tigat

I started my commute a bit late this morning, because I did a 15 mile loop with my wife before heading the 20 miles down to work. Since I was running late, I was going pretty hard.


At a stoplight where the bike trail detours to a city street, a male rider on a mountain bike pulled up behind me. His long, reddish hair, stuck out below his baseball cap. I didn't get a good look at the bike, other than to note it was small (26" wheels) with knobby tires, and not fancy like the stealth carbon mountain bikes some of my friends race.


The light changes. I clip in and go. Halfway through the intersection, whoosh, he is by me on the right like a blur. He is sitting straight up with his hair flowing behind him. This will end soon enough, I decide, since we had a mild headwind. I settle into the drops and wait.


A few hundred yards in, I'm up to 25 mph, and he's still pulling away. I ramp it up to 28, which is about all I can hold for any length of time, and much faster than I would choose to commute. I wanted to know what pro team this dude captained when he wasn't slamming the bike trails. After a mile of this, he is a speck in the distance and then gone.


When I mentioned the episode to a buddy who commutes on the same trail, he laughed. "You mean the kid with the electric bike? He hangs out in the park waiting for a roadie to come by, toasts them, and then loops back and does it again."


As if we didn't have enough to remind us of advancing age and declining abilities. Then again, I did take up the chase, so I guess the joke really is on me.

David Bierbaum

Now that you know, you can set up a stealth electric motor in your commuter bike, and surprise him next time by toasting HIM!

Biker395 

Don't get me started on those electric bikes. Hereabouts, they are supposed to be limited to 20 MPH, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how to modify them to exceed that amount.

My proudest moments on a bike is when I'm able to pass those blighters.

TimothyH

In Colorado, when it exceeds 20 MPH or 750 watts (1HP) it is no longer an e-bike but is a moped and requires registration and insurance.

If the guy is harassing then dial 911 and report the uninsured and unregistered operator.

If it goes above 30 MPH, which it sounds like the guy was, then it might be classified as a motorcycle. In this case the guy has opened himself up to lots of fines and penalties for operating as described.

GoPro would help.


-Tim-

tigat

This wasn't harassing as much as intimidating. The dude was definitely pedaling, so if I had to guess, this was some sort of jury rigged electronic assist, although I never got close enough to scope it out.

TimothyH

Harassing and intimidating are all degrees of the same thing. >30 MPH and it needs insurance and registration. Call 911. The guy needs to be off the road.

If it isn't a problem then the police will tell you so. If it is a problem then you have done some good and may have prevented the guy from hurting himself or someone else. Either way, that's what you pay taxes for, your conscience will be clean and you will have learned something.

Every day someone comes on bikeforums and complains that they were harassed, intimidated, assaulted, shoved, had something thrown at them or witnessed these things and on and on and on. Every time I ask "Did you call the police?" the answer seems to be no.

If you didn't call the police then you are not a victim but a volunteer.


-Tim-

wphamilton

Was there some kind of actual intimidation, or was it just a case of the e-bike going faster? I'm just trying to figure out how OP was victimized.

TimothyH

The guy needs to be off the road even if the OP was not victimized.

If the guy is going >30 MPH then the vehicle ceases to be an e-bike and becomes a moped or even a motorcycle. These may need insurance depending on the state. I was hit by an uninsured who had no right being on the road.

Whether the OP was victimized or not really isn't the point. The guy needs to be gone.

gregf83 

Absolutely. All instances of bruised ego should be reported immediately to the police.

I normally pass riders on a bridge I cross every morning but this week I entered the ramp about 20m behind an upright rider on a mountain bike. He gradually pulled away and I didn't see him when I got to the top of the bridge. I called 911 as no one should be faster than me.

wphamilton

I guess I don't see how an e-bike going 30 is more dangerous than a pedal bike going 30.

It's true that statutes would put that in the state designation of a scooter or motorcycle (depending), and the state would want registration and licensing for the motorcycle. Unless the guy's actually a danger though that's between him and the State IMO.

tgmcmonigle

Wow. Tattle much? Do you call 911 every time someone passes you on the highway because they're speeding?

FXjohn

jury rigged?? lol

tigat

jury or jerry, po-tay-to or po-tah-to

By 10:30 at night, the finer points of usage and pronunciation are sometimes lost on me.

BigAura

Legal eAssist bike can be up to 750W which is 1-horsepower. Sadly these motorbikes are allowed on infrastructure that's closed to motor-vehicles

Biker395 

The American Way:

"Anything worth doing is worth having a machine do it for you."

BigAura

I've got nothing against machines or technology BUT what does upset me is the subterfuge of pedals to claim that a motorbike is a bicycle. We have very limited infrastructure for human-powered endeavors so it is sad that motorized-vehicle-fans feel the necessity to sully and endanger such a limited resource.

TankSlapper

OMG!

JanMM

Shouldn't be too hard to spot the e-assist hardware used on most of those e-bikes. Unlike the high-zoot power units hidden in the seat tubes of stealthy racers.

BigAura

Yep, it's the new EPO.

02Giant 

What, If you cant beat them...report them?

gregf83 

How exactly do they 'sully' it? They're the same size as a bicycle.

loky1179

In Colorado, and everywhere else in the world, there is NO change in form when an object attains a speed of 20MPH.


That is a MOPED going by you at 25 MPH. When you catch up to it waiting stationary at the next stoplight, it is still a MOPED.

This isn't the e-bike forum, right? So we can call these things by their proper names. They have a MOtor and they have PEDals. They are M-O-P-E-D-S.

Now, if these things can go faster than 186,000 miles/second, they MAY change form. At that point I may even agree that they are no longer M-O-P-E-D-S. But, that is just a theory, and until proven, they remain MOPEDS!

catgita

I used to smoke roadies on my mountain bike. Great fun.

canklecat

My mom's power wheelchair goes faster than I can walk. On sidewalks used by human pedestrians. There oughta be a law.

BigAura

If you wanna call this a bicycle and don't mind sharing bicycle-paths and bicycle-trails with them fine. Personally I find ALL motorized-bicycles as unfit for these very limited resources that were always intended for human-powered-vehicles only.



--- US Legal -- eAssist Bicycle