@zsionakides 187137 wrote:
I don’t agree that the e-bike population is heavily older, less fit folks or folks schlepping kids. Most the e-bikes I see while commuting (and even during recreational times) are healthy aged individuals using a vehicle that is faster than a regular bike and doing so to save time/energy on their trip.
I am one of those of who you speak, commuting on an e-bike primarily using the region’s trails as a fit young person. I’m curious whether you think that e-bikes should be allowed on trails and whether that opinion has anything to do with the e-bike user’s motivation for using the trail. Perhaps I’ve got the wrong idea from your post, but it seems wrong-headed and judgmental to distinguish between “legitimate” and “illegitimate” use of an e-bike on a trail, with the elderly and kid-hauling on one side and young and healthy on the other.
I’m asking because as a regular e-bike rider that uses MUPs daily as part of my commute, I acknowledge that e-bikes are sometimes misused on bike trails whether from traveling too fast for conditions or lack of etiquette, or both. I’ve seen it happen, but surely there’s a sensible way for e-bikes to co-exist with other users. Already, MUPs are shared by many users whose motivations are already at odds, case in point hardcore time trailers versus parents-with-strollers (or really, everyone else on the trail). What’s the difference with e-bikes?
