E-Bikes On Legal, Paved Trails

[Jim1348]

On another forum, someone mentioned that there is an area near them where e-bikes are legal, but generally responded to with frowns, presumably by local residents.

I realize that the answer to this will vary from place to place, but is there any sort of consensus on here where people prefer to ride in the United States? Specifically, on the public streets and highways with other vehicles or paved multi-use trails separate from motorized traffic?

Generally, my wife and I greatly prefer paved trails away from motorized vehicles. I get that there are bike lanes in some areas, but we ride as a hobby to get outside and enjoy ourselves. We are not commuting to work as an alternative to a traditional vehicle.

Anyway, is anybody on here experiencing that where e-bikes are permitted, but you are avoiding trails because of what others think?

 

[Roamers]

I have never received a stern eye with my Class 1.

 

[rayray]

I greatly prefer multi-use paths over roadways. There are too many drivers who are careless, or simply evil. This happened today, about two miles from my home;

Pierce County detectives believe vehicle may have intentionally struck cyclist in deadly hit-and-run

Detectives are seeking surveillance video of a hit-and-run collision that killed a cyclist Monday morning near Parkland.

www.fox13seattle.com

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I've been ebiking coastal San Diego County for a year now without a single negative reaction. I ride everywhere my Class 2 is allowed, including legal trails and paved bikeways of every kind.

Ebikes are getting a lot of uninformed bad press these days. It's up to us to model a different narrative — one of courtesy and respect for everyone's rights and safety. You can't be a goodwill ambassador for ebikes if you stay off legal bikeways. Also think it's a tactical error to cede that ground without protecting our own rights.

Granted, there are way more ebikes than regular bikes here now, so the SoCal public's largely resigned to the idea that ebikes are here to stay. However, we also have a big problem with hoards of untrained/irresponsible riders (mostly school kids and tourists).

All the more reason for responsible ebikers to get out there and show the public that ebikes aren't the problem per se. Some riders just make bad choices.

 

[Djangodog]

I am up in Acadia and will ride the carriage roads on my class 1 ebike tomorrow afternoon. I suspect that there will be a wide variety of bikes and I doubt that anyone will care that I am on an ebike, (and it’s too bad if they do).

I will ride the 30 mile park loop and up Cadillac Mountain in the morning, but that will be on my traditional road bike, (and I don’t care if I get passed by an ebike).

I think that people need to realize that all cyclists have a common foe, and that it is not our fellow cyclists.

 

[6zfshdb]

I ride almost exclusively on gravel & paved MUP's. I ride courteously & safely and most people I see don't know or care I'm riding an e-bike.

 

[Taylor57]

I've been ebiking coastal San Diego County for a year now without a single negative reaction. I ride everywhere my Class 2 is allowed, including legal trails and paved bikeways of every kind.

Ebikes are getting a lot of uninformed bad press these days. It's up to us to model a different narrative — one of courtesy and respect for everyone's rights and safety. You can't be a goodwill ambassador for ebikes if you stay off legal bikeways. Also think it's a tactical error to cede that ground without protecting our own rights.

Granted, there are way more ebikes than regular bikes here now, so the SoCal public's largely resigned to the idea that ebikes are here to stay. However, we also have a big problem with hoards of untrained/irresponsible riders (mostly school kids and tourists).

All the more reason for responsible ebikers to get out there and show the public that ebikes aren't the problem per se. Some riders just make bad choices.

I'm seeing more of the mini bike looking ebikes on the road here in Palm Springs. They haul ass and most of them are piloted by people with no helmets and going 28+. The other group I see are the tourists from the hotels with analog and ebikes in flip flops! It's gunna hurt when they eat sh** on the alphalt..

 

[indianajo]

I ride on paved roads with cars and trucks. Indiana takes all our unused rail corridors and builds houses and warehouses on them. Profit to the landowner! Exception around Indianapolis where the legislature actually cares about the constituents.
A certain party that controls our legislature believes global warming is a big myth. Something made up by CNN & BBC to whine about.

 

[PatriciaK]

I prefer paved trails and MUPs, and packed gravel/dirt (nothing technical, no mtb stuff for this old lady ). Rural roads, mostly with decent shoulders, are necessary where I live in the great PNW, as few trails are available - there are some, but road riding is the norm. At my Piedmont Triad location there are several nice trails, but unless I want to go out and back, I have to ride on city streets with Traffic - I HATE that!

No one has ever given me dirty looks for being in an ebike, probably because I ride pretty slow, and always courteously. I confess that, though I am normally a very rules compliant person, I do ride my class 2 on trails - slowly and courteously - to avoid as much traffic as possible. Again, no complaints from anyone. Sometimes people ask about my bike(s), but it's with interest, not judgment, so far.

 

[Old-tool-guy]

Patricia, where is the piedmond triad?

 

[PatriciaK]

North Carolina... The triad is the cities of Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point. It's the Piedmont because it's at the foot of the mountains.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

North Carolina... The triad is the cities of Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point. It's the Piedmont because it's at the foot of the mountains.

Well, howdy ex-neighbor! Grew up in Charlotte, went to school in Durham and Chapel Hill, among other places. While at Chapel Hill, ca. 1972, rented a farmhouse in Hillsborough and bike-commuted to the UNC campus 10 miles each way on a 10-speed Raleigh, everyday for 2 years.

Most classmates thought I was nuts to bike that far, and the locals thought a bicycle had no business on their rural roads. Quite a few aggressive car and truck interactions — again, ca. 1972.

On the bright side, the church ladies near my farmhouse invited me to their Tuesday night socials in the summers. I always focused on the still-warm homemade peach or blackberry pie with fresh homemade peach ice cream. Doesn't get any better than that.

Glad to hear the cycling's civilized now. Beautiful riding in those green rolling hills!

