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lin•'s avatar

"It definitely makes riding more enjoyable,”

And that says it all. Riding. Not cycling.

And E-bikes do not make the carriage trails more enjoyable for cyclists and pedestrians.

Many E-bike riders on the carriage trails are as heedless of cyclists and pedestrians, as the drivers of other motor vehicles are on the roads.

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Winston Shaw's avatar

Today we live in a "herd" culture where "the more the merrier" is the keynote slogan. That said there still remains a substantial number of Americans who enjoy getting away from the crowds and enjoying the solace of solitude in nature. It was for these people that areas of the country were set aside as National Parks. If memory serves it was also the primary driver of the creation of Acadia National Park by George Dorr and John D Rockefeller. Both Dorr and Rockefeller were both on record as being opposed to the use of motorized vehicles on the carriage trails. While E-bikes are not powered by gasoline engines (thank God) they are most certainly "motorized". My guess is given Rockefeller's vast holdings in the petroleum industry he'd be even more opposed to electric bikes than those powered by gasoline. Years ago while driving across Canada on the Trans Canadian Highway I happened to stumble across a Canadian radio program discussing the growing problem of overcrowded Canadian National Parks. One of the participants made a statement that I felt pretty much summed up the situation. This is what he said, "The vast majority of people traveling to National Parks today are not truly nature lovers. Rather they are largely people fleeing the beehive activity of large citizens and overcrowded suburbs. They are just looking for a place to park their RV or set up their tent so they can play badminton and barbecue some steaks or hotdogs." The simple solution, he felt, was to build large urban campgrounds outside major cities to which these people could travel during their vacations. Although E-Bikes didn't exist at the time I do not doubt that he would have been willing to include some E-Bike trails in and around the parking lots. Those willing to travel under their own power would thus be free to enjoy far less crowded National Parks where nature untrammeled would be theirs to enjoy

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