Hi Eric - I don't have a beef with people that need an assist. My beef is with people that buy an electric "bike", which they have no intention of pedaling. Many of these "bikes" are really motorcycles with pedals attached in an ergonomically impossible place - just so they can be called bicycles. They just run the throttle wide open. It's clearly just an excuse to take over bike paths via motorized (albeit with an electric motor) vehicles. I am a member of Grizzly Peak Cyclists. Electric bikes are welcome on most rides, including the Grizzly Peak Century. There is even a special category on our monthly time-trial ride of the Three Bears. Electrics are accorded their own special category.
But, like Jock, I really hate people riding electric bikes at terrific speeds. So much so, that if I see an electric on a group ride I have joined, I abort the ride. I really do get the need for an assist. I have captained my tandem and the Cunningham tandem all over the East Bay and Marin. I have ridden Mt Tam, Sausalito, The Golden Gate, San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond, Berkeley and many other areas with Charlie Cunningham and my disabled wife. Both my wife and Charlie are disabled. Electrics are such a turn-off for me, that I would rather ride alone, than be constantly reminded of the dozens of near-misses I have had with reckless individuals on electric bikes. Electric bikes are probably the second most contentious topic on this list next to helmets. Regards, Corwin On Wednesday, July 17, 2024 at 4:53:33 PM UTC-7 campyo...@me.com wrote: > A friend and I did the Seattle to Portland ride this past weekend (205 > miles in either one or two days), and we were both surprised to see a > number of riders on electric bikes. > > I haven’t done many large cycling events since the rise in popularity of > electric bikes. When I did large-scale rides like STP pre-COVID, everybody > would have been on a regular, human-powered bike. So seeing powered bikes > on a “cycling” event struck us as a little strange. > > What is everyone’s experience with this? I’ll admit I am a little > skeptical about combining electric- and human-powered bikes in the same > event, but that’s probably a reflection of my cycling history. The events I > usually ride, which are mostly RUSA-sanctioned randonneuring, would > definitely not allow any kind of powered bike. > > What do YOU think? Should electric bikes be allowed on events like > RAGBRAI, STP, centuries, etc.? What limits would you impose, if any? Or > should they have their own events? > > Interested to hear what the group thinks. > > --Eric Norris > campyo...@me.com > Insta: @CampyOnlyGuy > YouTube: YouTube.com/CampyOnlyGuy > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/3291ea52-7901-42bb-bacb-6dc20445e7f4n%40googlegroups.com.
