We’ve Only Ourselves To Blame
The following article from Palo Alto, CA is about restricting bikes from certain lanes, paths and in this case, MUP’s. It is indicative of what could happen nation wide. We’ve only ourselves to blame.
https://www.paloaltoonline.com/
To most of The U.S. a bicycle is just a toy. The idea of using one to go places or do things, is beyond their comprehension. I have actually had folks complain that, ‘we buiIt all these bike trails. They should ride bikes there.’ Guess what, I can’t get everywhere I need to go on Multi-Use Paths (most of which led to nowhere until recently).
This is the answer more and more are coming to: “To address the new legal landscape, the Parks and Recreation Commission debated the new e-biking policy over a series of meetings last fall, ultimately opting to adopt a broad ban on e-bikes of all classes at open space preserves, including Arastradero Preserve and the Baylands. (The Foothills Natural Preserve already bans bikes of all sorts.).”
Just today I read where Michigan is banning Class III bikes, but the only way to enforce it is to ban throttles (Class II)…the idea being that it is hard to pedal fast enough, for long, to support more than 20mph. We’ve got to stop racing and training in lanes, on trails and MUP’s.
Ruby’s gets slow in The Winter. Folks aren’t playing pickleball, volleyball or using the trails as much. It would help a lot if we sold any and every type of e-bike. We don’t and I can confirm that there has been very little appreciation for restraint towards us or other local bike shops. The speed limits on trails and MUP’s is 15mph. A 20mph limit for assist is quite reasonable.
Just before writing this, I was working on building a custom e-bike for a friend. It will have the most powerful, legal motor on the market (most quiet too). The idea being to help him climb and to carry more. Like so many, he got quite upset when I told him his bike would be restricted to assist to 20mph. This same person has already crashed a previous conversion three times in a thousand miles (hospitalized twice). This sort of conversation happens to me almost daily and often from court appointed cyclists that have already proven irresponsible (add fat tires to cheap suspensions and it really gets dangerous). E-bikes should make traditional cycling easier, more convenient and accessible, not faster.