An ebikes first for me...

Not a statement of for or against but today was the first day I've ever ridden where I saw more people on ebikes than I saw on standard mountain bikes. We were riding out at Greer Ranch and out of the 15 or so riders we ran across, at least 8-9 of them were on ebikes. At the top of the main climb back to Distortion & Overdive, 6 out of 7 bikes were ebikes. Only onee of the guys was over 30 and he was on a full blown DH version bike with double crown forks. First of those I've seen.

 

I've mainly seen them with the more affluent middle age crowd.

 

The last 3 times I've been out I've absolutely seen more e-bikers than mountain bikers. Not by a huge amount, but I'd say 60/40. The most "offensive" was a guy, probably late 30s, out with his teenage son. They were riding a single track, and I heard the dad from a distance coaching the kid to get enough speed to make it up the next hill. No obvious reason why either of them couldn't have been out on regular bikes. This week I ran into an older couple on e-bikes. I got to the top of a climb and stopped to get my bearings. I was surprised to see someone right behind me, but they'd climbed up behind me never attempting to pass. We chatted for a sec and they talked about how they've been riding these hills for 20 years, but just can't pedal an unassisted bike around this particular area anymore. It was a very friendly encounter.

 

funny i still have only seen one, and he passed me. oh i told him its ok everyone does
happy miles of empty single track trails

 

funny i still have only seen one, and he passed me. oh i told him its ok everyone does
happy miles of empty single track trails

 

As I mentioned in another thread, I helped a Septuagenarian portage his e-bike over a nasty rock section that almost everybody portages. He was grateful. At 72, he's earned it. Whatever it takes.

 

Was at whiting last Sunday. Saw 3 people riding ebikes. Told the first one that is was illegal to ride it in the park. The guy said whatever. So the next two ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. 2 were older 60+ as far as i could tell. The other one couldn’t have been more than 20. Also saw dogs without leashes and bikers going the wrong way on borrega. Rant over.

 

What!?! No! Et tu, Herz?

I hope when I'm 72 and too damn old to pedal on my own I'll either be dead or find a new sport to enjoy.
...I hear golf is nice. You don't mix with poor people and you get to sexually harass drink cart girls while drinking beer.

 

Your not looking hard enough.

We had a stand off between an ebiker and a couple of horseback riders yesterday. Goon riding at O’Neil Park, full face helmet, stormtroopered out, coming down a fire road, scared a horse on a blind turn.

The lady on the horse was not happy.

what really sucked is she looked at us like we were at fault, even though the ebiker caused the trouble. They aren’t allowed there, but to her, we were all the same.

 

And THAT folks, is a major problem. They (e-bikers) are de-facto ambassadors of us.

 

The last time I told a rider she was going the wrong way on Borrego, she told me where I could put my advice. And she added a sexual suggestion for the hikers at no extra charge! Very knowledgeable young lady... Seemed eager to help!

 

I still think about the moral dilemma I saw on an O'Neill fire road (Live Oak, just below the Hoffman-Homestead trailhead). E-stormtrooper barreling downhill, and I knew that there were two ladies with dogs on long leashes taking up the whole trail- just around the blind corner. Neither dogs nor e-bikes are allowed there. Do I warn the e-stormtrooper that he's about to take out other illegal trail users, or let it go?

In the end, he was going too fast to warn anyway... And he wouldn't have heard me through his headphones.

 

Natural selection.

Our encounter yesterday was just as we literally came off the pavement into the dirt. The e-stormtrooper could see down and didn’t bother to slow up til it was too late.

 

A guy in my town takes pleasure in taking Strava KOM's on his eBike. A guy I know who rides an eBike said something about it to him, and I guess the guy just laughs about the whole thing.

I don't take Strava too seriously, but it does provide some inner motivation to push hard on the climbs, and to suffer.

 

So i know with the quarantine, there will be more people who don’t normally go out to the trails on them. Thing was i was with my 13 yo and I’m trying to show him the right way to interact with other users. I think he has a firm grasp on trail etiquette but a bit infuriating to see this blatant disregard for park rules. I know I’ve let my feelings know on other threads about hikers being a holes. But when i see other mtn bikers doing something wrong, man i want to go off because of the ramifications that can affect all us here.
Very conflicted on saying something in front of him that would not look good coming from any parent. But shits coming to a head.

