For a law-abiding man who wants to comply with the rules of the city he has called home for the last quarter century, Robert Schwartz was taken aback this spring when he saw a sign on the High Line Canal trail in Cherry Hills Village prohibiting electric bicycles.
There are, in fact, at least two “No e-bike” signs along the heavily used trail inside the affluent Arapahoe County city — a diagonal red slash drawn across a stick figure riding a bike with an electric plug attached.
Schwartz, a retired geriatrician who knows a thing or two about the value of exercise for older folks like himself, first noticed one of the signs at the Dahlia Street High Line trailhead in April. He was left to wonder how many seniors might be skipping their daily ride for fear of getting nabbed by the e-bike police.
“If you want to obey the law and don’t want to get in trouble, a sign staring you in the face telling you you can’t do this is limiting,” said Schwartz, 78.
He said he’s tried to get the attention of city leaders to reconsider the ban but hasn’t heard back.
“Older people are limited in the kind of exercise they can get that is free from pain and discomfort,” Schwartz said. “What is not terribly impactful for a 30-year-old, 40-year-old or 50-year-old can be very detrimental to someone who is 75 years old, 85 years old or older. E-bikes assist you in pedaling.”
The High Line Canal is a 71-mile ditch, mostly owned by Denver Water, that runs through 11 jurisdictions from Waterton Canyon in Douglas County to Aurora.
The calls the accompanying trail “one of the longest continuous urban trails in the country.” And for the vast majority of its length, e-bikes are permitted, including in Greenwood Village and Denver, between which Cherry Hills Village lies.
But in the city of 6,400, where the houses are big and the lots even bigger, they are not. That presents a continuity conundrum for users entering the several miles of the High Line Canal trail that lie inside Cherry Hills Village.
E-bikes also aren’t allowed in Waterton Canyon, where the U.S. Forest Service oversees portions of the trail. The federal agency considers the path at the western terminus of the canal trail a “non-motorized path,” Denver Water spokesman Travis Thompson said.
There are exceptions for those with disabilities, he said.
Cherry Hills Village has for years forbidden any motorized vehicles on its trails, said spokeswoman Denise White.
“The citywide rule reflects safety considerations on trails shared by pedestrians, bicyclists, children, pets and equestrians,” she said. “Because e-bikes have motors, all classes of e-bikes fall within that prohibition.”
There is an exception for e-bikes used by “an individual with a disability for mobility assistance,” White said.
E-bikes , with Class 1 models requiring the rider to pedal to get the electric boost while Class 2 models provide power regardless of pedaling. Both classes of bike top out at 20 mph. Class 3 e-bikes also require pedal power to trigger electric help. They can go as fast as 28 mph.
The number of people riding e-bikes is steadily rising and efforts to corral their use will likely face increasing pushback.
According to , U.S. e-bike sales reached nearly $3.8 billion last year. That number is expected to reach slightly more than $4 billion this year, with projections of nearly $5.8 billion in e-bike sales in 2031.
Last week, the Colorado Energy Office announced it was resurrecting its popular e-bike rebate program, offering $1,000 discounts toward the purchase of a new e-bike to more than 2,800 income-qualified residents over the next year.
Pete Piccolo, executive director at Bicycle Colorado, said bans on e-bikes “disproportionately impact older riders and people with disabilities who rely on e-bikes for transportation or recreation.”
“E-bikes are an accessible, environmentally friendly way that many Coloradans get to work, run errands and spend time outdoors with family,” he said. “We believe there are numerous other strategies to improve safety and address fast, unpredictable riders on a shared trail, other than a ban.”
One of those is enforcing a speed limit regardless of vehicle type, he said.
“Trail conflicts are real,” Piccolo said, but the heart of the issue lies in “speed and behavior, not the type of bike someone rides.”
“A posted limit applies to everyone on the trail, whether they are riding a traditional bike or an e-bike,” he said. “A ban excludes a category of rider regardless of how they actually ride.”
The posted speed limit on Cherry Hills Village’s portion of the High Line Canal trail is 15 mph. Richard Spritz, a resident for nearly three decades, said that threshold should be what guides use on the trail.
“Simply have speed limits you enforce,” he said.
Cherry Hills Village police have not cited anyone for illegal use of an e-bike on the High Line Canal trail in the last year, White said, but officers often give a warning for a first offense rather than issuing a ticket.
Spritz, a pediatrician, treats the opposite end of the age spectrum than Schwartz, his fellow villager, once did. But he knows from his own advance in years — he’s 75 — that e-bikes give a rider like him “the juice to just get over the hump.”
“It keeps people mobile,” he said.
Relief could be coming for e-bike lovers in Cherry Hills Village.
White, the city spokeswoman, said the city’s Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission has plans to review e-bike regulations early next year, which could be “the first step in determining whether the commission wishes to recommend any changes to the municipal code for City Council consideration.”
Schwartz hopes a discussion will be held sooner than 2027.
“That six months is a really important time span,” he said. “Being sedentary is terrible for older people. Acting on this faster for older people is important.”
