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@lordofthemark 168011 wrote:

Thanks for the suggestion, but there isn’t actually seg infra there for people to ride. I need places where seg infra was put in, but it was controversial, and more riders would help make the case retroactively.

Silver Spring has a bunch of new bicycle infrastructure, with more planned. I don’t know whether it’s been controversial or how well it’s being utilized. It certainly hasn’t convinced me to venture downtown on my bike (or ever, for that matter!).

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I’m in. Sounds like a blast, and the movie looks good, too.

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Jump Bike is suddenly more than just a curiosity— huge increase in the number of bikes for last night’s launch party.

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It begins?

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Thanks for posting. My experiences at that intersection, and even at Little Falls since the road was narrowed, have been overwhelmingly positive. This is a good reminder never to assume that a car will respect their stop sign even if I respect mine (my recollection is that it is a four way stop, though usually I get by with just slowing way down and drivers wave me through).

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I get the sense that a few current and former participants have been down on BAFS the past couple of years, perhaps in part due to the increase in numbers and in part due to a sense that it’s become too competitive. I gather that some have even stopped participating. So, I just want to put in a good word for the event.

Last year was my first FS and, along with SafeTrack, it was instrumental in making the bike my default mode of transportation. I rode as much during the competition as I had ridden the entire previous year. I met great people, explored new routes that I still frequent, finally went clipless, and generally had a great time. Racking up points for a team was just the motivation I needed. (SteveO’s Freeze Points were fantastic, too).

I’ll be in northern India for most of this year’s competition and am not sure I want to commit to regular riding there. We’ll see.

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Threatening to build a protected people lane with reflective flexposts might be just what’s needed to get people to support a nice sidewalk!

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@lordofthemark 167310 wrote:

There appears to be room for a sidewalk without cutting down a single tree. Is either side willing to give up onstreet parking?

Are you trying to start a war?? There’s nowhere else to put the cars apart from the garages and driveways!

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The Hawthorne neighborhood sidewalk battle is back! (From today’s commute up Chestnut Street)

https://www.washingtonian.com/2016/06/20/this-dc-neighborhood-is-at-war-over-sidewalks/

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@LhasaCM 167219 wrote:

Wait – what about the People For Bikes 10 myths about e-bikes blog post from Monday, or did I miss that? I always like the “Myth/Fact” approach to debates that are really “Opinion/Different Opinion”

I didn’t realize the bike industry was putting out talking points on e-bikes, but of course they are!

MYTH: E-bike riders will go further into remote areas and won’t be able to pedal out if their batteries die.

Heh. This conjures visions of dozens of e-bikers, starving and out of water, roaming the streets of Woodbridge, growing increasingly ragged and desperate by the day.

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@Steve O 167217 wrote:

ftfy

Time to vote, then?

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@dasgeh 167204 wrote:

I still haven’t heard a reasonable argument why you would want to ban an ebike that is able to go 25mph on the flat but not a strong rider who can go 25mph on the flat.

Perhaps because we may soon have many, many more e-bikes than strong riders on the trails. 25mph speeds are now the exception but may soon be fairly normal. It’s not clear that we want that.

Your points about higher speeds being useful in traffic are well-taken.

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@Crickey7 167079 wrote:

Right now, a very high percentage of bikes sold each year are Huffy-type bikes retailing for $350-$400. And many of those bikes get ridden around 3 times a year. If ebikes don’t get close to that price, they won’t sell more than a relatively small share of that market because most bikes are not being sold for transportation or even regular recreation. To hit that kind of share, E bikes would have to create their market, not cannibalize the existing market.

Here are some numbers I came across this morning — apologies if they have already been mentioned in this impressively long thread.

Around 30% of bikes sold in Holland are now e-bikes, and they account for more than 50% of turnover. The rise of e-bikes has driven the average selling price of a bicycle to more than 1,000 Euros.

The Dutch market is probably very different than the U.S., in no small part due to superior infrastructure, but e-bikes have taken off without trying to compete with the proverbial Huffy. We may need to stop thinking of e-bike prices in comparison to other bikes, but rather in terms of how price-competitive they are with public transportation, gas, parking, etc.

If I were an e-bike lobbyist, I would be pushing hard for employers to stop subsidizing parking, or instead give employees the option to cash out the parking subsidies.

http://www.bike-eu.com/sales-trends/nieuws/2016/11/milestone-for-e-bikes-in-holland-10128192

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/16/rise-of-the-ebike-how-going-electric-could-revolutionise-your-ride

I would be glad to lead an eBikeArlington study trip to the Netherlands.

edit: re: EasyRider’s comment above, I would be curious to know the average speed of an e-bike rider in countries where they have become popular. It’s not at all obvious to me that speed is their main selling point and that 15mph is somehow “too slow” for them to be competitive.

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UPS is making its love affair with bike lanes official (at least in Portland)

https://www.treehugger.com/bikes/ups-trials-e-bike-delivery-where-else-portland.html

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@secstate 166962 wrote:

This is a new ride for me. I’m registered for the 52mi route and will try to start on the earlier end (around 0830). Always glad to have company.

There’s the slight complication that I’ve somehow wound up w/ tickets to see George Clinton the previous night. But, I’ll put a glide in my stride, a dip in my hip, and totally be there at 0830, for sure.

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