Another Four Corners Motorcycle Rally has come to a close and rally organizers as well as law enforcement are saying collaboration between the two was an accomplishment.
Durango Harley-Davidson owner and event coordinator Trevor Bird said the event fared well with both the short track races and the rodeo selling out of tickets. In addition, Bird said this year’s hill climb event had over 1,000 attendees.
He said he heard from one Purgatory employee that it was one of the largest food and beverage sale days the resort has had.
Bird said he didn’t think total rally attendance reached the estimated 20,000 mark, but it was still a big year for the event.
“It was a great crowd. I think what I'm most proud of – from a public safety perspective – it was the best year we've ever had,” Bird said.
Both law enforcement and Bird touted the collaboration between the two entities this year. Rally organizers held five public safety events leading up to the rally, which Bird said helped the event stay safe.
Durango Police Chief Brice Current said the rally and Labor Day patrol was a success from a law enforcement standpoint.
“We had some community input, and we realized that regular enforcement and providing warnings just wasn't producing the result of preventing crime in the first place, which is our goal,” Current said.
The police department partnered with the event organizers this year to ensure people behaved.
Statistics compiled by the police department from that weekend showed there were 24 fewer calls for service and 911 calls were down this year, Current said.
Officer-initiated calls were up by about 33%. Meanwhile, 13 DUI arrests were made compared to just two in 2023.
Current also said the number of assaults were down from 15 in 2023 to just two in 2024. He clarified that these statistics were based on the entire weekend as a whole, not just participants in the rally.
“Our goal is creating that deterrent when people come into town. Because when you go to Sturgis, you know you better put two feet on the ground before you move from a stop sign, or you're probably going to get a ticket,” Current said.
However, there were a few accidents over the Labor Day weekend, including a fatality on Aug. 31.
A motorcyclist took on a curve and lost control veering off the road. Neither drugs nor alcohol were a factor, said Colorado State Patrol Troop 5A Captain Angela DeGuelle.
State patrol also responded to a call at around 2 p.m. on Aug. 31 about a motorcyclist that suffered a head injury in a crash near Lime Creek Road.
Looking ahead to next year, Bird said rally organizers are exploring how they can build on the preexisting events, but no new events are expected for next year’s rally at this time.
“We had some of the biggest, most influential people in the motor and power sports industry, and hearing people's feedback about this community and just how incredible it was, how welcoming it was, how beautiful the writing was – it's just really neat to be able to see their stories and their experiences on social media,” Bird said.
One event that Bird said is always special to him is the Missing Murdered and Indigenous Relatives ride. All of the ride’s proceeds went directly to the MMIR Task Force of Colorado, an organization focused on providing grassroots and traditional Native solutions to address the crisis in Colorado and provide support to the loved ones of those relatives.
“We're all a little exhausted, but I think really proud of the direction that we're going,” Bird said about the rally.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
