I’ve seen numerous recent viewpoints and articles about e-bikes and their use on our wonderful bike trails. While I completely agree that proper etiquette and safety on the bike trails is critical to ensuring that everyone has an enjoyable experience, I am in disagreement with those painting e-bike riders as the villains. In fact, my worst experience on the Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail occurred when a pack of inconsiderate, middle-aged men riding regular road bikes came flying through at 18 mph or so riding three across and refusing to yield to those coming the other way. They came within a foot of a woman pushing her baby in a carriage and almost hit my handlebars without even trying to slow down.
I own both an e-bike and a road bike. I really don’t drive either one any faster most of the time, and my e-bike is also set to limit the power that can be accessed. I then use the lowest of four power settings when on the trails. I do like to ride 15-18 mph when I can, but not when I am close to others. What we really need are manners and a reasonable uniform speed limit that can be legally enforced with reasonable means, if the desire is there, versus discrimination on the type of bike someone rides. That would be like saying I can’t drive a certain type of car down the highway just because it’s capable of hitting an unsafe speed. The share of e-bikes on the road is only going to grow over time, and it would be terribly unfair to prevent more and more people from enjoying the trails that their tax dollars helped build.
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