Originally Posted by
rydabent
In this argument what I find funny is the the fact the wannabe racer boyz are the ones that protest the most. They hate it when they see an old fart (84) like me riding at good speed on and e-trike up a hill into the wind. They bust a gut trying to speed around me and show me that "real bikes" ridden by "real cyclist" put to shame a lowly trike. They in fact are the ones that dont want to share the MUPS and think they are there just for them and as I say dont want anyone going faster than they are.
BTW my e-trike has a 750 watt motor that is legal on most trails. Even tho I could go faster I pretty much limit my speed to 15 mph.
I'm hardly a "wannabe racer boy." I'm a sixty-something year old bike commuter, riding regularly between Brooklyn and Manhattan on a folding bike.
And if your ebike or trike is legal on trails where you're riding it, then that's not what I'm talking about.
What I'm concerned about are motor vehicles, both electric and ICE, that are not permitted in bike lanes and on greenways where I ilve, and that are completely capable of operating in the flow of automotive traffic. Some percentage (and not a trivial percentage) of them are actually required to be registered and insured, and require a license to operate.
And yet because they have two wheels, their operators feel justified in using the bike paths and greenways. And feel, correctly, that law enforcement will not stop them from doing so.
Even the ebikes (throttle ebikes) are capable of outperforming Tour de France riders, uphill, while carrying deliveries. Often operating at night, without lights, nearly as often as not going the wrong way.
And that's before we even get to, say, a 250cc Vespa or equivalent riding at speed across the Manhattan Bridge bike path, blowing his horn all the way, as if
we, riders of actual bicycles, are the problem, not him. And once in a while you even get the occasional actual full-blown, large displacement motorcyle (quite often without a license plate). Parenthetically, someone quite a while back made a joke about Harley-Davidsons in the bike lanes, but I've yet to see one. Japanese sport bikes, yes, all the time.
The biggest part of the problem is that the laws are not enforced, at all. There are a lot of issues with New York City's Police Department, but essentially they've been on a soft strike for a few years now. That's just a fact, not a political statement. It isn't just bike lanes, it's subways and streets and just about everything. But here we're talking about traffic. I mean, we're at the point in NYC where people openly operate motor vehicles without license plates, and the cops don't care.
So, yes, I protest a lot. It's a problem, and it's dangerous, and it's going to get worse.