Central City invites cyclists, but not protestors
No offense meant to Black Hawk
Central City, riding the tail of publicity Black Hawk’s bicycle ban has drawn to the area, hurriedly put together a bicycle rally for July 3rd, inviting members of at least six Colorado bicycling groups to visit their city. Officials for Central said they wanted to let cyclists know Black Hawk’s ban didn’t extend to the Central City Parkway or Main Street, and that Central is bike-friendly. Since the city currently has no place for cyclists to park their bikes, a temporary bike rack was brought in. Annie Oakley’s Emporium and Prospectors Run offered free food items and beverages to cyclists. Johnny Z’s and Fortune Valley casinos offered coupons and discounted meals. Central City Mayor Ron Slinger said the event was simply to encourage cyclists to visit their community. A promotional notice sent to cycling groups via email stated cycling was “legal” in Central (later changed to “fresh”). But that notice soon morphed into an online message for cyclists to come to Central to “protest” Black Hawk’s ban.
Black Hawk officials found out about the event indirectly, from a consultant who happens to be a cyclist. “My council is not happy,” said Black Hawk City Manager, Mike Copp. Black Hawk Mayor David Spellman questioned the timing of the unscheduled event, coming not only when Black Hawk is being publicly criticized by cycling enthusiasts, but also on the busiest day of the year for his city. He said it looked to him like Central was offering an incentive to boycott Black Hawk. “How does this improve the financial situation of the community?” he asked. Cyclists spend very few dollars in the gaming communities, generally just riding on through, but gaming revenues fund the majority of city and county services. The elected officials of Black Hawk, Central City and Gilpin County have tried to put historic rivalries behind them, collaborating to make the area a destination for visitors with various interests: gambling, history, opera, art, mining, numerous outdoor activities and more. Many organizations associated with the non-gambling interests depend on the casinos for funding. Anything that hurts that industry will hurt them all.
Central’s public relations consultant, Meghan Dougherty, said someone had added the “protest” angle to the bike rally announcement after her marketing coordinator sent it out. Slinger also said the event was not meant to be offensive to Black Hawk. “I let Meghan (Dougherty) know flat out, it’s not supposed to be a protest,” he said, but also acknowledged the city couldn’t control the cycling community. Black Hawk officials remained unconvinced. They had found a promotion of the event on Central City’s Facebook site pointing out the Black Hawk ban and ticketing of violators, along with an invitation to cycle in Central instead. Their own (Black Hawk) city Facebook site was “pirated,” just two days before Central’s bike rally. Someone removed city information and replaced it with negative comments about the ban. The site has since been remedied and Black Hawk is now investigating the illegal takeover with the site administrator. They will pursue any legal action they can, Copp said.
There was no invasion of cyclists in either Central City or Black Hawk on Saturday. Although no one was keeping official count, Dougherty said that hot dog vendors brought in to serve the cyclists reported they had served “a few.” The cyclists were well received in Central and, one mile down the hill, Black Hawk streets and sidewalks were crowded with folks who had come to that city to have fun their way, in Black Hawk’s casinos. Police spotted seven cyclists walking their bikes past the gazebo as they passed through town- no more than usual. “Just a typical day in Black Hawk,” said Police Chief, Steve Cole.