Originally Posted by
Steve B.
I got passed by a middle aged couple on e-bikes about 3 weeks ago on a local bike path in a state park where the use of e-bikes is illegal.......I get why a person older, or who otherwise has physical issues (knees, hips) that makes pushing pedals difficult. Perhaps one of those two seemingly fit people on e-bikes had a physical issue, I couldn't tell. Thus I tend to give a pass. I do not give a pass to the a-holes riding obviously throttle e-bikes on the mt. bike dirt trails, those guys get the cops called on them...
You should be careful making judgements about those on e-bikes. How do you know if those "a-holes" on the trails with an e-bike have a physical issue or not? I'm a young 48 yrs. old, and have Stage 4 Lung Cancer and ride my throttle-only e-bike (aka Class 2) legally on trails/paths. Sometimes I just need a helping hand on the long sustained climbs so I don't burn myself out, and I'll sometimes pass people on analog bikes during those e-climbs, and I've never once considered that they are calling me an a-hole...until now. On my analog bike, I look like any other wannabe racer on full carbon, and in full lycra. I probably ride harder and faster than 80% of the riders out there. Are they calling me an a-hole for passing them under my own power. I hope not. In either situation, if someone is upset with me passing them, either assisted, or not, that's their problem, not mine.
The only issue I have with e-bikes is that it allows people who are relatively new to cycling to ride faster than their skill level should allow. But if I see someone who knows what their doing on a bike is going like a bat out of hell, I could care less if it's assisted, throttle only, or analog. To each their own, as long as you have the skill to back it up.