Tensions rise as Coloradans debate how much trail access to give e-bikes

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. To get more news about Fat Tire Electric Bikes, you can visit magicyclebike.com official website.

Beneath his teal helmet, patches of Daniel’s shaggy brown hair were loose from his 48th radiation treatment. His left foot and lower leg were weak from a cancerous tumor — once half the size of a human fist — lodged on the right side of his brain.

But with a slight assist from his bike’s 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’s Annual Great Bicycle Race Across Iowa, known to cyclists as RAGBRAI.“I was like crazy wiped and I didn’t 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,” Daniel told The Colorado Sun earlier this month, recounting his feat.

But the man’s comment didn’t 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.

“I’m on an e-bike for specific reasons — it’s not just because I want a free ride. I push myself,” said Daniel, now 15 and undergoing chemotherapy treatments. “I’m here to try and do something that I wouldn’t normally do and just get out of my comfort zone.”

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 — like those found on mountains and in parks and open spaces —has erupted into near-fist fights on some trails as communities grapple with clashing opinions over their off-road use.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.

In Boulder, where e-bikes are permitted on paved trails but prohibited on the city’s Open Space and Mountain Parks trails, land managers are looking to amend the status quo on e-bike trail access.

The city drafted three options for modifying the city’s 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’s climate initiatives. Staff has recommended an alternative that allows e-bikes on all 34 miles of city open space trails — 22% of the 154-mile network.

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.

“I think everybody values our open space lands, which is why we have a spectrum of people providing input,” said Marni Ratzel, a principal planner for Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department. “Do I think we’re gonna please everybody? I think if we had the silver bullet solution, we might not need this public engagement.”

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’t. 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.