Pedaling e-bikes on the trails and tern, tern, tern

Sometimes when I’m bicycling on the local trails or roadway shoulders, at a leisurely pace, another cyclist will roll by me like I’m standing still.  They’re typically not spandexed road bikers and it doesn’t look like they’re working up much of a sweat. They’re just cruising along faster than I am. And I don’t think it’s a lack of Geritol, or, as my pharmacist friend Bill once asked me when I mentioned decreasing energy levels: “Have you looked at the calendar lately Dennis?”

It – the faster rider thing – has happened enough over the last few years that I now immediately start looking for the telltale reason for their seemingly effortless speed. The clue usually comes in the guise of a rectangular black box on the frame behind or under the bicycle seat or in an oversized hub on the front wheel. Extra cables factor into my deduction.

It’s all about electric motors.  There are an increasing number of electric bikes, or e-bikes, on the market.  Many of them offer an assist to riders to add extra power to their pedaling. That’s welcome when riding into a headwind or going up hills.  We have plenty of the former in Sussex County. Very few of the latter.

The power on some e-bikes kicks in only when the rider is pedaling.  A switch on the handlebar gives the rider control over how much power assist is provided.  

On other e-bike models, the rider can sit back and let the motor do all of the work without pedaling.  Of course they require more power and will use up the juice in the rechargeable batteries much faster. Dave, an avid road biker far from ready for an assist bicycle, said the e-bikes typically have a governor on their motor to keep them from exceeding 20 miles per hour.

All of this came up recently when I saw the first line on new trail etiquette signs that have been posted by the state along many of the local trails.  That first line reads: NO MOTORIZED VEHICLES. So, what about the e-bikes with their electric motors?

Well, as we all know, there are exceptions to almost every rule and e-bikes are the exception to this rule, within certain limitations of course.

I dialed up DelDOT’s CR McLeod and DNREC’s Mike Globetti – public relations folks – to help clarify the rules.  Some of our local trails – like the Lewes-Georgetown Trail – are under DelDOT jurisdiction, while others, like the Junction-Breakwater and Gordons Pond trails are under DNREC’s Division of Parks jurisdiction. CR’s answer was short and sweet, Mike’s answer a little more detailed.

Here’s what CR wrote: “DelDOT permits e-bikes on our trails. We define an e-bike as a ‘bicycle’ so long as the e-bike motor is under 750w, has a maximum speed of 20 mph, and has operable pedals. The same rules of the road apply to both e-bikes and human-powered bicycles.”

Mike agreed with CR’s assessment and added: “Delaware Code for DNREC’s Division of Parks & Recreation defines bicycles in a similar way: ‘Bicycle’ shall include that certain class of vehicles which are exclusively human-powered by means of foot pedals, which the driver normally rides astride, which have not in excess of three wheels and which may be commonly known as unicycles, bicycles and tricycles. The term ‘bicycle’ also includes a two- or three-wheeled vehicle with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of less than 750 watts (1 horsepower), whose maximum speed on a paved level surface, when powered solely by such motor while ridden by an operator who weighs 170 pounds, is less than 20 miles per hour.”  Mike also noted a section of law that prohibits motorized scooters, mopeds or similar devices on trails. “DNREC gets frequent questions about Segways, golf carts, ATVs, etc. – none of these are allowed on Parks’ trails.”

So there you have it.  It has nothing to do with Geritol, iron-poor blood, or calendars.  It’s electric bikes and as long as their riders are operating responsibly and courteously and cruising at no more than 20 mph, they’re welcome on the trails.

To everything . . . .

Tern, tern, tern.  The ‘60s rock band The Byrds recorded a song based on biblical verse called “Turn, Turn, Turn.” Their song and their name, however,  weren’t about the beautiful white and sharp-wing shorebirds known as terns.

A group of us spent time last weekend on a marshy island in Tangier Sound – southwest of Crisfield – known as Fox Island.  Other than a few small sandy beaches and a former hunting club structure, the treeless island is literally all marsh.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation is all about conservation and saving the Chesapeake from environmental degradation but there’s not much it can do about Fox Island.  Predominant southwest winds are steadily chewing away at the rapidly eroding island. In the meantime, the foundation uses the Fox Island facility as an educational training camp for students, educators and others interested in the Chesapeake’s natural order.

The wind blew with intensity the whole time we were there, first from the northwest in the direction of Smith Island and then from the southwest in the direction of Tangier Island.  Relentless is all I can say.

Still, we made the most of it, exploring the island’s perimeter on natural seagrass matted pathways, crabbing successfully with chicken neck-baited handlines, fishing along the island’s edges, immersing ourselves totally in nature.

The fishing part is where we encountered the terns.  Woody, Salley, Thomas and Nellie were about to give up on fishing when Salley spotted birds working at the island’s northern tip.

They were terns, by the dozen, and we soon found ourselves walking, unwittingly, on a tern rookery complete with clutches of black-spotted brown eggs in dried grass nests on the ground.  We were literally, almost, walking on eggshells, and stepped carefully to avoid crushing any of the birds’ handiwork.

My friend Albert told me he read an article recently conjecturing that tern populations are in danger because islands like Fox are going away.  The terns apparently prefer these islands as rookeries. They are isolated and host few predators other than occasional sea gulls that try to feast on the eggs by running the gauntlet of jet fighter-like terms intent on protecting their young.

Thomas reeled in one throwback striper before we all decided to leave the terns to their nesting grounds and resume crabbing.

A final note, on ibis

A few weeks ago rain soaked a low section of field along Kings Highway outside Lewes.  A flock of glossy ibis seized the opportunity to wade and feed in the sheet water they like.  Flooding rains bring worms and bugs to the surface of the ground.

I stopped and took photographs, including the one included with this column.

It’s the time of year for small flocks of the curved-billed dark shorebirds to visit – spring and summer.  In the summertime of the last few years small flocks of white ibis have also been seen frequently around the marshes up and down the Delaware coast.

Get outside and enjoy the amazement of nature. It rarely disappoints.