 

Not long ago, Prof. Jr. pointed out to an e-biker that they weren’t allowed where we were. He was promptly told to go f*** himself. He’s obviously a kid... no mistaking him for an adult.

 

That’s the main reason i can only go so long without a confrontation with one of them. I’ve been the best i can be at being an ambassador for our sport. But i will not tolerate an absolute lack of consideration coming from these jagoffs.

 

U ever been to a quiet beautiful cathedral? Some old hag is talking on the phone?
Like being on Joplin and seeing an ebike...
Floop.. I accept it...
Oaks ..getting more n more...
But Joplin???

 

I've never seen an E-bike on Joplin.

I've seen several on the FLoop.

I even saw a couple on South Main Divide at Elsinore Peak. I was gentle with them.

I've seen a few on Black Star, but not on Motorway.

They're here. They're prolly not going away. Bitching about them will probably not accomplish anything.

 

[QUOTE="Runs with Scissors, post: 219188, member: 459"]I've never seen an E-bike on Joplin.

[/QUOTE]

You haven’t had the opportunity to see an e-bike on Joplin! We could fix that...

And they are getting more popular on Motorway, but they climb it... Which is just dumb.

 

If they are on a trail illegally there’s plenty to bitch about.

 

You can bitch. Just not sure it'll accomplish anything.

 

Wait...I've climbed Motorway.

P.S. - something weird going on there with the quoting thingy.

 

Once or twice to try it is different than making it an uphill e-bike super highway...

 

That's when you yell 'You got this, pin it!' as he passes you.

 

And I thought I only had two options!

 

I’m still in the I can’t do anything about it , so therefore I have much bigger things to worry about, and ride what you want attitude.
But I will share my electric motorcycle experience I had yesterday.
There is a guy in my neighborhood who lives on the way to my backyard rides who also rides, but our schedules don’t mesh, and now that the snakes are out he rides at the crack of dawn! Yah right! We always say we will hook up and ride but we never do. He has two or three real bikes and had been riding for a # of years. He stopped by my house yesterday on his extra large E-bike. He is 6’ 6” 260lbs! So I asked him if I could take it for a spin. It’s a funny sight to see me on a extra large bike, I feel like I’m in a circus.
Anyway I live at the bottom of a cat 4 mile long hill, paved of course. Pointed it up the hill and felt what I expected, a surge of power and me not working to even half of the energy it would take for a bicycle. Came back down and he says see that turbo button, press it and give it another go. And I did, now I was rocketing up the cat-4 hill in amazement of how much torque the motorcycle had, and almost no effort! I took it on the dirt shoulder and the damn tire spun with torque.
Many times I’ve heard people say these motor bikes give the benefit of exercise but I have common sense and have never bought it, but I have to say, I didn’t realize how much the motor cuts out the benefits of exercise until yesterday! I am sure they are fun but it misses another factor for me?
To each there own.

 

I actually get super annoyed with how many people tell me, and how often, about how fun it is.
"You get twice the downhill runs!"
"You can still get your workout if you turn the power down, but still get in more runs!"
"Great for recovery!"

But for fucks sake, I am not looking for more runs. The climb is a part of my enjoyment. I love those long moments of solitude. I love climbing both fireroad and singletrack. Those are my moments I get to sit and reflect, think about the world, see the sights. If I want more runs, I got to the lift park, which isn't nearly as often as just pedaling. Even with a season pass, I was still climbing to the top several times a day to drop into the bike park, because I enjoy climbing more than I enjoy sitting in a lift line.

Is it so much to ask for people not to ride like dicks, and let me enjoy my ride?

 

My newest next door neighbor is 47, he seems very interested in taking up mountain biking or what he thinks is mountain biking. I was talking with he and two young 19 year old men in his drive way while sitting on my SB-66, I have to mention the two kids I will call them, were very inspired and wanted to buy my bike then and there.
My neighbor said all the exact reasons you posted above as he wants an E, the "You can still get your workout if you turn the power down” statement was blurted out and my immediate response was a firmly sarcastic YAH RIGHT! Like you are going to turn the power down? Both the kids laughed out loud and said they will get a real mountain bike and when they get in shape asked if they could ride with me, so it gives me hope that all is not lost.