Pocono Mountain Skiing

[bauerb]

I am ok with e-bikes on trails making cycling accessible to those who might not otherwise be able to cycle. I am not ok with yahoos dressed in full Enduro gear with boomboxes tearing down the single-track yelling at runners to get out of the way...especially when these are fully capable people who simply lack the commitment to pedal under their own power...and I am not talking about downhill trails at a resort, I am talking about XC trails. yes I have a strong opinion about this due to previously referenced experiences in NJ. it may just be an NJ problem...people drive the same way.

here in MT if I was in the backcountry and someone came bombing past me from the opposite direction with a boombox on their e-bike I would think: sweet, I won't encounter a grizzly today!

[Montana St Alum]

In Bozeman, we used to share trails with hikers, bikes, motorcycles and horses. I think that is now on alternating days, or it was the last time I was there.

[TallGrass]

I had to stop for some therapy. My foot was on fire with about 3 miles to go. It helped enough to get most of the way back relatively pain free.

Nice thing of winter/snow activities is there's plenty of I of R-I-C-E available in situ. Pre-apologies for the below tangent...

PA also does not allow motor vehicles in the GL and specifically lists "E Mountain Bikes" as not allowed( which of course is a hot topic: is a an e-bike a motorcycle or bicycle?) ... am biased due to bad experiences encountering people on e-bikes on single track in New Jersey. ... I am ok with e-bikes on trails making cycling accessible to those who might not otherwise be able to cycle. I am not ok with yahoos dressed in full Enduro gear with boomboxes tearing down the single-track yelling at runners to get out of the way...especially when these are fully capable people who simply lack the commitment to pedal under their own power...

E-bikes have motors. Electric motors. Vehicles with motors aren't allowed. I think it's silly not to allow them, but they are in that category of motorized vehicles. Those regs seem to be slowly easing around the country. Here in Utah, if you're over 65 or handicapped, you can ride an E-bike on singletrack. In another few years, I expect it'll open to everyone. ... My wife hates being passed by young guys on e-bikes when she's riding. She figures if a 69 year old woman can pedal up to 10,000 feet under her own power, they can too. I'm pretty agnostic on the whole thing.

E-bikes are not bicycles, imo, though this can be debated, but they are motorized vehicles. Pretty cut and dry. Non-motorized trails are not for them.

If history rhymes, E-bikes will follow the low-power cycles route. In the '60s they grew in popularity blurring lines between bicycles ("human" speeds) and motor-cycles (exceeds human power), that in order to homologate and enforce standards were needed. Cue the multi-state Vehicle Equipment Safety Commission covering a range of things like: VESC-1 Test Procedures for New Tires ... VESC-8 ... Motorcyclists' Eye Protection (mark common on motorcycle helmet face shields) ... VESC-17, Construction and Equipment of Mopeds https://vesc.org/vesc-standards/



VESC-17 defined "Moped-- means a motor driven cycle... 2-3 wheels, foot pedals, max 2hp, max 50cc, max 30mph, automatic transmission" (condensed)
https://vesc.org/wp-content/uploads/202 ... Mopeds.pdf

Note that a "moped" has by definition a MO(tor) and PED(als), despite how some misuse the term. While many states rolled with VESC-17, some adopted or modified their own state statute such as using 3.5hp, 125cc (to encompass low-power 4-strokes, not just 50cc common to 2-strokes), ditched "pedals", used 25mph, or other +, -, or change as a search of your actual state statute will reflect. ALSO, some state statutes explicitly state "motorized bicycles" are not "motor vehicles" hence legal to use bike paths where motorcycles can not.

WHY THOSE SPECS? Think of a one-leg amputee. A "motorized-bicycle" allows them to ride with two-leg folk, but as such needs to "ride with that heard" and statutes have to "pick a number" for it not to be 'unconstitutionally vague' and thus toothless. Argue what the top speed should be for kids to Tour de France riders, they picked the above or similar thresholds.

Likewise, 2-3 wheels historically covered motorcycles, sidecars, and trikes, but the latter has seen new 3-wheel vehicles that do/don't fit such as the Polaris Slingshot** and CanAm Ryker* hence a new class. If it has a saddle you sit astride and has handlebars it's a *motorcycle and follows those equipment and operation regs (M-license, 1 headlight, helmet, small plate), whereas if it has seatbelts, seats, steering wheel it's an **autocycle following car regs (regular license, 2 headlights, big plates, etc).

