Not hard to see where this whole ebike thing is going..
Bigger batteries, faster bikes, and more crowded trails.
Whether these vehicles are allowed or not is up to property owners and administrators.. The trails in this area are not the Sierra Nevada's. There is no one size fits all solution.
You own the trail, you can do what you want. You don't? You have to consider the welfare of other trail users. Not just yourself. It's that simple.
I don't have a problem as long as they follow the rules and don't poach trails. As someone pointed out above, some are doing neither now. I fully expect that to continue.
Expect ramifications.
Here's an excerpt from the comments section;
Quote:...while the ‘CURRENT’ ebikes are ‘pedal assist’ and ‘limited to 20mph’, FUTURE ebikes won’t be. No way bigger more powerful batteries won’t be put on these bikes once the battery technology allows for it. (And that’s a never ending progression of more and more powerful batteries).
Do a youtube search for homemade e-bkes. You’ll find hundreds of examples of people doing over 60pmh. Do you think our park rangers have the free time to check to see which bikes have batteries, or what size battery? Of course not. After a couple of reports of people shooting down the train at 30-40mph, it’s all over. They will just ban all bikes.
Of course there are a couple of other issues. First off, 20mph doesn’t sound all that fast. But that’s road bike speeds. Road bike speeds on our trails, and not just on the downhills anymore. Now people will be going those speeds on the flats and up the hills. Yeah, I can just image a family of four shooting down the trail at 20mph (or more). Brilliant.
Then there is errosion. I’ve demo’d an e-bike. I was railing berms gloing UP a hill. Yeah, there will be more wear and tear on the trails, especially once the bigger batteries show up. Finally, and almost as scary, is this notion that e-bikes are opening up new trails to users that otherwise weren’t able to access them (due to age or low fitness). I sure as hell hope the American’s with Disabilites crowd doesn’t read this article. That kind of talk will get them think ALL our trails need to be ADA accessbile. You know, to be fair....
Finally, as an avid rider. I’m glad ‘not everyone’ can get to every square inch of trail. I like, at least some, of my riding to be alone out in the great outdoors. I don’t need every ride to be so full of other bikers that it’s akin to searching for a parking space at the mall at Christmas…
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