Electric bikes might be making their way onto single track in the greater Colorado River Valley. Judging by the crowd at a recent meeting in Eagle, the proposal has sparked intense interest among area trail users.
"First of all, I wanna thank everyone for coming and expressing the interest you have for the e-bikes on public lands. Looking at the comments online, on their social media posts, I can tell that it is one that has some fervor behind it and passion."
That's Lisa Dawson, field manager for the Colorado River Valley Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management. The agency is considering whether to allow Class One electric bikes on roughly 200 miles of trails that are currently open to traditional mountain bikes.
Dawson and other agency staff hosted a public meeting in Eagle explaining what the project entails. Right now the agency is in what's known as the public scoping period, gathering feedback about the impacts it should study before drafting a formal environmental assessment.
"We have a lot of Trail Alliance groups including the Vail Mountain Alliance, who I believe is here today where some of their members will reach out to us and ask us if we have considered allowing e-bikes on these trails. And then that sort of creates its own momentum."
Last year, Dawson's office put surveys at local trailheads.
"We did it at the Crown in Pitkin County as well as in Hard Scrabble out here in Eagle. And we just surveyed them to see if, e-bikes were of interest and there was enough support for it to have us explore it a little bit further."
The BLM Colorado River Valley Field office manages more than 220 miles of mechanized trails stretching from the Eagle Valley to the Roaring Fork Valley, and along the I-70 Corridor between Wallcot and Parachute. Only about 18 miles currently allow Class one E-Bikes, all in the Grand Hogback Trail system outside of Rifle. Many of the people who showed up in Eagle were local trail users with strong opinions about whether that access should expand. Some worry that allowing E-bikes could eventually lead to more motorized use on trails or damage existing trails and ecosystems. Annie Egan of Eagle had already submitted a comment online before coming to the public meeting.
"I said, once you open up the trails to Class one E-Bikes, then the other ones are gonna start to want to follow, and so then they'll all become motorized."
Others see the technology as a way to make the trails accessible to more riders. Nick Bremmer also of Eagle says he's only able to mountain bike with his wife because of e-bikes.
"I do not myself ride an e-bike, but my wife does. She has three knee surgeries that allows us to ride together. Otherwise that would never happen."
While the use of electric bicycles has grown rapidly in the last decade, it's important to understand what Class One E-Bikes actually are and how they differ from other e-bikes.
Class One E-Bikes provide pedal assist, meaning the motor works only when a rider is pedaling and cuts off at about 20 miles per hour. Ryan Spinx of the Rocky Mountain Sport Riders, a motorcycle club based in Eagle, believes that trails can be open to Class one E-bikes without becoming fully motorized.
"So it's an easy separation. There's a line in the sand, and again, we believe that clear education, the definition of a bicycle versus a motorcycle, that's fairly black and white. So I understand that they may see it as a slippery slope, but I see a pretty good brick wall at the bottom of that slope between what is a bicycle, what is a motorcycle?"
BLM staff say the agency isn't trying to make a decision on whether Class one E-bikes will be allowed on area trails just yet. Right now the goal is to gather as much information as possible about potential impacts from trail conditions, to wildlife habitat, to user conflicts. Public comments during this stage help determine what the agency will study in its environmental analysis. BLM Assistant Manager for Resources, Hillary Boyd said that nearly 300 people had submitted comments online ahead of the Eagle meeting.
"Well, I think a lot of us live in Colorado because we love to recreate outside and so much of the great recreation opportunities are in public lands. People are very passionate about that and people are very passionate about their favorite form of recreation."
After the scoping period closes, the BLM will draft an environmental assessment and release it for another round of public review. The current public comment period runs through March 25th.
