Popular bike ride in S.L. leaves cyclists with no ride and no refund


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SALT LAKE CITY — A popular bike ride in Salt Lake City has been going on for decades, until now. The Cycle Salt Lake Century was canceled at the last minute this year, leaving hundreds of cyclists without a ride or a refund.

The 100-mile ride was supposed to take place on May 17, 2014. Many cyclists were looking forward to the ride, and some even traveled from out of state to attend. However, it wasn't until the night before the event that many cyclists learned the bad news through the website.

"I went online to find out where to pick up my registration packet and found out the ride was canceled," said Cynthia Jones.

"I found out from the grapevine the day before that it was canceled," said Austin Rose. "I would expect an email or a phone call or Facebook message or something, but it was just a blurb on the website and that was it."

According to the website, the event's organizer, Jon Smith, said the ride was canceled because not enough people registered. Cyclists expected a refund of their $50 registration fee.

After a month of waiting and still no refunds, emails started pouring in to the KSL Investigators, all with the same frustrations.

"I'm just curious where our money is and I found out nobody's been refunded yet," said Rose.

No one KSL had spoken to had gotten their registration fee back and no one could get ahold of Jon Smith.

Community Response
In response to KSL's story, Cache Gran Fondo is extending free registration to anyone who brings their Salt Lake Century ride information to the packet pickup in Logan by Friday at 8 p.m. Click here for more information.

Additionally, Interlaken 100 has offered a discount equal to the Salt Lake Century registration price less processing/other fees. Email Interlaken 100 at bike.interlaken@gmail.com or John@interlaken100.com with your Salt Lake Century confirmation email to receive a discount code equal to the registration code only. Click here for more information about the race.

The Larry H. Miller group is offering all those who signed up and did not get a refund a free ride for the Million Miles at Miller in South Jordan in September. Email them at info@millionmilesatmiller.com for more information on that race.

"I tried to email and I got no response and I tried to call and his voice box was full," said Jones. "I would say stop being a jerk and do the right thing."

That's when the KSL Investigators got involved. Our calls and emails also went unanswered. Even a visit to his apartment building seemed to be a dead end. So we waited and waited, until finally, we found Smith.

When we asked him where the money was, he responded that it was slowly but surely being refunded and blamed extreme health issues for the delay.

"I have been poor with communication. I'm going to absolutely admit that," said Smith. "Within the next few days I'm going to be sending out notification on it."

Smith guaranteed everyone would get their money back within six months.

"This is the first time anything like this has happened," said Smith.

"You're not scamming people?" asked Mike Headrick.

"No, heaven's no!" exclaimed Smith.

Days after we tracked him down, an email showed up in every rider's inbox. It was an apology from Smith for his lack of communication and a promise to refund everyone.

In addition to owing hundreds of riders a refund of their registration fee, Smith will also be getting a $3,000 bill from Salt Lake City. The city says it never got notice the ride was canceled and sent police officers to help with traffic control as planned.

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Tania Mashburn and Mike Headrick

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