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I look forward to this becoming an e-bike topic.

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I haven’t posted in a while.

Let me say, this forum never lets me down on moving off topic. God bless you all and thank you for the advocacy work you do.

I will continue my long standing rule of not reading about crashes as it increases the perceived rate of cyclists v motor vehicle interactions, which are too common, but not nearly as common as the news/world would make you believe.

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@Christob50 187314 wrote:

Any rider on any bike equipment has equal potential to create riding that is dangerous to the other users; that is my point.

Any rider can be dangerous. You CANNOT be as dangerous on an analog bike as the fit rider. You can’t do 30 (presuming based upon your story). By being on an e-bike you have added a new dangerous ability.

*Edit to be clear here – I think the e-bike argument is that you do a hell of a lot less damage to people on an e-bike at 20mph than in a car at 40. Less people in cars is great. I want e-bikes on trails. But there are going to be more incidents because of them. More traffic, heavy/larger, higher speeds (even if only for a minority of e-bike riders, thats still more people at unsafe speeds). It’s why i’m open to the idea that the rate of incidents will decrease. Perhaps so many new users will be out that that the rate actually decreases? I dunno. But saying you cannot be any more dangerous on an e-bike vs an analog bike just isn’t true. Given the opportunity to do dumb things, people will do them.

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@Christob50 187268 wrote:

How then, do I and my ebike need to be banned from all mixed use trails, but he does not, and he never will be?
The operator of a bike, pedal-assist or otherwise, creates the dangers to trail users by the way they choose to operate their own equipment. He and I had equal opportunity to produce a would-be collision at speeds well above the trail limits.
He could have chosen to obey the trail limits (which I had done during the ride beforehand); but he has the conditioning, stamina and fitness and desire to break them at will–and he did exactly that, for as long as he liked.

He has your response though?

@huskerdont 187263 wrote:

And yes, I know they’ll be out there anyway, legal or no.

You outline a type of dangerous riding. You then show that you too now have the option to recreate that dangerous riding. Thus, more people will now have the ability to ride dangerously. No one outlines a way in which either the analog or electric dangerous rider can be enforced away. I’m unaware of the ability to ban people from trails? and you are not being banned, a particular thing you own may possibly be.

So that kind of sums it up right? I’ve no dog in this fight and am pro the e-bikes but I agree with the statement “E-bikes on trails will lead to more dangerous riding” and also “E-bikes on trails could lead to a higher rate of dangerous riding”.

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@Sunyata 182258 wrote:

I was actually going to comment something similar! What about all the other bikes?

I have a strict n=1 rule with my significant other. When our children get older I have approved outdoor storage shed on the back patio for their bikes though!

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Metro ridership peaked in 2008.

I do feel for Tania here though. There are not great spots to safely put your bike on a train and the city doesn’t have the NYC Subway standard of being the city’s lifeline and we all know the change in policy isn’t coming along with a change in train-car design.

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Perhaps I missed the point, but the 90 miles of bike lanes weren’t just painted this year, but over a period of time (I don’t know what that time period is). I agree that the gallows road lanes are not new, but they are prevalent and on a highly trafficked road where motor vehicles users would certainly be able to say “these stupid bike lanes, we pay for them and then no one uses them”.

If their point is ‘look at the things we have made, why don’t you use them?’

I’d simply reply that making things, doesn’t make those things useful.

Deraillllllllll: What does ‘Policy Road’ mean on the FFX bike master plan?

[dplasters]

I’m not trying to pile on, but on the southbound gallows road bike lane around the intersection of merry oaks lane, you can literally see where the bike lane stripe/paint is worn out from cars who cut the corner and would kill any cyclist actually using the lane. Cars seem perfectly comfortable doing well over the speed limit. So clearly they could have taken a touch more space and added protection of some kind for the bike lane.

People don’t use the majority of the FFX bike lanes cause they blow.

[dplasters]

http://www.fdot.gov/research/Completed_Proj/Summary_SF/FDOT-BDV25-977-13-rpt.pdf

:rolleyes:

I’ve been in DC only 13 years, and I think I’ve only seen a car run a red light once.

This is, perhaps, the most unbelievable statement I’ve ever read.

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@Tania 179073 wrote:

I’m hoping they’ll put in a bike lane on Merrilee – the speed limit is 25 but the lanes are SO wide everyone does about 40. And the entrance/exit to Home Depot scares the tar out of me every time I drive, walk or bike past it (in either direction).

Merrilee is in desperate need of protected bike lanes to narrow the lanes between 29 and Lauren Elizabeth.

I continue to wait for my MUP/bike lanes that parallels 29 between Fairfax Circle and Gallows. I have little belief it will ever happen. But it will at least be a sign that Fairfax County is actually taking cycling seriously.

Oh and Hilltop was nice, though building off what dkel has said, I’d had put the bike lanes a foot or two left of where they are to get you fully out of the door zone and still have plenty of motor vehicle lane buffer.

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@dkel 179036 wrote:

There’s paint down for a new bike lane on Hilltop Rd in Merrifield, going westbound (uphill). It went in just today, but I don’t think that’s any excuse for the he cars I was driving along with all driving right through it as if it weren’t even there. 😡

Oh this might be useful until it fills with debris cause they don’t street clean diddly out here. What does it do at the stop sign with Cedar? Perhaps I’ll go for a ride along my old commute route this afternoon….

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Watched a VDOT pick-up truck westbound on 29/Lee Highway turn right onto northbound gallows road at roughly 30mph. Tires squealing… Electric road sign he was towing completely flipping over, utterly destroyed and dragged for another 50 yards or so.

Sigh.

This is why we can’t have nice things.

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@Dewey 178522 wrote:

You may scoff but an advantage of an ebike battery and usb port in the display is you can plug in Christmas lights, run a longer lasting standlight, and front and rear lights running off the battery, on my DIY lash up I use rechargeable battery lights and in winter I’m charging them every 3 days so one far off day when I have the money to buy a pre-built ebike with such a feature it would be a helpful upgrade. I like the German pedelec ebike lights Peter White sells but most of the lower power 6v ones I would want require wiring in some sort of step down power converter and I am wary of touching the solder job I did on the battery connectors, plus I don’t know the way to Tosche station.

I feel like ebikes should come standard with a dynamo front hub.

[dplasters]

As someone who wears Castelli small jerseys, I approve where this thread is going.

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@hozn 177497 wrote:

Combined with my new carbon commuter wheels, the setup is both very plush and very light.

Carbon commuter wheels you say?

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