Jul 25 2012

Where Do You Prefer to Ride Electric Bikes?

Electric Bikes – Where to Ride

electric bike parked in the shade of a trail

electric Optibike on trail

After yesterday’s post about the Optibike Electric Mountain Bike, I thought I’d follow up with a poll about where you like to ride your electric bike.

Electric Bike Riding Venues

So to visit the Where Do You Like to Ride Your Electric Bike poll, click here. It won’t take you long since it is one question with only two answer options. As you may have guessed, trails is one of the options. What do you suppose the other option is? It’s a LinkedIn poll, so I’m not sure if you have to be signed up for LinkedIn to take it, but it’s worth a try. Let your voice be heard.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2012/07/25/where-do-you-prefer-to-ride-electric-bikes/

Jul 24 2012

Optibike Electric Mountain Bike is Supreme Freedom Machine

Optibike Review

logo for optibike electric bicycle

OptiBike of Boulder, CO

Is there any place this thing can’t go?

It plows through mountain bike trails like they’re stairways to heaven. It negotiates multi-use paths efficiently yet with just the right amount of stealth. On the road it’s the best of both worlds with the maneuvering ability of a bicycle but the get-up-and-go of a motorcycle. On the racetrack, coaches use it as a sort of pace car to keep up with and even stay ahead of world-class cyclists. It lights up the night sky with astonishing clarity; and it’s even good for escaping skunks… but more on that later.

 Boulder’s Optibike – Almost Made in the USA

The Optibike is the wonder child of Jim Turner, motocross rider turned triathlete

Optibike owner Jim Turner & Trailsnet owner Kevin Purdy

Optibike founder Jim Turner

turned inventor. It should come as no surprise that the Optibike is engineered and built in (the People’s Republic of) Boulder, Colorado, a community rapidly becoming the hub for both high tech businesses and outdoor lifestyles. No product better exemplifies the meshing of high tech and outdoor adventure than Optibike, the Ferrari of bicycles.

But all the superlatives used to describe Optibike might give the impression that it’s only built for world-class athletes and adventure seeking daredevils. Fortunately, this characterization couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s not just a cliché to say that the Optibike is the ultimate machine for nearly everyone. It’s a commuter bike, a recreational bike, a mountain bike and an errand bike. Who needs a car, when you can get just about anywhere on a power-driven bike? With the right set of tires, an Optibike can handle just about any conditions and provide a lot of fun in the process.

Optibike electric mountain bike

Optibike on path

Is the Optibike truly as good as a car? Its owners might argue that it’s better. In addition to using it for getting to work, nabbing some groceries and providing for rock-hopping fun, it’s got three huge advantages over an automobile; it provides fitness and improves the environment. And it’s a lot less expensive than driving a car. In fact, for certain electric bikes reviewers who happen to have solar panels adorning their rooftops, it’s basically free to run.

So what’s the Optibike have that other electric bikes don’t? OGL (Oh Good Lord – OMG is so yesterday.) It’s got a seriously powerful motor and heavy-duty batteries that get you going. Then it’s got a 14 speed Rohloff Speedhub to keep you going. Next it’s got Fox front and rear suspension to keep you going smoother. And finally, it’s got oversized Avid hydraulic disk brakes, just in case you ever need to stop.

Not even the dead of night can stop the mighty Optibike with its seriously luminescent headlights powered by some serious wattage. In fact just minutes before writing this article, the aforementioned electric bike reviewer encountered a skunk on the night trail. On a regular bike, he would have been screwed, blued and P.Ued. But thanks to the bright lights for illuminating the problem and a powerful motor for escaping the problem, Mr. Writer Dude was 50 yards away before the skunk could say Pepe LePew. Another problem solved by the Optibike. (Don’t look for that one in their sales brochures. The folks at Optibike are much too humble to go touting their skunk-evading superiority.)

electric bike control panel

Optibike controls

So what are the downsides to the Optibike? Frankly, there may not be any. But some suggestions are in order:

  1. Seriously consider getting a second battery with your Optibike. You won’t regret it.
  2. Take it easy at first. The Optibike is not the same as a typical mountain bike. It’s more powerful, heavier, and even has the brakes on the opposite side. (Unless you’re a motorcyclist or a European; then it has the brakes right where they belong.)
  3. Don’t waste time loading the Optibike on your bike rack. Just ride the darned thing to the trail. You’ll probably get there quicker and have more fun in the process.
  4. Go new places. If there’s one word to summarize the Optibike experience, it’s freedom. Try the bike trail that’s been on your bucket list.  Ride up Magnolia Road on a hot day. (It’s a Boulder thing.) Ride that three-day rail-trail in one day. Go for a night ride. Ride it in a parade. The skies the limit, but the trail’s more fun!!
  5. For goodness sakes, wear your helmet. The Optibike will give you power and freedom, but it won’t give you immortality!! Enjoy it to the max, but enjoy it safely and responsibly.

If you’ve ever owned or ridden an Optibike or any other electric bike, share your experience with the Trailsnet community by entering some comments below.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2012/07/24/optibike-electric-mountain-bike-is-supreme-freedom-machine/

Jul 22 2012

Trailsnet Gets a New Look

Same Great Trail Content, Different Website Look

I started having problems with the Trailsnet website sidebars a couple weeks ago. They just disappeared and showed

screen shot of trailsnet.com home page

your trails network

up at the bottom of the page. Thanks to the helpful forum people at WordPress.org and the Graphene Theme helpers, not only did we get the site back and running, I’d like to think we made some improvements.

