Bike Riding in Mesa County, Colorado
A Fee to Ride a Bicycle on the Riverfront Trail?
When there is snow in the mountains and in the front range, I love to head west to Mesa County to ride bikes, visit friends, and hang out. It goes without saying that Mesa County is a beautiful place with scenic views that can be seen from spectacular roads and trails.
My favorite places to ride road bikes in Mesa County are the Colorado National Monument, the Blue Route, and the Riverfront trail. There are a lot of good roads and light traffic in most of Mesa County so riding the roads is a great option when I am not on the mountain bike trails, like the Lunch Loops, 18 Road, or Kokopelli Trails.
The big news for cyclist right now in Mesa County is the new charge for riding your bikes through the State Parks on the Riverfront Trail. The Riverfront trail is a paved bike path and a great resource for all of Mesa County as it currently extends from Palisades to Loma. In November of 2018, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) started charging cyclists over age 16 when they use certain parts of the Riverfront trail by requiring a $4 fee. So unless you have an annual Colorado State Parks pass or proof of that you bought a pass, which is a sticker that goes in your car with you, you will be charged that $4 fee if you ride through a State Park that is part of the Riverfront Trail.
John Hodge told me about this new change and we talked about it a lot when I went to the April Mesa County Bicycling Alliance Meeting. A picture of John in his ubiquitous Hawaiian Shirt with me is attached. To help folks understand where the Fee Area on the Riverfront Trails is, John made a great map which is attached. John said that these fees are not applied across the State of Colorado, but the ‘new’ fees apply mostly to northwest Colorado regional parks. I asked if you just ride your bike through and do not stop are you still required to pay the $4 fee, and John said “yes.” While $4 ids not much to pay one time, it will add up if you ride the Riverfront Trail several times a week as part of your training. In closing, John and the Mesa County Bicycling Alliance are on top of this issue and is discussing the matter with CPW to see if there can be a fee waiver for cyclists as there was before November of 2018.
Colorado bicycle accident lawyer Brian Weiss is an accomplished trial lawyer with over 26 years of experience, and he has tried over 40 jury trials. Aside from having been in a bike crash himself, Brian has counseled over 200 people who have been in bike crashes.
Download and share Brian’s E-Book: The Rules Of The Road For Colorado Cyclists.
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From Winner to Advocate: One Cyclist’s E-Bike Journey
Two years ago, on a family trip to Switzerland, my wife and I rented two electric-assisted mountain bikes, or e-MTBs, to tackle some steep trails near the Matterhorn. The salesperson said, in no uncertain terms, that the new e-MTBs were the way of the future, and we should give them a try. So we did. …
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A Comprehensive Guide to E-Bikes in Louisiana: Laws, Tips, and Choosing the Best E-Bike
E-bikes are popping up everywhere. If you’re riding one in Louisiana or thinking about getting one, you may have questions about the laws, safety tips, and how to pick the right bike. That’s exactly what this post is here for! We’ll break down what you need to know about riding e-bikes in Louisiana, from legal…
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The Lisa Torry Smith Act: A Win for Cycling Safety in Texas?
The Lisa Torry Smith Act brings important changes to Texas law. It makes clear that cyclists can ride in crosswalks and now requires drivers to stop and yield before entering a crosswalk with a pedestrian or cyclist. A gap in Texas law is allowing some drivers who hit people in crosswalks to get off scot-free,…
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Far Right?! I was taking a LEFT!
Even Bike Law lawyers get hassled. Like many of us, riding for me is stress relief; it’s an escape from conflict and a busy schedule. Sometimes incidents on the road have the opposite effect and one incident this weekend made me question the state of humanity. It was not an unusual event, nor a particularly…
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E-BIKES ARE LEGAL IN NC (WELL, SOME OF THEM)
Love them or hate them, e-bikes continue to rise in popularity. At the same time, lawmakers struggle to keep up with the developing technologies. Every week I get multiple inquiries from people trying to navigate North Carolina’s e-bike laws. If you’re confused, you’re not alone. We could easily fill a book with all the latest…
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BIKES & CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Many of our cycling clients find themselves having to interact with the criminal justice system. Typically, it’s because the driver who hits them (or their family member) is charged with a crime or traffic offense. Occasionally bicyclists themselves are charged with traffic offenses! Every state’s criminal laws are different, but there is a lot of…
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Another Successful Road Defect Case, This Time a $750,000 Settlement in Georgia
We recently shared the story of a trial victory from the State of Texas where a bicyclist was injured due to a defect in a road maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation. Texas Road Defect We now can tell the story of another huge win in a road defect case, this time from our Bike Law…
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One Million Dollars for Texas Road Defect
The Texas Department of Transportation had offered cyclist Mike Bagg $0. Recently, attorneys with the Bike Law network took a case to a trial against a titan of a defendant: the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT was represented by the Attorney General’s Office, one of Texas’ largest legal teams. We had a great client, but it was…
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More Roads = Better Transportation, And Other Myths
2023 got off to a rough start for Charlotte, North Carolina, particularly in the context of road safety. Within about a week, we lost a young woman who was riding her bicycle, a pedestrian killed in the same area of town, and four people were killed in a car wreck on I-85 in the University…
