, I let the group have it. I made the guy who hit him offer his information to pay any medical bills and then I went on a tirade about how irresponsible they were to go fast near the trail head. And about how the biker should have sacrificed himself by going off the trail into the trees to avoid the hiker if he couldn't stop. There is a time and a place for speed and a mile from a crowded trail head is not it! Demeaned and embarrassed the group slipped off down the trail as I screamed "It's people like you who are going to get this trail closed!"

At the time I didn't realize the prophetic nature of my words. Objectively speaking, my story illustrates why the trails should be closed to bikers, but as the majority of trail users that is not a democratic solution. I would propose some type of compromise that would grant limited mountain biking access. This has succeeded in the past, some of the best trails in Utah are only open on even days and Betasso, the closest trail to Boulder is closed to bikes Wed and Sat. Or to alleviate congestion like that mentioned in the article (90 mountain bikers in 3 hours) a permit system similar to those issued to rafters on the Grand Canyon. Money from the permits could be used for trail maintenance. Solutions like these would keep traffic volume down on heavy use days and allow equestrians and hikers a reprieve from constantly watching for fast moving bikers around each corner.

If you want to get involved you can do so by emailing the US Forest Service in Lakewood, CO at cdnst@fs.fed.us

Or through the Colorado Divide Trail Alliance Here, click the Send Comments link in the middle of the page.

Or through IMBA's online formal comment form Here.