Posted by: shore_flea
Yesterday I was getting set to ride down Dale's/Forever After and guy on e-bike is zooming UP Dale's! WTF, really, REALLY bad idea, dude, even if it was a Monday morning.
Had I started riding down a few minutes earlier....
Considering that some people who promote ebikes routinely post videos of themselves climbing up the descent trails, it is not surprise that this type of assjacketry (technical term) is occurring.
Again it demonstrates that the problem is more in the application and use, rather than the technology itself. Seeing that the ebike promoters have been so quick to compare ebikes to the advent of suspension and disc brakes (and snowboards, and all sorts of other things), it seems appropriate to consider what has come along with the maturation of MTB technology....namely accepting a certain level of restrictions on how they are to be used. For example, there are many places were bikes are explicitly forbidden (i.e. Stump Lake loop between May and September). If one wishes to compare ebikes to other technologies (as so often occurs) then one must naturally invite a consideration of restrictions that are placed upon them. Kiteboarding for example....,look at Hookipa. The addition of a speed-generating sail has required a division between the exclusively paddle-powered wave riders to the east, and the sails to the west.
Seeing that ebike promoters have also likened their technology to snowboards, let's consider that. If a new snowboard was developed with a motor assist that allowed you to ascend the mountain, would it make sense in ANY PLACE to go up the runs that people are descending on skis and non-motorized snowboards? I think that is a fairly acceptable comparison, and I think the answer is obvious.
So, yup, it's likely only a matter of time before we have some sort of collision between an uphill motor-assisted rider and a descender.....ooops wait, I think that something like this may already have happened with a recent event in Squamish where two people on ebikes reportedly smacked into each other on the Mashiter as they were cooking along. Could just as easily have happened to two pedal-powered riders, but with the addition of the motor, there was (without argument) less time to avoid the collision.
Anyways, still waiting for some responsible leadership on this.