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Isn't that in the mission statement for this forum?

This is all too true. When you drop gears I think your ego inflates proportionally by a value equal to the gears lost. I am working on funding for a scientific study to back my hypothesis, but until then it is merely conjecture.

Following up on this one: I went out on a ride with my friend and his new E-bike. I have changed my opinion of them drastically after doing so. I still have no desire to ride one, but it was great being able to get on a bike with my friend who has not ridden in 5-10 years and he was easily able to pace with me for 15ish miles. I rode my single speed at Brushy and never felt like he could easily just speed off without me. I also noticed that I spun out more on hills than he ever did (not sure what mode he was riding in). The e-bike delivered very steady/even reliable power that never broke loose once on the dry dusty scree out there while I spun out at least once every steep climb. I can easily say he did less damage to the trail than I did yesterday. I can also say skill and fitness is worth far more than that electric motor, but it did make things interesting and really leveled the playing field. I can not speak to the legality of it, but I no longer think they do any more damage to a trail than we do. I can also happily say that I would love to go on a ride with him again. Is it a bit of a cop out for someone who just does not want to work to get in great shape? Yeah, but my friend has no where near the time I do to ride and it was freaking fun to both get out and push our pace for a really solid 15 miles and both be whooped by the end of it. That was much more enjoyable for both of us than what could have been 3 grueling miles of suffering for him and the equivalent amount of time waiting around for me. I think just like One Wheels this needs to be addressed at an official capacity by the state/city, but I for one am on board. It gets more people into a sport I love and ultimately grows it and hopefully the volume of available trails with it. I will also add that while we were riding he was discussing getting a second non motorized bike as well which tells me that the e-bike is really just a gateway drug.

10-4. What if I already hired security to patrol the area? Okay, it was a pan handler I hired, but same difference.

Sort of like vegetarians

Will my wife be as mad, less mad, or more mad that I bought another bike online vs in the shop?

It was a joke hidden in hyperbole You never have to ask if someone rides a single speed, they'll tell you within the first 30 seconds of meeting them....... 😁

I didnt know the SS hate was so strong here. Should just combine that with ebike hate. I am going to start riding an E-SS now.

No. It is time to have a discussion about banning assholes. It does not matter what they are 'on'. An asshole causes trouble no matter what they are 'on'. Even 'on' foot. The trouble is it can be hard to identify assholes to ban them. It is much easier to identify / ban somebody by what they are 'on'. Some of the biggest trouble makers at Walnut Creek are 'on' foot. They start most conversations with "FU" so they are easy to spot. But they could go into hiding by keeping their mouth shut.

What I got out of that story is that single speeders are extremely damaging to trails. 🙂

Never would I have thought that I would have some input on this issue. 4 months ago my Dr prescribed a handicap placard for me. It was really hard to accept the fact that I would be needing one, personally. I am super grateful that he did. Walking some distances does me in, pretty easily. Middle of my treatment, I was dropped off at the front door, cause all the handicap spots were taken, I didn't make it a 100 feet before I had issues, enough issues where I was admitted to the hospital for the night. So 5 weeks post treatments, and I still use mine when I can. Walking still does me in. I'm getting better, luckily. What you would see as I walk in, I look pretty healthy. What you don't see is my feeding tube concealed under my shirt, my throat so raw and enflamed that I can not swallow, my inability to speak a lot of times, or the fact that my neck and shoulder barely move in certain directions. Prior to this I was just your average late 40's mountain bike rider. I would think nothing of riding 20-30 miles at RPR. Walnut was a cake walk most of the time. So just because someone is not using a wheel chair or walker, doesn't mean that all is well with them, or that they don't need that little bit of assistance. It's the whole wear my shoes for day, and lets compare...…...

I love a great Saison, but I should have know better than trying this. By far the most bitter beer I've tasted - horrible! Unless of course you like bitter, sour beer. Fortunately I only bought one bottle.

I have a placard for my wife, but we always try to take open regular spots near the front if possible so that we can leave the handicapped spots open for others that may need them. Seems like common sense to me, but... There are some people that I see at the gym every morning that have DV license plates and have the right to use these spots. Without fail, they take up the few spots available, even though there are plenty of open spots RIGHT NEXT TO THEM! By the time I'm leaving the gym 90 minutes later, the parking lot is filling up and those spots would be nice to have for people that really need them. The people that are taking the spots are NOT in wheelchairs or on crutches. That doesn't mean they don't need to be up front, but they can take the spot next to the one they grab and only have to walk 10 extra feet. Sorry, rant over.

In Hillsboro OR visiting my brother after a road ride adventure. Smoothest IPA I’ve ever had.

I agree that people should try different things. But after they have ridden a trail, I think they should make their own decision if the want to ride it again. I find that a trail I may not like today is epic another day. A lot of that depends on what condition I am in. Right now I think Walnut may be too challenging for me.

I have a full squish, a hardtail, a SS hardtail and a fully rigid urban SS. The urban SS gets the most mileage but mostly because it is my knock around bike and it does the longer exercise rides. The full squish gets most of its action on the EB and road trips like Bentonville. The hardtail is just for fun. The hardtail SS is the favorite bike of the bunch. More fun than a big travel bike (for me). Most SS riders have multiple bikes, I'd be willing to bet that most singlespeeds are bought as second bikes, so there is a fallacy that someone will tell you in 30 seconds that they ride one because they don't always ride one. Also, I am skeptical of people with only one bike 😉 What we all need to do is come together as a community and embrace everyone's bikes and stop beating each other up. Except fixies. Screw them.

