BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a driver who sped down the bike path alongside U.S. Highway 36 heading toward Boulder on Sunday afternoon, at speeds up to 50 miles per hour.
Thousands of cyclists take that route between every month. Some of them tell Denver7’s Ryan Fish they’re fed up seeing cars end up where bikes should be, either by crashing into the path or turning onto it by mistake.
Watch Denver7 reporter Ryan Fish's story in the video below:
“I imagine they get on here and don't feel like they can turn around,” said cyclist Carson Blume, who is also the Founding Director of the advocacy group Ride Broomfield. “I think the people in that video the other day probably panicked and that's why they were driving so fast… That would be the advice I would give anybody who accidentally finds themselves on a bike path: Drive like 20 miles an hour and slow down a little around any blank corners or intersections, for us.”
We’re asking for the public’s help identifying the driver of a vehicle involved in a dangerous incident.
— Boulder County Sheriff’s Office (@BldrCOSheriff) August 3, 2026
On Sunday, August 2, at approximately 1:38 p.m., a vehicle was seen traveling toward Boulder from the Davidson Mesa area on the bike path along the north side of US 36. The… pic.twitter.com/sMQEoUXkUm
Blume saw a car crash into the path and nearly hit a couple of cyclists last year at the Davidson Mesa Overlook.
Colorado Department of Transportation data shared with cycling advocates shows more than a dozen reported crashes since 2022 on the roughly three-mile stretch of bikeway near the overlook.
“Just think we need protection along the bikeway to keep cars from crashing into it, and we need bollards to keep the drivers from mistakenly driving onto it, or their GPS routing them onto the Bikeway,” Blume said.
“Let's not wait 'til a fatality to solve this problem. Because it's a real problem,” said Michael Dee, a cyclist and Executive Director of Boulder-based advocacy group Coalition 4 Cyclists.
Dee commended Boulder County for generally being receptive to cyclist safety concerns and building bike-friendly infrastructure.
He also pointed out that more discussions need to be had, and organizations like CDOT need to consider logistics like snow removal and budgetary concerns.
“You can raise the awareness, but if the capital isn't there to get these kinds of things done, it doesn't happen,” Dee said.
CDOT told Denver7 in an email Thursday that conversations about the area are ongoing, and that “while funding has not yet been identified, we are collaborating with local partners to work toward a solution, starting with Boulder County, which maintains this section of the path.”
