What do people really think of e-bikes?

Plus, finding your trip snack, cycling after arm amputation, and a new rec access tool

Author

Sam Westby
February 27, 2025

Welcome to the Bike Bulletin, getting you ready for the road ahead.

As always, reply directly to this email. I love reading all the thoughtful replies.

—Sam Westby @samcwestby

This is a weekly newsletter about bike trips, urban cycling, and a love for two-wheeled transit. The more time you spend on a bike, the better. I share new editions every Thursday, gearing you up for the ride ahead.

Here’s what we have today.

  • 🌍 RIDE: Recreational Biking Access Tool

  • ❓ RESEARCH: What Do People Really Think of E-Bikes?

  • 💡 TIP: Find Your Trip Snack

  • 🎥 WATCH: Robbie’s Amazing Comeback

ROUTES ON MY RADAR

Recreational Biking Access Tool

PeopleForBikes released a new tool that combines all the recreational bicycling facilities of the United States into one map.

Here’s what it does:

  • Helps planners, advocates, and researchers make better biking decisions.

  • Not a replacement for TrailForks, MTB Project, etc.

  • Tracks access to trails, bike paths, and parks.

  • Measures trail miles, number of bike spots, and how easy they are to reach.

  • Breaks down data by neighborhood, city, state, and beyond.

Check out the tool at recreation.peopleforbikes.org.

Read more at People For Bikes.

FROM THE IVORY TOWER

What Do People Really Think of E-Bikes?

Issues are continuing to pop up with e-bikes and e-scooters sharing paths with regular cyclists and pedestrians. They’re faster. They’re louder. And they make me jealous when they pass me on a hill while I’m fighting for my life with a heart rate of 185 bpm.

Researchers asked over 1,000 people in Vancouver, British Columbia, how they felt about sharing space with different personal mobility devices (PMDs).

Their findings:

  • People thought e-bikes and scooters were more common and faster than they were.

  • Sit-down electric scooters (moped-style) made people the most uncomfortable.

  • Older people were the least comfortable with electric PMDs. Regular bikers and walkers didn’t mind as much.

  • Suggested improvements in cities: (1) keep sit-down scooters off shared paths, (2) set lower speed limits, and (3) separate pedestrians from cyclists.

Beyond this study, I still think e-bikes are great. Yes, they can terrorize urban bike networks, but overall, they:

  • Get more people out riding, regardless of their fitness or age.

  • Are still a form of movement.

  • Reduces the number of cars on the road.

Read the whole paper this month in Transportation Research.

BIKE TRIP TIP

Find Your Trip Snack

I always eat one or two foods nonstop on a bike trip. It’s different every time and is honestly helpful. Not getting sick of food is half the battle when you’re trying to eat 1 million calories a day (okay, more like 5000).

Another benefit is that after I return home and eat the food, I am flooded with memories of those trips.

  • Fig Newtons (around Lake Michigan, 2021)

  • Nerds Gummy Clusters (U.S. Coast-to-Coast, 2023)

  • Goldfish (C&O-GAP, 2024)

  • Muffins (Tour Divide, 2024)

  • Fruit Cup Snacks (Tour Divide, 2024)

Finding eat trip’s “trip snack” is just a small way to make each one more memorable.

WHAT I’M WATCHING

Robbie’s Amazing Comeback

Robbie Seaman lost his arm in a UTV accident. That didn’t stop him from getting out there. This film follows his return to doing the things he always enjoyed.

Watch on YouTube

FROM THE ARCHIVES

“Oh, hey. I didn’t notice you over there. What do you think of my bike?”

Read more bicycle history on monovisions.com.

  • Early Wednesday morning, Lael Wilcox won 1st place in the women’s Iditarod 350 bikepacking race in Alaska. (bikepacking.com)

  • Austin, Texas just finished a $1 million redesign of their most dangerous intersection — Stassney Lane and 1st Street. (KVUE)

  • A family is suing a box truck driver and their company for $30 million. Their daughter was wrongfully killed when she was hit while riding her bike in Cambridge, MA, in June. (boston.com)

  • A U.K. study found that boys cycle 1.6 times more than girls. (Bike Radar)

  • The same U.K. study found that men cycle 2.1 times more than women. This should be a call to action to make cycling more accessible for women. (Bike Radar)

A Note From Sam

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