coominya

I can just imagine myself slogging it up a rail trail against a head wind as an overweight e-rider, his feet idle on the pedals, passes, leaving me in a cloud of dust. Cough cough, "Damn those e-bikes! They should be Banned."

350htrr

And there, is the crux of the "problem" Too much power can do that... JMO

NoPhart

I have nothing but respect for the roadies I pass. A few will take chase and draft me. I've been known to go a mile or two with them, then click the power up a notch and watch them kick it up as well. If I continue playing that game up to full power I will normally run away from them at some point, but a few can hold 26-28mph pretty well. More power to them and nothing but respect and smiles all around!

Necco2001

If you want to make friends, give them a little wave and invite them to sit on your wheel. Keep the pace up and steady but not kill them and they'll love you. Drafting is wicked fun on a road bike.

NoPhart

I used to ride road bikes back in the 80's myself. I wish I still could, but the position doesn't agree with my aging body anymore. Don't generally ride anywhere near those speeds now after riding my first E-bike for months. All the "fast" riding was in the initial testing and the "see what this thing can do" phase of ownership. After the initial month of playing around with a "new toy" I settled in at the 16-18mph zone for most of my riding. At those speeds I now watch my rearview mirror closely for road bikes and drafting groups coming up on my backside when riding the cement bike trails. Some of them are grouped so close together that any sudden movement by riders in their path or riders in the group can cause bad things to happen quickly. There's nothing worse in my mind then watching a group of road bikes all go down together and many of the bike trails in my area have rock gardens and drainage ditches on the sides of the trail. It makes me cringe every time I see one of the mutliple bike crashes on TV...

Drew Eckhardt 

Electric bikes belong on the road with other motor vehicles, not on multi-use paths where 100% of the ones I see exceed posted speed limits endangering the people the paths were built for moving with only their own power.

powell

again, what electric bike???.
By FEDERAL DEFINITION in Canada ebike is just regular bicycle when 500W, 32km/h max.
No way I would ride my ebike on the road with cars during rush hours, no way.
I ride on sidewalks regularly , some with yellow line on them.
Police has much more important things to do than stopping bicycle on sidewalks,anyway with yellow line it becomes MUP anyway.
Of course here riding sidewalks in Downtown is big no ,no ,too many bylaws and police.
I pedal on MUP , my bicycle has pedals and what is attached to my bicycle is...
RIDER PEDALLING = BICYCLE.

powell

NoPhart,
exactly same thing here.
Groups of crazy road bicycle riders so close together, feets from each other speeding around walkers with of course no bell I cringe when I see it.
Clearly principle of such "trainings" is to maintain speed a all cost = VERY dangerous attitude.
MUCH more dangerous than your average ebike on MUP.

InTheRain

You are entitled to your opinion but the law allows it in my jurisdiction and the community supports it - one more car off the road and one more available parking space. No posted speed limits on the MUP's here, but the human powered bike passed me at my max speed of 20mph so if I was breaking the limit, he definitely broke it.

2old

Take your opinion to Sacramento where someone might listen. Oh, wait, do you mean where they passed a law allowing Class 1 & 2 e-bikes to ride any bike trails and Class 3 to ride bike trails that are contiguous with a roadway? Being a resident of CA, thought you might know that.

TimothyH

Please don't feel bad for us roadies.

Most of the time we know you are on a motorized bike, or at least we highly suspect it, and if we chase then we are using you as a training tool, that's all.

Personally, I'm about as hurt when an ebike pulls away from my front wheel as when a soccer mom in a minivan does.

Be safe. Share the road. Peace.


-Tim-

InTheRain

You are assuming that all riders are one or the other. I, happen to ride both, an ebike for commuting and a road bike for fitness and event rides (I don't race.)

I've had a few experiences on my road bike where I could not tell that someone was on an ebike. Not that it matters to me, I'm not the type of person that could ever be competitive at cycling unless they come up with age and weight divisions. I'd say it's easier to spot a competitive cyclist than it is to identify my bike as an ebike from even a relatively short distance.

2old

Who gives a rat's ass one way or the other. Maybe road rider(s). Guess road biking / commuting is an autocracy and someone thinks he's king.

350htrr

Well, some people do care, big time... Out of the three people who I did the same thing to, (kept up to, and they couldn't drop me even tho they obviously thought they could/should have been able to), 2 of them stopped and stared at me after 10Km+ for one and 25Km for the other, to try and see WTF does this guy have to keep up with me on a mountain bike with 2 inch knobbies? One of them figured it out instantly and said "nice motor" The other I don't know, and the third one didn't for sure as after a few, about 5 Km or so I turned down another road, passing him at the intersection...

NoPhart

The rat's and the asses do. Seriously though, some people never grow out of playing King of the Mountain. Remember as a kid at the park when the one who could stand on the top of the picnic table the longest was King of the Mountain? I've come to the conclusion that there are some people that simply don't like to passed. I see it on the freeway all the time. When it comes to competetive sports, that what it's all about; I am (we are) #1! I imagine if the kid on the picinic table had a light saber it might piss off people that want to be king, until they get a light saber too to level the playing field.

Community bike trails are not for racing, but I've seen egos get brused on those trails just like at the park as a kid.

Leebo

As said before, varies from state to state and jurisdictions. Most states have definitions of a bike, electric bike and a moped. All different. And rules for road, bike path/mups vary as well. Look up the ones for your state and report back.

Abe_Froman

I can understand the purist sentiment...I even agree with it to some extent. However...I still think a 10HP E-Bike with pink streamers, a popcorn machine, sub-woofered sound system is preferable to another car on the road.

coominya

Amen to that brother

Joe Minton

Around here (Oxnard/Ventura and all the way to Santa Barbara, CA) the MUPs are sometimes dangerous for bike riders.

We bikers go faster than a walking pace and walkers don't, with or without electricity. The singular problem I've had is with the inattention of those walkers: They can have a dog on the required leash but while they may be on one side of the path the dog may be on the other, with the leash strung between. They often suddenly and without looking back turn and cross the path. They do not control/contain their children/dogs. I unleash my Bear Bell when I must ride on a MUP and it isn’t much fun. I can yell really loud.

Don't like MUPs and would generally rather ride on the street because more of my fellow travelers (around here at least) are likely to be paying attention --- except for some arrogant roadies.

These A-holes can be a danger to us slower riders with their unannounced close passes. I inadvertently put one down because he surprised me with his inches-away pass and I put my hand out to fend him off.
Rant: These are the same ignorant, inexperienced and arrogant young men that have to pay very high insurance premiums to operate an automobile.

Common Sense is not common. Common sense is the accumulated knowledge/wisdom that we survivors accumulate so that we can have more children than those that pay those high insurance premiums -- ;o)

Joe