A Colorado Springs cycling tradition older than a quarter century will not return this year.

Trails and Open Space Coalition (TOSC) has called off the Starlight Spectacular, which has brought together costumed riders on glowing bikes for a middle-of-the-night spin around town.

The nonprofit TOSC has called the Starlight Spectacular the longest-running nighttime bike event in the region, spanning 27 summers.

“It’s with a heavy heart,” TOSC Executive Director Susan Davies said. “I am grieving, and I know others are too.”

In its announcement, TOSC cited rising costs and falling participation as reasons for the move. The announcement was in line with the cancellation of the annual, statewide Ride the Rockies, which also cited lacking ridership.

“It’s expensive to put on these events, especially when you have to add in police for making sure people are safe on the route,” Davies said. “The costs have just gone up so much.”

She said her organization has marked 30% increases to necessary supplies and logistics including barricades and first-responder support. Liability insurance has been “the big one,” said Davies, who thought back to the Starlight Spectacular beginnings in the mid-1990s.

“Riding on the streets of Colorado Springs in the middle of the night, back then based on the amount of traffic, based on traffic patterns and liability insurance, you could kind of do those things,” she said.

She recalled the spin around the city covering more than 20 miles at one point, including a base at Bancroft Park in Old Colorado City, where riders snacked, watched “Wizard of Oz” on a big screen and caught the sunrise.

After a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Starlight Spectacular shifted to a shorter route confined to Garden of the Gods.

“The bicyclists would say, ‘It’s nice to be in the Garden, but we want more,'” Davies said. “They wanted to be back on the roads.”

That wasn’t happening with insurance, Davies said. And she said a drop in interest was showing.

Last year saw walkers and runners invited in hopes of “beefing up” ticket sales, Davies said. Combined with cyclists, she said attendance was about 700 — about half the numbers she said were counted about a decade ago.

With four full-timers, Davies said TOSC’s staff time had to be considered.

“If you do the return on investment for the amount of staff time this needed … the numbers just don’t work,” she said. “That’s not to say we don’t love the event, because we absolutely do.”

She didn’t rule out the event returning someday. “It would have to be with a new partner,” she said.