What have you learned from your e-bike experiences?

[6zfshdb]

Sadly, many people don't like seeing others having a good time. I had one guy who's house I ride past frequently tell me "it'd be a shame if something poked a hole in one of those tires"

This is so true. Some people stay up late at night thinking of ways to be nasty. Unfortunately, being nasty isn't against the law, even when carried to the extreme.

Case in point. There was an old woman who lived at the intersection of my mile long private road and the township road. I used to ride my bike past her house on occasion and she would always come out and yell at me to leave. It was my property, not hers and I pointed this out on several occasions. She would always reply with a few choice words.

It got progressively worse. There is a power company building nearby on the highway and a few of the office workers asked me if they could walk on my private road on their lunch hour for exercise. A couple were friends so I of course said yes. I liked the idea that there were other people around keeping an eye on the property. Well the old woman had a fit with these strangers walking past her house. She yelled, threatened and even called the police. No laws were broken so they didn't respond. She eventually called the power company and complained to the supervisor who called me. I explained it was my property and I had no problem with his people using it.

This went on for some time until one day, the old woman came out with a rifle and threatened the walkers. That scared them off, as well as a dozen others in the neighborhood including me! The police were called but again, nothing was done since no one had been injured.

When the woman passed away the following year, it was like the sword of Damocles had been lifted and we all considered throwing a party! Her son, who lived in Ireland, came over to make the funeral arrangements. He turned out to be a nice guy so for propriety, we cancelled the party idea.

This is just an abbreviated version of the story but it shows how one hateful person can influence the lives of so many others. I could write pages on the things this nasty woman did over the years. She was likely mentally ill but refused help from local agencies. The law couldn't do anything until there was an actual incident resulting in injury. Had she not died, it is quite likely she would have shot someone eventually. Fortunately, it never came to that.

 

[Art Deco]

This is so true. Some people stay up late at night thinking of ways to be nasty. Unfortunately, being nasty isn't against the law, even when carried to the extreme.

Case in point. There was an old woman who lived at the intersection of my mile long private road and the township road. I used to ride my bike past her house on occasion and she would always come out and yell at me to leave. It was my property, not hers and I pointed this out on several occasions. She would always reply with a few choice words.

It got progressively worse. There is a power company building nearby on the highway and a few of the office workers asked me if they could walk on my private road on their lunch hour for exercise. A couple were friends so I of course said yes. I liked the idea that there were other people around keeping an eye on the property. Well the old woman had a fit with these strangers walking past her house. She yelled, threatened and even called the police. No laws were broken so they didn't respond. She eventually called the power company and complained to the supervisor who called me. I explained it was my property and I had no problem with his people using it.

This went on for some time until one day, the old woman came out with a rifle and threatened the walkers. That scared them off, as well as a dozen others in the neighborhood including me! The police were called but again, nothing was done since no one had been injured.

When the woman passed away the following year, it was like the sword of Damocles had been lifted we all considered throwing a party! Her son, who lived in Ireland, came over to make the funeral arrangements. He turned out to be a nice guy so for propriety, we cancelled the party idea.

This is just an abbreviated version of the story but it shows how one hateful person can influence the lives of so many others. I could write pages on the things this nasty woman did over the years. She was likely mentally ill but refused help from local agencies. The law couldn't do anything until there was an actual incident resulting in injury. Had she not died, it is quite likely she would have shot someone eventually. Fortunately, it never came to that.

At least she wasn't an elected official, I guess. I've been pretty lucky with neighbors, but some of the others I've met in retail or service environments seem to spend their entire lives being as hostile as possible, even if there is no benefit to them in it at all.
Doesn’t make any sense to me, but there they are.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

At least she wasn't an elected official, I guess. I've been pretty lucky with neighbors, but some of the others I've met in retail or service environments seem to spend their entire lives being as hostile as possible, even if there is no benefit to them in it at all.
Doesn’t make any sense to me, but there they are.

Unfortunately, doesn't have to make sense to these folks. The final temperament that emerges in your mid-twenties is the one you'll have for life. The research is clear: It's about 50% genetic, 40-45% peer influences, and 5-10% upbringing.

Your temperament controls your behavior through your emotions. You can try not to act on the dangerous and anti-social ones, but some just don't have the strength, and some don't even try.

