SBT PRBLMS: Law Enforcement Issues Put SBT GRVL’s Future in Question

SBT GRVL, one of the most popular gravel races in the world, continues to be a significant point of contention in Routt County, Colorado.

This year, race organizers made significant changes — including new routes and a robust information campaign — for the August 18 event after a nearly year-and-a-half long battle with aggrieved local landowners.

However, the changes were not enough to satisfy all parties.

In the latest development, local law enforcement has signaled that they will no longer be able to support the event in its current format.

At a September 9 working session in Steamboat Springs, both the Colorado State Patrol and the Routt County Sheriff’s Department expressed concerns over SBT GRVL’s effects on traffic, safety, and its strain on local resources.

According to a September 17 article in the Steamboat Pilot & Today, Colorado State Patrol Captain Ryan Parker said that only reducing participant numbers would make the event workable for his department.

“I think if we can slow this down a little bit and work with you guys about maybe bringing this back to 1,000 or 1,500 riders or something that is a little more manageable,” Parker said at the meeting. He also said that the State Patrol office would not be able to issue a permit to SBT GRVL if  prize money was offered because Colorado State Patrol requires competitive races to be run on closed courses.

SBT GRVL debuted in 2019 and has put prize money on the line since its inception. The inaugural year saw 2,000 racers and registration has been capped at 3,000 for the past three editions.

According to the Steamboat Pilot & Today, county commissioners acknowledged the concerns of the law enforcement officers but also expressed hesitation over cutting the event’s participant numbers by over half.

Ultimately, the commissioners settled on a max participant number of 1,800 for the event and ruled that the event can no longer be a “race,” as races are only permitted on fully closed roads in Routt County. They also asked the organizers not to advertise or publicize the 2025 event until all required permits were secured.

Amy Charity, co-founder of SBT GRVL and owner of GRVL Events, told Velo that her team has drafted a permit application for the 2025 event that addresses all concerns which they will submit to the county on Tuesday, September 24.

A Timeline of Tension and Change

2024 marked the fifth edition of SBT GRVL.

Since its debut in 2019, the event has grown into one of the most popular races in the gravel cycling world, drawing over 3,000 riders — as well as that many accompanying friends and family — to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The race is known for its bustling expo in downtown Steamboat, as well as robust pre-race programming and inclusivity efforts that draw advocacy organizations from around the country.

However, after the 2023 race, tensions flared between the event organizers and a group of rural Routt County residents who found the race disruptive to their agricultural lifestyle. The residents argued that so many cyclists on the rural roads impeded their ability to move around freely, which was especially inconvenient given that the event falls during the height of haying season and during the Routt County Fair.

They also said that riders were disrespectful, often relieving themselves in fields or scaring livestock and horses.

The tensions escalated over the past year, with SBT GRVL organizers responding to address concerns through listening sessions with the community.

After months of back-and-forth with landowners and stakeholders, the race organizers rolled out some major changes for the 2024 event. Most significantly, they changed the courses for three of the four race distances, completely avoiding some of most contentious roads from past editions of the race. The Black course dropped from 144 to 125 miles and took riders to more remote and untrafficked parts of Routt County.

Furthermore, riders were instructed to “Respect the Routt,” by obeying all traffic laws and respecting private property. The race spent tens of thousands of dollars to increase signage on course.

Rural residents were also kept fully informed through an information campaign in the weeks leading up to the race and had access to a 24-hour ‘command center’ and hotline during the race week.

After the event, the SBT GRVL team felt that the changes had yielded mostly positive feedback from the community.

“We had an open public hearing after the race and got great feedback,” Charity said. “It was a very balanced group — there were a a ton of SBT GRVL supporters. We got a lot of praise from businesses and local people who did and didn’t do the event. There were also complaints, like the local who said he took 80 pictures of riders not riding two abreast and someone who claimed his fence was ruined by his horses being startled by riders.”

After putting so many changes into place for 2024, Charity had high hopes for the return of the 2025 event. However, after commissioners delivered SBT GRVL’s sentence — an event capped at 1,800 riders with no race elements like prize money or timing — she is again faced with addressing the myriad concerns or facing extinction.

“We’ve spent the past couple of weeks trying to figure out, ‘how do we address every single concern? How do we pay our staff with a 40 percent reduction in race fees? How do we have 1,800 people on course and not have a race?’ The racing component is a huge part of SBT, from a sponsor perspective to the media to the racers that are here.”

A Compromise Solution: Ride and Race 

Despite the onslaught of challenges, Charity and her team have come up with a creative solution that they feel addresses the new restrictions while keeping the event’s essence intact.

Instead of holding a single, massive event on one day, SBT GRVL will be split it into two separate activities: a non-competitive 1,800-rider ride on Saturday, followed by a separate competitive race on Sunday, which will take place under a rolling enclosure. The Sunday race would feature a 40-mile circuit with three laps on some of the roads that were used in this year’s new courses.

The format not only complies with the new directive of the county but also preserves the spirit, so to speak, of both the amateur and competitive events.

“We’ve been thrown a lot, but this new format accommodates all the concerns,” Charity said. “Saturday will have all the same energy and support as previous years, and Sunday’s race will keep the excitement for those who want to compete.”

In their quest to appease permitting agencies, Charity and her team have thought through every detail of the newly-devised format. The Saturday event would still offer all of the trappings of the historic SBT GRVL: multiple course distances for riders, aid stations on course, and timing plates. The only difference is that there would be no podium placements.

The Sunday race will be a completely new concept. All pros and anyone wanting a competitive race will compete on a closed-circuit course. As announced a few weeks ago, pro men and women will start separately from amateur racers. Juniors will have their own opportunities to race, as well.

For Charity, this ride-race solution is the perfect compromise; most importantly, it addresses the parameters that county commissioners have put in place. But it also honors the race’s values, while confronting financial realities. If the event can stay near its historical 3,000-rider mark, participants shouldn’t feel any changes at registration check-out.

“This way, we have the numbers to pay for the event,” Charity said. “It’s a massive pivot but still meets the values of what we want to create. Those at the front of pack get a race experience and we still offer a great experience for those that want to ride and see the beauty of Steamboat. It checks all the boxes of our core values.”