E-Bikes on the trails

[cvcalhoun]

@jabberwocky 121677 wrote:

I see nothing else in the NVRPA regs about bikes. Cite a section?

Okay, apparently the page I attempted to link to appears differently depending on what you searched for to get there, so I wasn’t seeing the same page you were. But here’s another page with a link to the relevant stuff.

http://www.virginiadot.org/programs/bk-laws.asp#Electric Power-assisted Bicycles

[jabberwocky]

@cvcalhoun 121680 wrote:

Okay, apparently the page I attempted to link to appears differently depending on what you searched for to get there, so I wasn’t seeing the same page you were. But here’s another page with a link to the relevant stuff.

http://www.virginiadot.org/programs/bk-laws.asp#Electric Power-assisted Bicycles

I get what the general VA code says, but I’m talking about paths like the Mt Vernon and W&OD. They aren’t governed by the motor vehicle laws of VA (where e-bikes under 1000 watts are considered bicycles), they have their own rules.

I linked the NVRPA rules and regs (they govern the W&OD) that explicitly says motor assisted bicycles are only allowed where motor vehicles are allowed. Since the W&OD doesn’t allow motor vehicles, it doesn’t allow e-bikes either. This jibes with the “no motorized vehicles” signage on the trail.

[cvcalhoun]

@jabberwocky 121681 wrote:

I get what the general VA code says, but I’m talking about paths like the Mt Vernon and W&OD. They aren’t governed by the motor vehicle laws of VA (where e-bikes under 1000 watts are considered bicycles), they have their own rules.

I linked the NVRPA rules and regs (they govern the W&OD) that explicitly says motor assisted bicycles are only allowed where motor vehicles are allowed. Since the W&OD doesn’t allow motor vehicles, it doesn’t allow e-bikes either. This jibes with the “no motorized vehicles” signage on the trail.

Ah, yes, my original comment was on state law, not the specific NVRPA rules.

The NVRPA rules are a bit bizarre. They refer to “electric-assisted bicycles (commonly known as mopeds).” But of course, under general Virginia law, electric-assisted bicycles and mopeds are different vehicles. I have not examined the extent to which NVRPA has the authority to make regulations that conflict with state statutes in this regard.

[Henry]

Did the bike look like this?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9285[/ATTACH]

[rcannon100]

@Henry 121687 wrote:

Did the bike look like this?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9285[/ATTACH]

This guy probably uses an inhaler too! If he drops you on the Custis Hill….. its totally cheating

To those of you worried about inhalers and ebikes dropping you on the trail….

[PotomacCyclist]

Why would you care who passes you on the trails? I ride CaBi a lot and I don’t try to push it most of the time. Nearly everyone passes me, including about half the people also riding on CaBi bikes. Now if a 1-yr-old happened to race past me in a walker, then I might start to get a little embarrassed.

I’m usually around the middle of the pack, sometimes better, in my age group on the bike at the Nation’s Triathlon. Nothing special, but I’m far from the slowest person out there. On trails, I’m one of the slower riders. Partly because I’m riding CaBi but also because I don’t think it’s smart to hammer every single ride. That’s a good way to get burned out or injured, if you do that long enough without some easier activity in the mix.

[hozn]

I saw one of these on the W&OD today (this is the second time).
[IMG]http://bikearlingtonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9286&stc=1[/IMG]
I’m all for e-bikes, but haven’t quite decided how I feel about velomobiles using the MUPs … They are big. Though maybe not quite as large as a horse.

[Greasemonkey]

Aren’t velomobiles supposed to be used uh you know on the road? Using one on a trail is dumb.

[Vicegrip]

I think a safety minimum is that the bike/conveyence device has to be able to fit inside a single lane. From what I remember of the Elf is wider than a local MUP lane.

[dkel]

@hozn 121703 wrote:

I saw one of these on the W&OD today (this is the second time).
[IMG]http://bikearlingtonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9286&stc=1[/IMG]
I’m all for e-bikes, but haven’t quite decided how I feel about velomobiles using the MUPs … They are big. Though maybe not quite as large as a horse.

I’ve seen that one, too, out in Vienna, a few times. It is at least as wide as a whole lane on the path. I’ve never had any trouble over it, but I do feel like it’s pushing the limit on trails. At least it isn’t motorized…is it?

[rcannon100]

@PotomacCyclist 121696 wrote:

Why would you care who passes you on the trails? I ride CaBi a lot and I don’t try to push it most of the time. Nearly everyone passes me, including about half the people also riding on CaBi bikes. Now if a 1-yr-old happened to race past me in a walker, then I might start to get a little embarrassed.

I’m usually around the middle of the pack, sometimes better, in my age group on the bike at the Nation’s Triathlon. Nothing special, but I’m far from the slowest person out there.

I am the slowest person out there. Everyone passes me. Always. If I pass someone, I usually stop and ask if they need help. Pregnant women riding cheater bikes up the Custis hill using electronic inhalers is not a threat to my fragile ego.

A hole six foot deep in the ground, that’s a threat to my fragile ego. On the whole, I would rather avoid descending that six feet.

[Drewdane]

@dagamon 121650 wrote:

So I’m huffing up the hill out of Rosslyn yesterday, as I do every day, and a dude blew past me in a cargo bike. Uphill. Sitting upright. I was humbled until I realized it was an electric-assist bike.

How do you feel about e-bikes on the trails? On one hand, they are on bikes, and we want to encourage cycling. On the flipside, the rules for the trails clearly say “No motorized vehicles”, although I feel e-bikes are violating the letter but not the spirit of this law. That being said, e-bikes have already been banned in several places, mostly mountain bike trails.

This is coming from a moment of deep humiliation seeing a cargo bike blast past me.

It doesn’t bother me in the slightest (especially when I can justify being left in the dirt by saying “oh, s/he’s on an e-bike” 😎 ). Heck, I figure I might need one for my own commute someday, assuming I never win the lottery and retire early.

What I do think should be banned and the ban strictly enforced is anything with a gas-powered assist. I encountered some dork a year or so ago who’d strapped a leaf blower engine or some such to his Huffy and was cruising down the WOD. Ye Gods, the smell of that thing! 😡

[83b]

@hozn 121703 wrote:

Though maybe not quite as large as a horse.

And certainly less messy, if the periodic Penn Ave piles of manure are any indication.

[jabberwocky]

@cvcalhoun 121684 wrote:

Ah, yes, my original comment was on state law, not the specific NVRPA rules.

The NVRPA rules are a bit bizarre. They refer to “electric-assisted bicycles (commonly known as mopeds).” But of course, under general Virginia law, electric-assisted bicycles and mopeds are different vehicles. I have not examined the extent to which NVRPA has the authority to make regulations that conflict with state statutes in this regard.

To be fair, I think the VA code is more concerned with license and registration than exactly where e-bikes should/should not have access. The “under 1000 watts is a bicycle” is probably to make it clear that they don’t need to be licensed and registered and operated by someone with a proper license the way mopeds and motorcycles are.

[hozn]

@dkel 121719 wrote:

I’ve seen that one, too, out in Vienna, a few times. It is at least as wide as a whole lane on the path. I’ve never had any trouble over it, but I do feel like it’s pushing the limit on trails. At least it isn’t motorized…is it?

Oh, I’m pretty sure it has an [electric] motor, yes. I don’t know how fast it goes. On the sparse W&OD out here it doesn’t seem especially hazardous, but the prospect of that passing cyclists or joggers into potentially oncoming traffic could be terrifying.

Edit: here’s the details http://organictransit.com/information-about-the-elf/

[Author]

Posts