#!markdown
Kinda conflicted on it, but not for the reasons most people are anti e. Where
I live, a lot of power is generated by coal powered power plants with some
natural gas and wind thrown into the mix. I'm not naive enough to think that
cycling is a full 100% green industry as petro products are all over the place
on and in our bikes, to say nothing of the mining necessary for all the metal
bits. But when i walk out my door with my bike and head to the trails, there
is certainly a smidge of me that enjoys this pursuit for the fact that once
things are all made and paid, I am no longer part of that grid. I am the
motor, bike the mechanism, and together we are the machine. For the next
couple hours I am not using any fuel but the food in my pack and the fat cells
in my gut. Hippydippytrippy, sure, but it's what makes it for me. I have no
doubts that ebikes will start showing up more and more on the trails. I have
no doubt that they are (like damn near any bike designed in the general form
of the safety bicycle) a helluvalot fun to ride. If I call rubbish on anything
it'll be how courteous the user is to the trails and the trail users. Like Ben
Parker told Peter, "With great power comes great responsibility." Those are
words that the riders and manufacturers really, really need to heed in their
decision making processes.
Dec. 16, 2016, 6:59 a.m. - JT
#!markdown Kinda conflicted on it, but not for the reasons most people are anti e. Where I live, a lot of power is generated by coal powered power plants with some natural gas and wind thrown into the mix. I'm not naive enough to think that cycling is a full 100% green industry as petro products are all over the place on and in our bikes, to say nothing of the mining necessary for all the metal bits. But when i walk out my door with my bike and head to the trails, there is certainly a smidge of me that enjoys this pursuit for the fact that once things are all made and paid, I am no longer part of that grid. I am the motor, bike the mechanism, and together we are the machine. For the next couple hours I am not using any fuel but the food in my pack and the fat cells in my gut. Hippydippytrippy, sure, but it's what makes it for me. I have no doubts that ebikes will start showing up more and more on the trails. I have no doubt that they are (like damn near any bike designed in the general form of the safety bicycle) a helluvalot fun to ride. If I call rubbish on anything it'll be how courteous the user is to the trails and the trail users. Like Ben Parker told Peter, "With great power comes great responsibility." Those are words that the riders and manufacturers really, really need to heed in their decision making processes.