Castle Rock – The public address announcer at the 19th annual Elephant Rock bicycle ride took a break Sunday morning from talking up the event sponsors and joking around to send a different message to the gathering throngs of cyclists.
“The future of cycling events in Colorado,” he said, suddenly serious, “depends on your cooperation in following the rules of the road.”
Such was the mood at the state’s largest bike ride and festival, just a little more than one month after the Colorado State Patrol nixed a proposed cap on the number of cyclists who could participate in such rides. The cap, which was to be 2,500 riders, would have ended the Elephant Rock ride in its current form, which on Sunday drew 6,703 cyclists, about as many as in the past three years. Three other events also could have been affected.
The State Patrol argued that the large rides had become too dangerous, with cars and cyclists competing for space on the roads.
After the State Patrol dropped the idea of a uniform cap in late April, Elephant Rock director Scot Harris and other organizers got busy making sure law enforcement officials wouldn’t regret the decision. Harris said they sent registered participants the rules of the road and posted signs and made announcements reminding the riders to follow the rules.
“You could sense with the cyclists that they knew law enforcement was serious, that they wanted cyclists to obey the law,” Harris said.
Both Harris and State Patrol spokesman Eric Wynn said Sunday that they weren’t aware of any problems associated with the ride.
The averted cap was a minor topic of conversation among riders Sunday.
“It’s not like there’s a bunch of Harley riders out here,” said Brent Webber, who completed the 22-mile mountain bike course with three friends. “This isn’t Sturgis. It’s Castle Rock.”
Most conversation instead centered on what it usually does when a bunch of pedal heads get together: bike stuff. Some lingered at the tents advertising faster wheels or new chain lube. Others walked around in their spandex bike clothing, the special cleats on their bike shoes click-clacking on the pavement, in sum looking like the world’s worst- dressed tap dancers.
The riders set out as early as 5:30 a.m. on courses that ranged from an 8-mile family jaunt to a 100-mile road epic. The courses all began and ended at the Douglas County Fairgrounds and wound around roads and trails in Douglas and El Paso counties. This wasn’t a race; the only awards were for youngest finisher, oldest finisher and last finisher.
The five members of the Lawrence family from Colorado Springs opted to do the 32-mile road course … on the same bike. It’s called a quint bike – like a tandem, but times 2.5. On Sunday it held dad Jim, mom Rebecca and daughters Victoria, Katherine and Stephanie, ages 9, 6 and 3, respectively, and on one downhill Sunday, the whole crew hit close to 50 mph.
Going uphill, they went considerably slower.
“It’s all about power-to- weight ratio, and right now we have a lot of weight but not a lot of power yet,” Jim said.
At the finish line, Annie Simmons waited patiently for her husband, Dean, and her sister to finish their rides. When they did, she planted a kiss on Dean and took a picture of the pair.
“We didn’t even walk up the hills,” said Amy Ackerman, Annie Simmons’ sister. “Some people were walking.”
“Yeah,” Dean Simmons chimed in, “she crushed it.”
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
