No doubt time for yet another local debate regarding the use of the Monument for sanctioned cycling events. I’m surprise they still let the 100 mile tour of the valley traverse the Monument
Exactly.
The Park Service is traditionally very paranoid about bad things happening on Monument property. To minimize the chances of bad things happening, they have a tendency to ban things.
Reckless cycling in the Monument is a chronic problem. In fact, reckless cycling in the whole county is a chronic problem. Cyclists in organized groups are as reckless as individuals. (In last year's Tour of the Moon event and in another cycling event about a month ago many cyclists were vividly demonstrating their lack of riding skills.)
Put these two things together and the Park Service's traditional resistance to allowing organized cycling events is understandable. The catch-22 here that makes this latest accident politically interesting is that 1) this would give the Monument people ammunition for banning future events of this kind, except that 2) the Monument might be held responsible for this particular accident because they allowed the event to proceed in spite of obviously dangerous weather conditions that were developing as the cyclists were being checked in.