When I visited Bryce Canyon National Park recently, the shared paths were crowded with electric motorcycles. They say they are e-bikes: If they can rip uphill at 20 miles per hour without pedaling, I think of them as motorcycles.
E-bikes can be class 1, 2, or 3. Class 1 provides assistance when the pedals are turned. Class 2 has a throttle that can propel the bike without pedaling. Both have a top speed of 20 mph. Class 3 bikes, also pedal-assisted, have a maximum speed of 28 mph. Only class 1 and 3 are allowed in national parks.
Friends with e-bikes tell me they like them because the pedal assistance means they can ride farther with less effort, even uphill. The bikes keep them active outdoors. I ride my bike for exercise. If I ride 12 miles on what I consider a real bike instead of 20 mph on an e-bike, we probably get the same workout.
At the Grand Canyon, by the end of the day the rim road is littered with abandoned rental e-bikes that ran out of juice. Rather than pedal a heavy bike with a useless battery, riders simply leave them on the side of the road for the rental company to retrieve.
On a recent catered mountain bike ride, one of the participants rented an e-bike so she could keep up with her husband. But the guides had to spend many hours recharging the bike before they could leave. I wonder just how practical it would have been on a multi-day trip.
I recently read a plaintive screed from a mountain biker with a moral dilemma. He has a coterie of buddies who ride. When one of them had knee surgery, that person bought an e-bike so he would not hold everyone up. The group kept riding on trails where e-bikes are banned, figuring that with 10 real riders and one e-bike, they were OK.
Over the course of time, Mr. E-bike started leaving the others behind, so they felt obligated to buy their own e-bikes while still poaching the non-e-bike trails. Was it now immoral, he wondered, because they were all riding illegally? He was advised to let his conscience be his guide.
Horses erode trails worse than bikes do, and bikes wear a trail down more than hikers. If the rationale for riding an e-bike is that it allows one to go farther, that is more trail to be worn down.
E-bikes pollute less than gasoline motorcycles. However, a human-powered bike doesn’t pollute at all—unless one counts heavy breathing.
Outdoor enthusiasts are already vying for increased access to wild lands. ATV and 4X4 owners in Utah are incensed that the BLM plans to close certain roads to them and allow (gasp) mountain bikers to have sway.
On the other hand, mountain bikers are pressuring managers of designated wilderness to allow them access to these heretofore closed trails. E-bikers are upset that many trails are still open only to analog bikes.
It’s a slippery slope. When a local area was declared a wilderness, many residents complained that now they could no longer visit. “I have bad knees: I need my ATV.” But if I cannot afford an ATV, then I need a more developed road to visit in my 4-wheel drive. If I cannot afford a 4X4, pave the road so I can drive it in my car.
In China, there is now a plan to build an escalator to the top of a mountain so that “everyone can enjoy the view.” Where is it written that everyone must be able to go everywhere by any means necessary?
A recent article in an outdoor magazine predicts that e-mountain bikes are the wave of the future, and bicycle vendors expect e-bikes to soon outsell analog bikes. If I stick with my must-pedal bike, I guess I will be considered a Luddite.
I do not suppose I really want e-bike riders to bow to me as they go by because I am doing all the pedaling myself. I would, however, appreciate it if they would not smirk as they pass. On the other hand, I guess I could refrain from yelling: “At least pretend to pedal!”
Marjorie ‘Slim’ Woodruff is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. She is an educator at Grand Canyon and doesn’t mind picking fights.
Must bicycles be allowed where people can walk? Maybe start there with your sanctimonious self-entitlement, like you’re so innocent. YOU are THE PROBLEM.
Hello Slim!
I am not a fan of the fast e-bikes on rail trails. They go way too fast where children/dogs/folks are walking, and people are biking at “normal” speeds. I do appreciate that it does get some people out that normally wouldn’t be able to but I find those people usually aren’t terrorizing anyone.
I rode my ebike 20 miles on the Rio Grande trail this week. My speed averaged 10 mph. Everyone who passed me was riding a “real” bike. I was shocked how rude the real bikers were to me. If they could have run me off the trail they would have. A couple of them tried. I am 72 years old. I have had 2 hip surgeries and a stroke. Every time I ride I feel a deep sense of freedom and gratitude that I can get out and enjoy our trails. I just didn’t realize how much I no longer belong. I guess I should stay home and die. Sorry to bother yall.
A big thanks for your important column on E-bikes. I’ve lived in GWS since 1976, through many changes and still feel so lucky to be here. I’m a walker, doing so at least 5 times a week, climbing hills and using the Rio Grand trail. I’ve always wondered why e-bikes were allowed on the trail since they are motor driven. Many times I’ve almost had a run in with an e-bike being ridden too fast, especially around curves where I know I always slow down, driving carefully when on my wonderful plain riding bicycle. What to do about this? What will it take to stop allowing e-bikes on the Rio Grande trail and similar trails? I’d be happy to help make this happen if there is even a small chance to regulate their operation. By the way, my husband was a motorcycle mechanic for 50 years in Glenwood and I also have ridden motorcycles on streets and highways in many places locally and throughout the country. We both wonder about the proliferation of E-bikes all over.
”Slim” – you should buy or rent a Class 1 e-bike and you can join the ranks of riders policing themselves on the trails. The problem is too many riders assume an aggressive e-bike riding attitude, particularly regarding speed. I’m unsure why e-bike riders cannot just mimic analog bike speeds and behavior and enjoy the assisted peddling motion without trashing everyone else’s vibe.