Althouse: "You’re 24 dude. You don’t need an e bike. I might get one when I’m 80..."

August 10, 2020

"You’re 24 dude. You don’t need an e bike. I might get one when I’m 80..."

"... or can’t ride a normal bike anymore because of injury, but until then I’m not taking the easy way out."

AND: Here's a 5-year-old mountain biking.

25 comments:

tim maguire said...: Good for him. Trail riding on an e-bike is like sailing in a motor boat--you're not doing it right.

I hate e-bikes in the bike lanes. They start more slowly, so they get in your way and you have to pass them. Then their top speed is higher so they pass you and get in your away again at the next light. We play leapfrog all the way home. I want to shove them in a ditch and seriously think they should be barred from bike lanes because they're motor vehicles. Let them work it out with the cars.; 8/10/20, 8:30 AM
Friendo said...: One of my (female) mountain biking buddies has succumbed to this madness. She now hums a ditty as we all suffer during the brutal climbs. Infuriating.; 8/10/20, 8:38 AM
Begonia said...: I'm an "old school" mountain biker and I have to admit, seeing people using e-bikes on the trails in Madison (like at Blackhawk Ski Club, where I know you go sometimes to walk) niggles me a bit. I understand their appeal in a place like Colorado or California, where you would have to climb, climb, climb, to go down, down, down. But here in Wisconsin my gut reaction is to think, "c'mon, if you are out here for fitness, just do it".

I'm a 40-something lady with a bit of belly fat from working at home during COVID. Last week I was on my road bike, coming through the UW-Arboretum, sweating and going as hard as I could up the hill towards the Visitor's Center. A young skinny guy on an e-mountain bike passed me. I was definitely annoyed. Dude--If I don't have an e-assist, you definitely don't need the e-assist.

All that said, while I have a visceral gut reaction to be annoyed at e-bikers, logically, I know that that e-bikes lower the barrier to entry to the sport. More people biking is a good thing, not a bad thing. The easy flow mountain bike trails at Blackhawk (which I find too easy) are extraordinarily popular with families and kids. So, if something like e-bikes (or easy flow trails) is popular and makes biking more attractive, that's a good thing. Even if I am annoyed.; 8/10/20, 8:38 AM
Ralph L said...: Simon Cowell says, don't try a wheelie on an e-bike.; 8/10/20, 8:39 AM
Gordy said...: I was a lot lazier at 24 than I am today. I can also handle pain better now.; 8/10/20, 8:42 AM
tim maguire said...: Begonia said... while I have a visceral gut reaction to be annoyed at e-bikers, logically, I know that that e-bikes lower the barrier to entry to the sport.

I love hiking the White Mountains, but I refuse to bother with Mt Washington because there's a parking lot on top. The climbing is 90% of the point I can't imagine anything more deflating than coming over the crest after a good hard climb and seeing an obese mid-Western family spilling out of their range rover. You may as well put an escalator on Mt. Everest.

I feel the same way about e-bikes. It may lower the barrier to entry, but, like flag football, it does it by ripping the heart out of the sport and turning it into some cheap faded bastardized version of itself.; 8/10/20, 8:58 AM
mikee said...: That 5 year old mountain bikier - here's wishing him the skill and luck to be a mountain biker when he is 24, without injuries of a severity to stop him from enjoying the ride.; 8/10/20, 9:06 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "like at Blackhawk Ski Club, where I know you go sometimes to walk"

I go there to mountain bike! And I don't use an e-bike.; 8/10/20, 9:19 AM
Michael said...: They are an abomination and unclean and we should smite their riders.; 8/10/20, 9:20 AM
D.D. Driver said...: But here in Wisconsin my gut reaction is to think, "c'mon, if you are out here for fitness, just do it".

But if I was in it only for the fitness, I would just stay in my basement and hit the stationary bike. There's far more to biking than just fitness. My wife and I are in our forties, we go on weekend ebike rides that are 40, 50, 60 miles. This is not something that we would do on a standard bicycle.

You still seem caught up on "needing" e-assist. If you don't *need* it, you shouldn't have it. But, it's not just about needing it, it's about wanting to go faster and farther. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that skinny dude wanting to ride faster. (Or, if there is, please explain it to me because I see nothing wrong with it.)

If you get over your hang-up you should borrow one and try it our for a few days. I guarantee you will love it.; 8/10/20, 9:22 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "The easy flow mountain bike trails at Blackhawk (which I find too easy) are extraordinarily popular with families and kids."

Yeah, it would be dumb to use an electric bike to do those climbs. I love the way the place is designed so you have winding paths through the woods that switch back enough to make the climb part of the enjoyment and not more like a matter of paying a price to earn a descent.

But the e-bike is good for letting people who are quite old or who have physical debilities keep participating. What's absurd is for a younger person — like the 24-year-old who asked the question at Reddit — to avoid pushing himself and improving his fitness.

Also, if you have an e-bike, you can't be expecting people to stop and get over to allow you to pass.

An e-bike is also justified when people of different abilities are going out together. More women might go out if they had this ability to keep up with their male partner. And when a trail is long and involves a climb to get back, having electric assistance can make the weaker partner more willing to head out. I know there are trails I don't go on because I worry about feeling bad on the way back. But I have the trails I do and I do them with a nonelectric bike. I have an electric bike, but it's not a mountain bike, so I know how much it can help and how it transforms the experience (in good ways and bad).; 8/10/20, 9:29 AM
rehajm said...: I want to shove them in a ditch...seeing people using e-bikes on the trails...niggles me a bit.

