My husband and I are older residents of Rehoboth Beach. We have electric bikes and ride them on the walking/biking trails. Without the trails and the e-bikes, we would no longer be able to bike – after a lifetime of doing so.
We have Class 2 e-bikes which cannot exceed 20 mph. We are exceedingly careful. We never go above 10 to 12 mph when on the trails. Regular bikes routinely go faster and pass us.
When we pass walkers, we use our bells and our voices, and reduce speed significantly. We still startle people when passing, but no more than a regular cyclist would. One issue is that many, many walkers are listening to their devices and don’t hear us. As a result, we wait to pass until nothing is coming the other way, and make a very wide pass.
Our local roads are multi-use, with many rules and many signs. The signs are there to keep us all safe. I have no objection to the same on the trails. We would benefit from rules, speed limits and stop signs. Signs create a shared understanding of a shared space.
The trails were built as walking/biking trails, and I hope they remain that way. While e-bikes are different than regular bikes, they are not unsafely different if their riders are careful, polite and obey the rules. I hope that my fellow trail users will realize that not all bikers or e-bikers are the same. Many, if not most, of us are deferential to walkers, including those who can’t hear us. And many of us maintain speeds that are well below what the electric bikes can do. We are really no different than drivers who obey the rules versus those who don’t. The difference is that there are no clear rules or signs that would protect us all and allow us to maintain health and fitness, and access to our incredible outdoor resources.
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