Originally Posted by
prj71
As I mentioned previously....these are recreational trails only that traverse through very rural areas. They are not trails that you ride to get from home to work or home to the store or home to the gym. This isn't big city stuff.
For better or worse, it's probably within the mission of the agencies that develop and maintain those trails, to attract more users. I've been on some of those trails (e.g., Gandy Dancer), and they were quite lonely. There's a region I've visited around Hayward, that's a major attraction for MTB'ers, ATV's, and every other conceivable thing.
Originally Posted by
livedarklions
Gotta say, I ride a fair amount of rural paths and trails, and I rarely if ever see ebikes on them. I honestly am very skeptical of this whole rant.
I live in Wisconsin, and there's a fair amount of bike tourism. People drive into the rural areas (including from out of state), park, and ride on the paths. Sometimes this is done in conjunction with an overnight stay somewhere. I have relatives from Illinois who do this, and they're all getting e-bikes. When I ride on the trails and go past parking areas, I see people loading bikes on and off their cars.