As gas prices rose, there was a renaissance in fuel efficiency, and those little "clip-on" motors for bicycles became vogue, and where there's motors there's hotrodding. So you have "kids" hopping them up, derestricting, etc. until they'd be doing 35, 40, 50+mph around town and with traffic yet no brake lights, mirrors, turn signals, proper brakes, and so on. This led to equipment tickets, fines, and confiscations.

The same goes for "e-bikes" which were the Wild West law-wise because they had not IC motors thus no displacement, horsepower, etc. So new laws came into define and limit based on kW or other standards. Some advocate "if it has 2 wheels and an electric motor, it's an e-bike and can go anywhere bicycles can." To those I would point to the H-D Livewire which I can attest will go 0-60mph in 3sec and 60-100mph in a couple more, and due to traction control, "anti-wheelie programs" (to avoid a looping backflip on the spot with a throttle whack), and other tech makes it easier for a rider to have more between their legs than between their ears.
https://www.cyclenews.com/2020/08/artic ... -review-2/

"Is this an E-bike?"


The USFS/BLM lands I've visited generally restrict by these classes, in order of dominance of access:
1. "Hikers" (logo) for foot traffic including skis, snowshoes, etc. (and wheelchairs even if impractical, with hand-crank trike bikes "interesting")
2. Horses and pack animals, occasionally I've seen trails for only horses, no hikers nor bicycles allowed
3. Bicycles
4. E-bikes (new)
5. Motorcycles, includes street legal, dual-sport (on/off highway), and trail bikes (off highway only)
6. ATVs, front and rear (pillion) seating
7. UTVs, wider than ATVs due to side-by-side seating
8. 4x4, sometimes with added restrictions like Short Wheelbase and or High Clearance
9. 2WD unpaved, ala RVs and trailers
10. 2WD paved (Prius's, Priuses, Prii, @$@#!)

1-2 is common to nearly every "path" including "Wilderness".
Add in 3 outside of Wilderness and some USFS/BLM lands.
4 & 5 are usually added together with 4 separate from 3 (if 5, 4 is fine).
6 gets added on some Motorized Trails (purple on NatGeo maps) such as Rainbow Trail in Colorado's Sangres which have width restrictions such as 48 inches
7 for wider that 6 but not enough for 8
8 minimum of 9-foot width (think parking space)
9 flat and straight enough to be serviced by graders and other equipment
10 enough use or otherwise justify solid surface
X. Mono-wheels, aka one-wheel electric skateboards, I've yet to see any signage but would group them with e-bikes.



YIELDING
Some, like this article's author, think foot traffic should yield to (e-)bikes because
"Although mountain bikes aren't wild animals, our speed is often uncontrollable. Riding and living in San Diego, I have little choice where I can brake. The terrain is often too loose or rocky to stop in a short distance, and with tight, blind corners, it's often easier for hikers to see us, than vice versa."
which is requiring others to control their actions because the biker can't -- simply put if you can't control yourself (or your bike) it is up to you to keep away from others, not them away from you. Moreover, it violates the Basic Speed Law (of not operating a vehicle faster than one can control) which supercedes speed limits.

One issue with E-bikes is they are harder to detect, and thus enforce, compared to gas/diesel-powered vehicles, and lack license plates to record by any fleeing. Aside from taxes, I'm sure this is why some states tag ATV/UTVs, and others require displayed permits for out-of-state ones.

The "one" thing I and many horses like about E-bikes is they are quiet, versus hearing a RZR or two-stroke way on the other side of the valley. Horses seem less spooked same as by bicycles. The flipside is when E-bikes are going at higher speeds like motorcycles can where a little exhaust can warn you if one is oncoming around a blind corner or possibly about to overtake you from behind.

IMHO, I think any e-bike capable of more than say 15-20mph should have a visible plate or permit visible to the rear, as well as "motorized bicycle" equipment (reflectors, head/tail/brake-lights, speedo, appropriate brakes, horn/chime, possibly turn sigs) and similar to trail bikes (off-highway motorcycles). Likewise, they need to be grouped with motorcycles as far as access, not bicycles. I'm fine with Low-Power E-bikes on paved bicycle paths provided the follow the same rules and restrictions (e.g. speed). I do not favor those over 65 being allowed to use them where others can not since they can simply walk -- it may limit speed but it does not limit "access." By contrast, I'm fine with anyone with a disabled plate/placard using Low-Power E-bikes outside Wilderness (fed term) provided they can also be pedaled if/when the battery dies.

I do hope there come to be federal standards and regs regarding e-bikes rather than a mess of different state, county, and local laws and codes, not just for non-users, but also to streamline things for e-bike riders.