 

[PatriciaK]

There are some nice recreational trails here, but it's a very car-centric place still. The trails are not meant to actually get you anywhere, so commuting would be for the stout of heart . There are a lot of bike gutters in the city, in which people park, and we've seen several accidents along those routes so we try to avoid them.

 

[Old-tool-guy]

Patricia, I have a friend in Cary, they have a very extensive paved trail system with Raleigh. Hundreds of miles, with tunnels or bridges over many (but not all) major highways. And there is the American Tobacco Trail that goes south from Durham for a long way. It would be worth the drive for you to try their trails once.

 

[Drbike]

Anyway, is anybody on here experiencing that where e-bikes are permitted, but you are avoiding trails because of what others think?

OP posted, “Anyway, is anybody on here experiencing that where e-bikes are permitted, but you are avoiding trails because of what others think?”

Oh hell no. Our “job” as bikers or e-bikers is to follow the proper rules so we can enjoy the ride we’re doing today and the one we want to next month; it’s called personal responsibility. I ride the roadways the majority of the time, paved trails and single dirt tracks every now and then. I do avoid paved trails during the week-ends due to the high concentrations of pedestrians, kids with training wheels and dogs on long leashes. If I see bikers not following proper rules I tend to let them know.

 

[BryanG]

Are there really frowns for the kind of bike you have? I would expect general disapproval of rude and unsafe riding regardless of what kind of bike the person has.
But I'm an optimist...

 

[Jeff in VA]

Years ago when I was riding an Italian racing bike, the hard core cyclists were the people who followed the rules and were polite. The walkers/joggers/kids/weekend riders were the ones who didn't. After getting back on a bicycle at 67 (Evelo Omega), I was surprised to find that the hard core cyclists are the ones who pass at high speed, never announce they are passing, pass into oncoming riders, and are generally assholes. No one seems to mind ebikes because we are not the rude people.

 

[Jason Knight]

I was surprised to find that the hard core cyclists are the ones who pass at high speed, never announce they are passing, pass into oncoming riders, and are generally assholes. No one seems to mind ebikes because we are not the rude people.

This has been my experience too. The die-hard "spandex" crowd are the ones who are painfully rude to pedestrians and the ones who ignore basic courtesy. The ones running around like they're in the Tour-de-France.

You know... thinking on it they act towards pedestrians the way alt-right jackasses in their coal-rolling high-shine jacked-up penis-extension pickups -- that will never be taken on terrain harsher than some loose leaves on the road -- act towards cyclists!

It's like the old joke of the king barking orders at a minister, the minister screaming at the magistrate, the magistrate screaming at the laborer, the laborer screaming at his wife, the wife screaming at the kid, and the kid kicking their pet cat in the arse.

Misery at the top cascades to the bottom.

But that's to be expected with 40+ years of society promoting narcissistic sociopathy as a virtue, and actual empathy and care for your fellow man as a mortal sin.

There will always be the Karens and Kevins who get their panties in a knot over anything unfamiliar and automatically start screaming... but if the "rank and file" normal foot sloggers are getting upset, or other riders are, it's time to review how you're riding.

It's funny how many riders -- as many have already said here -- can't seem to take the "time" to slow the hell down, ring a bell or honk a horn, and say "on your left"

And around here, it does seem to be the skinny-tire "my carbon frame only weighs 15 pounds" nappy-wearing enthusiast riders who act like they own the multi-use paths. AND take offense to the presence of e-bikes as well. Effite, elitist, jackass snobs the lot of 'em.

 

[Djangodog]

This has been my experience too. The die-hard "spandex" crowd are the ones who are painfully rude to pedestrians and the ones who ignore basic courtesy. The ones running around like they're in the Tour-de-France.

You know... thinking on it they act towards pedestrians the way alt-right jackasses in their coal-rolling high-shine jacked-up penis-extension pickups -- that will never be taken on terrain harsher than some loose leaves on the road -- act towards cyclists!

It's like the old joke of the king barking orders at a minister, the minister screaming at the magistrate, the magistrate screaming at the laborer, the laborer screaming at his wife, the wife screaming at the kid, and the kid kicking their pet cat in the arse.

Misery at the top cascades to the bottom.

But that's to be expected with 40+ years of society promoting narcissistic sociopathy as a virtue, and actual empathy and care for your fellow man as a mortal sin.

There will always be the Karens and Kevins who get their panties in a knot over anything unfamiliar and automatically start screaming... but if the "rank and file" normal foot sloggers are getting upset, or other riders are, it's time to review how you're riding.

It's funny how many riders -- as many have already said here -- can't seem to take the "time" to slow the hell down, ring a bell or honk a horn, and say "on your left"

And around here, it does seem to be the skinny-tire "my carbon frame only weighs 15 pounds" nappy-wearing enthusiast riders who act like they own the multi-use paths. AND take offense to the presence of e-bikes as well. Effite, elitist, jackass snobs the lot of 'em.

As an old roadie and current ebike and road bike enthusiast, I actually find your comments prejudicial and a bit elitist. Very few serious cyclists ride bike paths and to call them all “Effite, elitist, jackass snobs the lot of ‘em” seems a bit ironic.

 

[Hootz]

The area where I live has gradually progressed to be bike friendly. Emphasis has been on paved trails and hard core mountain bike trails. Very little has been done to mix bicycles with traffic. Some temporary bike lanes have been set up to the dismay of motorists. I much prefer the paved trails. My wife and I use a low PAS setting and ride around 12 mph. I bicycled to work during summer last year (pre electric conversion), about a 30 minute urban ride. I do not like to ride on the street, motorists are distracted and lose patience with bicyclists. It is legal to ride on sidewalks except in downtown areas so sidewalks it is for me if no trail is available.