Now you know how normal people feel about shithead bicyclists.; 8/10/20, 9:34 AM
Begonia said...: 1) I apologize Ann! I didn't realize you had a mountain bike. I knew about your e-bike purchase so you could keep up with Meade. I totally understand that feeling that you are describing and the reason for the purchase.

2) DD Driver: I have ridden e-assist bikes. They are fun. Did you know that the B-cycle bike share in Madison is all e-bikes? They are everywhere in Madison. As I said, I know that my gut reaction is my gut reaction. No one needs to listen to my gut reaction, or make decisions based on my gut reaction. Let me hate the skinny guy on the e mountain bike for a bit. Then, once I'm done hating the guy, I will admit that he is having fun and as long as he isn't endangering anyone, I shouldn't care about what he is riding.; 8/10/20, 9:51 AM
Nichevo said...: Shorter AA: An e-bike is also justified FOR ME!

Don't have one, but if I bike it's not for the exercise, it's for transportation. As a means of transportation, e-bikes seem to be efficient and effective. (Very popular with the delivery boys in NYC.) So if I have the choice and I have (say, only room for) one bike, it would be an e-bike.

I assume that you can pedal an e-bike if you wish and that the weight penalty is not extreme. ?; 8/10/20, 10:51 AM
Nichevo said...: Oh and screw bike lanes, that's what streets are for.; 8/10/20, 10:51 AM
William50 said...: From the Blackhawk ski club web page,

Before you go

Drinking water
No E-bikes permitted
No Fat biking allowed in winter
No Fee required
No Lift service
No Night riding allowed
No Pump track
Restrooms; 8/10/20, 11:01 AM
rcocean said...: I'm seeing more perfectly healthy middle-aged people using E-bikes. lazy bastards.; 8/10/20, 11:31 AM
PM said...: Where I hike, they're looked on as pretty wuss to the big-calfers.; 8/10/20, 11:34 AM
Pete said...: I converted my regular bike to an e-bike - partly because Althouse rides one but mainly because it was a chore to bike otherwise. I don't ride my e-bike for fitness or as a means to get somewhere. I ride my e-bike because it's fun.; 8/10/20, 11:39 AM
Ann Althouse said...: “ From the Blackhawk ski club web page,”

Please provide a link.

I can’t find a page of rules, nor do I see a sign there with those rules.

“No fee” is certainly wrong. It’s members only.

I’ve seen some old people with ebikes.; 8/10/20, 1:46 PM
Begonia said...: Ann, you're right--must be a different Blackhawk Ski club because:
1) Fat biking is definitely allowed in winter; there are some trails at Blackhawk specifically groomed for that purpose
2) As you say, it's members only
3) There are "pump tracks" everywhere at Blackhawk. Especially the Roller Coaster trail.
4) I wouldn't call the smelly portapotty a restroom.

I have also seen old people with ebikes at Blackhawk which is why I brought it up. But it's quite possibly that ebikes aren't technically allowed and no one bothers to enforce it.; 8/10/20, 1:59 PM
Anonymous said...: A lot of professional or very serious amateur mountain bike racers use ebikes for training. They can do climbs without going seriously anaerobic, and get more time on the downhill and technical sections and can hone their bike control skills while still getting endurance work in.; 8/10/20, 4:26 PM
Fustigator said...: Dirtbike rider here. Have ridden in the Colorado mountains for 46 years now. I view MTB ebikes as the trend of the future for dirtbiking and mountainbiking. Seen plenty of MTBers going UP steep rock infested singletrACK trails here in Colorado...you know how?...they are walking and carrying their bikes. Dirtbikes go right past them. MTB e-bike with dirtbike technology will make it all do-able. And it will still be a hell of a workout but you will cover more distance and have more fun.

I can tell you that dirtbiking is a huge workout on difficult singletrack and we can cover 35-65 miles per day. May be less work if I am riding an e-powered bike of some sort that is 60-80 lbs rather than 250 lbs for a typical dirt bike.

Was recently down in the San Juans of Colorado and I can tell you that millions and millions of acres are locked away from 99.98% of the population that cannot tolerate hikes of 12-18 miles roundtrip with 4000+ feet up and 4000 ft down. E bikes will make some trails accessible to about 10% of the population as it will still require pretty solid physical fitness. Will still have millions and millions of acres locked away in Wilderness areas and Wilderness Study areas that dont allow non-assisted mountain bikes.

Why does anyone want to lock away all of the mountain scenery to just the elite hikers that are one in a thousand of our population?; 8/10/20, 6:57 PM
PluralThumb said...: " Now you know how normal people feel about shithead bicyclists. "

I'm a shithead bicyclists and I have not met a normal person yet.
The helmet is good for my shithead but my shithead makes feeling more complicated.

Felt good to type shithead a few times though.; 8/11/20, 1:40 AM
Mr. Forward said...: My favorite trail is Mobius Mountain up there along the Round River. It’s downhill all the way and you end up where you started.; 8/11/20, 4:09 AM