Do you ever feel like 2nd class citizens on your ebike?

[jag]

Red neck laughs.

I'm at an intersection red light on my little electric bicycle.

Up beside me comes a LARGE black pickup truck.

He starts revving his engine, puffing smoke out high tailpipe, even does a very brief wheel rubber burn.

Light Turns green I pedal and am beating him across the intersection without much effort, I reduce my pedaling as the bike is now at top speed (32kph) 2/3rds of the way across the intersection. He begins to come up to me and he misses his gear shift fall back for a second then pulls away as he floors his pedal. Of course he needs to slam his breaks on to stop in time for the next set of lights which turn red as he approaches and people step out off of the sidewalk. The pedestrians give him a dirty look.

I coast up to him and yell. "Hey your truck is almost as good at accelerating as my little electric bike, but you can't do this." I pop up onto the sidewalk and drive through the red light on the sidewalk then pop back onto the street a little further down.

It was such a RARE occurance of lights and timing I just HAD to rub it in.

Red necks!@$@#!

On my way home from the grocery store yesterday. Panniers and rack full. Grocery bags and baguette sticking out. Not a car in sight.

Come up on a group of 20-30 road bikers leisurely training. Their lycra is shining; bikes are spotless; chains look brand new. The go double and triple file down the road. They are too cool to let me through.

I jump the curb to the sidewalk. Tomatoes, onions, butter and yoghurt almost jumping out of my panniers. Baguette stands up flailing in the wind.

2kW to the hub motor. Pedals spinning fast. The poorly lubed chain rattling. Bearings in cheap pedals whining. I pass them on the inside sidewalk. At the next intersection, I'm well ahead of them. Quick hard brake. Turn left in front of them. Off to a small backroad. They look confused.

 

[dogman dan]

It's fun to tease pedalers, but the really strong ones can out run my 25 mph ebike. Tell em at the next light you are a cheater so they can feel superior again.

In a way, it's more fun to follow em. They can't figure out how you keep up since they didn't notice the motor when they passed you. It's fun, there they are, tucked, slicked, working hard to draft eachother. There you are, sitting up, 100 feet back with no drafting, pedaling easy, coat flapping, panniers catching wind, AND KEEPING UP EASILY! They go crazy trying to figure that one out till you get to a light and confess you're a cheater. They'll murder themselves trying to drop you. 8)

 

[PhoenixOSU]

I get all kinds of respect for riding an e-bike, though I do live in Oregon. For going to the University campus its perfect, I can go faster than a normal bicyclist (many have raced me, none have won so far though a few have come close to meeting their maker in the attempt), and I can go where cars cannot, its the perfect transpo for where I live. I wouldn't be so enthusiatic if I were in a big city and frankly I want to be.

The other day I did get a dose of reality, some d---- nozzle in a truck in the left turn lane (unprotected) left turned without yielding to oncoming traffic, which would be me, and i had to go into oncoming traffic to avoid hitting the truck. Since then I've been a bit more cautious of larger vehicles, as their drivers sometimes have a feeling of superiority that they can get away with anything.