When I was King of the mountain bike trails I was a fair and just King. I decreed there were no limits on watts and people were required to respect each other and the land, after all the land was mine. Maximum speed limit on single track was 15 mph and other trails determined by the terrain. I created MTB parks for youths under the age of 13 and designated learning tracks for the very young riders.
There were harsh penalties for outlaws. Since there were so many tracks and so few riders, there were few outlaws. This is one such outlaw; he was caught ripping up the trail at 23 mph with no regard for other peasants trying to enjoy a Saturday ride.
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You can't really tell by the picture, but these stocks are located at a trailhead and as riders rode by they would squirt him with water from their Camelback squeeze bottles.
I'm awake now.
I hate the politics we have now. Mountain bike trail managers and the 'in' groups that are allowed to use the land have learned well from politicians and lobbyists. Fight, delay and fight some more. If that battle is lost, find the next delaying tactic to fight with. For as long as I can remember land managers need more studies and information. When one study is complete, they say one study isn't enough, more information is needed for change.
The industry and the land managers would prefer a national law that regulates ebikes. It's much easier to effect change when you only have one entity to lobby. That takes the power away from us and our community. I don't feel like I have any influence on some regulatory agency in Washington DC. I'm pleasantly surprised at the state and local level. That could change tomorrow. Today, where I live, we have it pretty good. The past 2 years public land has accepted Class 1 ebikes. In 2014 ebikes were legalized for road use.
Like it or hate it the points made in the open letter are the things being said by governing bodies and land managers. I've heard it at their meetings. These are the standard arguments being used. At the county level when we were trying to gain access to trails, one of the speakers brought in by government was the guy that wrote the state law in 2014. Yes, one guy wrote the law and he is not elected by the people. One might think he would be on the side of ebikes. No. Almost every point made in this open letter, he raised as a warning to local regulators. This is the standard template that's shared around the country. The more I learn, the more amazed I am that any ebike advocate has any success.
There's a lot of truths in the open letter. There are already answers to many of the questions, they just aren't the answers that they want. In my opinion the most difficult issue to confront is this:
6.) There is no guarantee that the cycling industry will not upgrade the eMTB’s available to class 2 or 3 or something beyond that. There is no way for the trail advocacy groups or the Land Managers to enforce the rules if one of those entities decided to limit the trails to something like class 1. In fact, I would challenge anyone outside of the industry to be able to tell the difference between any of these classes of bikes at a glance. Land managers see this as a potential they will not be able to control once they open the doors to eMTB (remember they have seen this movie with ATV’s and UTV’s that will go 100mph). As a trail advocacy group, there is nothing that we can say to change this fear, because their fears are probably real that without some sort of official regulation, they will probably become faster and more powerful in the future.
When asked 'how can I tell the difference between a class 1 and a class 3 ebike?' There's not really an answer to that yet.
The issue of money is always raised. Our little local group did discuss the idea of a bike permit fee for all bikes. We didn't propose it, just discussed it. With all the waste in government it's difficult to imagine there is a shortage of funds for trails. Some trails are public/private partnerships. Some are managed by conservancy groups and many are county parks. I've often encountered fundraising campaigns on trails in PA. Most ask for and need volunteers for cleanup days. If there was accountability to the public, I would be willing to pay a yearly $25 fee for maintenance and more miles of trails. I do not want the money to go to enforcement. Parks and museums get the last slice of the pie these days.
It doesn't feel like early days to me at this point. I guess ebikes aren't mainstream though. Land use is probably a never ending fight.
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