Not saying that these folks deserve a pass on their bad behavior. Just that it's generally neither transactional nor fixable in the sense that the underlying emotions can somehow be improved.

 

[Art Deco]

Unfortunately, doesn't have to make sense to these folks. The final temperament that emerges in your mid-twenties is the one you'll have for life. The research is clear: It's about 50% genetic, 40-45% peer influences, and 5-10% upbringing.

Your temperament controls your behavior through your emotions. You can try not to act on the dangerous and anti-social ones, but some just don't have the strength, and some don't even try.

Not saying that these folks deserve a pass on their bad behavior. Just that it's generally neither transactional nor fixable in the sense that the underlying emotions can somehow be improved.

Makes sense. By the time I was in my late 20s I was over being an angry young man ( with occasional lapses well into my 30s) , and now am just a grumpy old fart, pretty happy most of the time.

Martial arts training seemed to work for me (and later for my grandson) but in my teens I probably qualified as a real monster. Hereditary, I suspect, but certainly fixable.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Makes sense. By the time I was in my late 20s I was over being an angry young man ( with occasional lapses well into my 30s) , and now am just a grumpy old fart, pretty happy most of the time.

Martial arts training seemed to work for me (and later for my grandson) but in my teens I probably qualified as a real monster. Hereditary, I suspect, but certainly fixable.

Developmentally, it's a long way from the teens to the mid-twenties.

 

[DDBB]

I guess the guy who wants to flatten my tires thinks he should have control over who rides past his house on a public road

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I guess the guy who wants to flatten my tires thinks he should have control over who rides past his house on a public road

Could well be, but he could also be a thug who just likes to do what he can to scare people.

 

[teskow]

My attitude and experience differ from some of you. Most of my rides are on sparsely populated trails and (mostly) lightly-traveled roads. But, I think I’m similar to Jeremy… with a little more detail as follows:

1. I hate road riding. I am the opposite of @stompandgo. I agree with his comment about loving to see kids out there, etc. But, there are a lot of particularly unfriendly motorists out here in central Massachusetts, and I’ve had some bad encounters that have (luckily) not ended in me getting chased into the woods or something worse… In any case, unless I’m getting a friendly wave (not the finger, that is) from a motorist, I do not make eye contact or initiate anything. I ride the “with traffic” direction (on the right, that is) , and there are very often minimal shoulders where I ride, though I try to stay to the right of the white line if I can — sorry UKers if this makes no sense to you .

2. I occasionally run into asshats riding bikes too quickly (both regular and e-bikes) on the areas of populated trails that I ride every day. These people almost never make eye contact or wave. These people only get frowns from me.

3. In most other cases I keep it down around 10-11MPH and I am always waving, saying hello, and warning pedestrians (or saying “on your left/right/down-the-middle) at a distance when I’m coming up on them. Fättie is an imposing beast and I don’t want to scare pedestrians.

4. I’m usually not passing other bike riders (of any time) unless there are no pedestrians around and I’m going faster (15-20 on the trails) or we’re going in opposing directions. Almost always a wave or a hello in those cases.

Now that is an attitude to be envied.

 

[Chazmo]

Unfortunately, doesn't have to make sense to these folks. The final temperament that emerges in your mid-twenties is the one you'll have for life. The research is clear: It's about 50% genetic, 40-45% peer influences, and 5-10% upbringing.

Your temperament controls your behavior through your emotions. You can try not to act on the dangerous and anti-social ones, but some just don't have the strength, and some don't even try.

Not saying that these folks deserve a pass on their bad behavior. Just that it's generally neither transactional nor fixable in the sense that the underlying emotions can somehow be improved.

I’m pretty sure this is not true in my own case. I think a much larger percentage of my behavior is governed by my world view. That has changed radically in the last few years, and my behavior accordingly. Also, I have found that living within some very clear credos makes things right (for me). I didn’t used to do that, and now I do.

 

[DDBB]

There's one place on my daily ride where ride against traffic. It's a 100 yard long stretch of a secondary road and there are two lanes of traffic coming the opposite way. The shoulder on this side of the road is wider than the other side and the other side only has one lane so IMO it's safer to ride against traffic for this short section. It amazes me how many cars and trucks refuse to switch lanes to the outside lane to give me more room as they come towards me, in fact some try to make it closer than it needs to be because I guess they think it's fun to scare the bicyclist.