Double whammy....😬

My wifes placard is for a heart condition, she can NOT walk distances. I see these people park in the handicapped spots, then go in and hop on a treadmill at a quick pace.

This is a bike community after all. Its like the Rule 34 for biking. If it exists in biking then there is someone to hate on it. Gears, wheel size, suspension....

I'm trying to figure out how to enforce this new "Ban all SS'rs" It wouldn't be effective enough to just mandate that all MTB's have a derailleur. there would have to be some type of analytics software that show recent movement, then uploaded to the authorities? Of course the fines levied should be severe enough as well. A lot to ponder here

This is flawed. To put my car in drive I have to depress the brake first.

Maybe I am biased but everyone should ride every trail. Not doing so is like those bonewipes go to dinner with and look at a menu and say "oh, I can't eat this and I only eat that." Or the people that go to Spain and seek out a McDonald's. Ride every trail just like you should try every cuisine. I'm headed to have Nepalese food in an hour. Expand your tastes, try new things. Pedernales is a great trail and people should ride there. The worst possible outcome of riding there is "eh, it's not for me..." But you got out. You rode a trail. You experienced something beyond the keyboard. And maybe you learned something. Some rides are better than others, but I have never had a bad ride in my life, just a few trails that I will never ride again.

When singlespeeds are outlawed, only outlaws will have singlespeeds.

I commend your valiant attempt to get this thread back on topic.

LOVE Parquet Courts. Here's a full concert inside of Mellow Johnny's in ATX during SXSW. It's a several years old so it's mostly just their first album.

That'd be the best day of my life

I can confirm the FB post is gone. I have also deactivated my FB account and had to reactivate it. In the near future I hope to delete it completely. I hate to sound like a grumpy old man. I would rather just fade into obscurity while I ride my bike.

You mean a car like this? Because the original "argument (?)" was the definition of a bike being that it is pedal powered. So I thought it was a brilliant statement.

This has been my experience as well. I've seen more sh*tty behavior from Strava users stroking their e-peen than I've ever seen ebikes in the wild. This includes runners as well. To me it's more of a clash of end user personalities. I'm always down for putting more people on bikes, but we live in a country that's not down for putting much money into anything for the common good. Bike access to overcrowded trails will ultimately an issue.

Many treat these plates as an entitlement. They choose to ignore the fact that you’re only supposed to use the space when the person with the handicap is in the vehicle. Pisses me off after growing up watching a senior family member struggle many times when I was young to get his daughter with cerebral palsy in/out of a car because some jerk had parked in the handicap spot. Try getting a person in a vehicle while parked on a high curb with heavy traffic on the opposite side. The real “people are self entitled assholes” part is you can and many do get these for non-physical issues!? People seriously could not believe that my parents had never applied for one because I have an autistic sibling. He has no physical reason to need one. People these days really truly think they should be given this as a “perk” for having an autistic child. Call them on it and see the backlash of social media’s “they have it hard” mafia. People suck. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

People, are a problem.

So what are you buying?

Stuck a link up on my site for additional coverage. Whenever anyone has these events they should ping me, I can amplify the message to the broader community. Every mention helps.

every day

Excellent write up. Thanks for taking the time. I laughed out loud at "As I'm ascending this marvel of modern trail building I'm hearing the thunder of afternoon storms brewing over the mountain I came down..." Because I was picturing the cliche movie scenes about the poor sap hero that is having a terrible day asking, "what else could go wrong?" when, of course, it starts to rain on him.

Best $5 ever spent. 🥓🚲👍 Loaded for Short Bus ride to 10K feet, Winsor Trailhead, Santa Fe More about what NOT to do on that ride, Click HERE 🙄

Starting a dry build 0n the Klunker before paint.

Back 40. Sidewall cut off Ledges. Amazing temps up there last week

I haven't ridden that in a long time, probably since they built the subdivision up on top. When I first started riding there it was almost always dry. I used to climb up it on my bike and that was actually more fun than going down it. The wet started when they started building up top and it's been wet ever since. I think some of it may be runoff from people watering their yards. I have slid on my ass getting soaked a few times while walking the dogs out there. People are unbelievable "let me take this beautiful work of nature and fuck it all up with some stupid handholds so my entitled ass can get up it". Thousand of years for erosion to create that and some idiot fucks it up in a matter of minutes. Stupidity and entitlement make me want to get off this rock ASAP! I was totally blown away by how amazing it was the first time I was ever up there, to be able to stand in something like that really lets you know how insignificant we really are. Pics included.

Bike parts are gender neutral. Perhaps you meant lady bits?

What would Bart do? Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Your assertion that an e-bike is "pedal propelled" because it won't move without the pedals is flawed. One example illustrating the flaw: the fact that my car also does not move without the pedals does not make it "pedal propelled". Whether an e-bike is "pedal propelled", and by extension, whether it meets the definition of a bicycle, is a little more nuanced. It *can* be pedal propelled, but it can also be propelled by a motor. However, it is not the first vehicle with this property, such vehicles in the past have been classified as mopeds. The main difference between an e-bike and a traditional moped is that an e-bike's motor is controlled by force on the pedals instead of by a hand-operated control. I view the method by which the motor is controlled as a triviality, and therefore, still consider e-bikes as a type of moped. Of course this is all just pedantic wankery, as none of these technicalities or semantic gymnastics have anything to do with whether e-bikes should be ridden on any particular trail.

So is it time to have a discussion about banning single speeds? :)