Different Trail Header

For those of you who were getting tired of the good old trail bridge from New Hampshire’s Amonoosuc Rail Trail, Trailsnet now has beautiful wild flowers from the Marshall Mesa Trails right here in Boulder County Colorado. Trailsnet also has some other minor (mostly cosmetic) changes just to keep things lively. One of the new features on Trailsnet.com is the ability to connect to more social networks and recommend trailsnet to more social sharing sites.

Trail Submissions

New trails are continuing to trickle in on a fairly regular basis. It looks like we’re on track to meet our trail goals by the end of the year. Thank you to all of you folks who have submitted trail information to the Add a Trail feature on Trailsnet.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2012/07/22/trailsnet-gets-a-new-look/

Jul 19 2012

Biking and Trails Update

Bike Participation is Increasing While Reputation is Decreasing

car driver gestures to bicyclist

road rage is not cool

What do a construction worker and Time magazine have in common? No it’s not a bad joke, just a bad analogy. Today, while I was out test-driving a new toy (God I love my job.), I stopped to talk with some construction workers who were working on a stream mitigation project near the trail. After explaining the project, one of the workers said it was good to see a biker actually using the trail. He then went on to tell me about some of the bad incidents he has had with bikers on the roads. He said that in his work he sees miles and miles of bike trails all over the state, but they are often used very lightly while bicyclists clog the streets and often aren’t very nice about sharing those streets.

I let him know that he was preaching to the choir on that one. We were both baffled why more bikers didn’t use the trails and why so many bikers on the roads were impatient and unfriendly, to say the least. Then, when I got home, I read an article in Time magazine. Here’s one excerpt from the article:

“…even in the most pedal-friendly cities, cyclists can still feel they’re biking against traffic, legally and culturally. It’s as if just enough Americans have started cycling to prompt a backlash–call it a bikelash–as drivers and pedestrians ally against these rebels usurping precious traffic space.”

via Pedal Push – TIME.

Bryan Walsh, the author of the article believes that bicycling has become increasingly popular in the United States, but not quite popular enough. There are now more bicyclists out there, but there are still not enough of them to be considered part of the mainstream like they are in places like Denmark. It’s really a nicely written article that is well-researched; it has some interesting facts about biking worldwide and also some common-sense suggestions.

One of the main points of the article is that, even though many people feel threatened by bicyclists, “…cyclists are far more threatened than threatening.”  The article goes on to cite some extremely frightening statistics about the dangers of biking in the United States. Of course, pretty much all the bicycle dangers mentioned in the article are dangers of riding on the roads, not the bike trails.

So what do Time magazine and construction workers have in common? They both seem to point to the common sense notion that it is much safer and saner to ride bikes on the trails than on the roads… except for those fast, reckless and rude bike riders. Let’s encourage them to either a.) stay off bikes completely or, if that doesn’t work, b.) go ahead and stay on the roads. Lets keep the trails a safe and sane place for the rest of us. And for those car drivers who get sick of the rude bicyclists, you’re welcome to join us on the trails… but leave your cars (and cares) at home.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2012/07/19/biking-and-trails-update/

Jul 17 2012

Rail Trail Definition

What is a rail-trail?

rail trail beside abandoned railroad box cars

rail-trail in New Hampshire

I’m still surprised by how many people are unfamiliar with the term rail-trail. So as I was researching a completely different trail-related issue, I came across a good Wikipedia entry for rail-trails. I found the whole article to be enlightening, so I encourage you to click on the article link below this brief definition.

A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also covers trails running alongside working railways; these are called “rails with trails”.

via Rail trail – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

It is important to note that although the Ashuelot Rail Trail in the accompanying photo has a dirt surface, rail-trails have many different surface types. They can be paved trails, concrete trails, gravel trails or dirt trails.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2012/07/17/rail-trail-definition/

Jul 15 2012

Shared-use Path is the Official Name

Bike Trail Question Answered on Quora

I love all the great web 2.0 sites out there that allow users to answer each other’s questions. Recently I posed a bike trail question on Quora. I asked: “On most websites, biking is broken into two categories: road biking & mountain biking. What about bike trails that aren’t mountain bike trails. What is the generic name for trails like rail-trails, urban trails, paved trails, etc.?”

If it’s not mountain biking or road biking, what is it?

biker on shared use trail

shared-use path

In the “add more information” box, I provided the following details: “When you visit websites to look for biking venues, you’re often given only the choices of mountain biking & road biking. This seems to fly in the face of reason since the vast majority of people are either not inclined or not able to partake in these two forms of biking due to safety, strength, age, or ability. Similarly, bikers are often put into the same categories of mountain bikers and road bikers (even here on Quora) when that doesn’t describe even half the bikers out there. This issue has been brought up numerous times on the Trailsnet.com blog, but rarely gets many comments. Hopefully Quora users can provide an answer to what we call the largest group of bikers/biking.”

Generic Trail Name Provided by Quora User & Government Website

Thanks to Jonathan Rabinowitz for providing the following answer to the bike trail query: “The generic name for the thoroughfare is a shared-use path, although many people like multi-use path as well. See this U.S. government webpage:” http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/publications/sidewalk2/sidewalks214.cfm

Bicycle & Pedestrian Website

A quick visit to the website provides some helpful information about sidewalk design and trail access. According to the Bicycle & Pedestrian Program Website, “A shared-use path serves as part of a transportation circulation system and supports multiple recreation opportunities, such as walking, bicycling, and inline skating. A shared-use path typically has a surface that is asphalt, concrete, or firmly packed crushed aggregate.”

Rail-trails a Type of Shared-Use Path

The Bicycle & Pedestrian Path web page goes on to describe shared-use paths in more detail as well as to provide some diagrams. It was nice to read that all newly designed and built shared-use paths must provide accessibility for handicapped trail users. It was also enlightening to learn that rail-trails fall into the category of shared-use trails.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2012/07/15/shared-use-path-is-the-official-name/