Have you ever ebiked on a freeway/highway?

[veloman]

I'm talking restricted access, and usually 65-75mph speed limit. I never made that mistake when I lived in Connecticut. The highways there are clearly not part of the normal road system. But in TX, we have frontage roads, and often times those end, dumping you onto a highway. Or there is a lack of signage. Or you just don't know the area and by the time you see the 'no bicycles' sign or realize you heading up on an overpass, it's too late.

I've done it a few times, and luckily not during heavy traffic. Once was while I was road biking in my spandex. Good reason to go full out. That time I had to cross 3 lanes to make it to the shoulder, then another mile at 30mph until the next exit. And the other day I was on the ebike and suddenly find myself on a toll road. These new highways are FAST. I mean, the gradients are so low that it's incredibly efficient. I had a tailwind and found out that my 8T Mac would push up to 38mph on 50v loaded. There was a nice shoulder, so it didn't feel too dangerous. It felt great to cover some ground fast though.

I didn't mean to, but it did add some excitement to the ride!

 

[dogman dan]

Though actually illegal NM cops seem to tolerate it, particularly on non interstate routes, especially when no other route exists. Just a bitch if the shoulder is really rough.

I think it's not actually posted illegal on the state roads, just the interstates. Justin got some hassle about it from cops on his Canada ride.

I've not yet had to do it, often the old state highway is still there next to the interstate. But likely zero safe shoulder to ride on on sections of old highway.

 

[kriskros]

bibcycles are definitely not allowed on mutli-lane expressways in ontarion...ditches full of body parts upsete some tourist :lol:

 

[Farfle]

Merged onto the freeway with dual pie once, passed a few cars then got back off. Pedaled backwards slowly the whole time.

 

[Hasaf]

Not on an e-bike; but I have done so on, frequently, a regular bicycle. Where I live in Northern California the interstate is the only practical way between some towns. As such, Bicycles are permitted.

In my experience, it is quite safe. The shoulder is quite wide and there is a section of rumble strip separating the bicycle part of the shoulder from the traffic lanes. I feel much safer on the interstate than I do on the local, 2-lane, highway that it dumps me on to. The only thing I don't like is that the grades on the interstate are very steep (as an example, 41.89049,-122.560197, according to Wikipedia, some of the steepest grades on the interstate Highway System). Oddly enough, while bicycles are permitted, pedestrians are not. I have been told by the Highway Patrol that, while they would never enforce the statute, I cannot push the bike, I must ride it.

The only area of real concern comes from crossing on and off ramps. People are just not looking for bicycles on the interstate; as such, extreme caution, at these points, is in order.

So, yes, I have done it, and frequently. It is not frightening or a death defying stunt. No, I do not ride in the traffic lane, I ride on the wide and smooth shoulder, well separated from auto and truck traffic.

 

[mvly]

Not on an e-bike; but I have done so on, frequently, a regular bicycle. Where I live in Northern California the interstate is the only practical way between some towns. As such, Bicycles are permitted.

In my experience, it is quite safe. The shoulder is quite wide and there is a section of rumble strip separating the bicycle part of the shoulder from the traffic lanes. I feel much safer on the interstate than I do on the local, 2-lane, highway that it dumps me on to. The only thing I don't like is that the grades on the interstate are very steep (as an example, 41.89049,-122.560197, according to Wikipedia, some of the steepest grades on the interstate Highway System). Oddly enough, while bicycles are permitted, pedestrians are not. I have been told by the Highway Patrol that, while they would never enforce the statute, I cannot push the bike, I must ride it.

The only area of real concern comes from crossing on and off ramps. People are just not looking for bicycles on the interstate; as such, extreme caution, at these points, is in order.

So, yes, I have done it, and frequently. It is not frightening or a death defying stunt. No, I do not ride in the traffic lane, I ride on the wide and smooth shoulder, well separated from auto and truck traffic.

I got a flat on the interstate on the shoulder. I had to push it. It was dangerous bit not that bad. I can believe they would be hard ass on pushing the bike on the interstate. I mean if you look at the shoulder there is so much debris on the shoulder.

 

[biohazardman]

I have a couple of times. It was past 1:00am and little traffic on the freeway and I had 25 miles to go with a as yet untested for range battery at 38 deg F. I had my choice of taking the lengthy alternative route, with no shoulder, or just hit the freeway on a long downhill following the regular zoo-bombers route. I hit 40 easy for two or three miles then took the first off ramp to avoid the tunnel with no shoulder. Made it to within a half mile of home before the battery gave out. Gotta love that. I did it another time by accident, didn't know the area, and wound up in a bad spot with converging traffic on either side of me. A couple of drivers nearly stopped for me to cross with traffic behind them. I had to wave them on to reduce the risk to all of us. Got across the freeway in a hurry in a small clearing and then the ride on the shoulder was good.
Off ramps can be really dangerous for everyone as most drivers will do anything to avoid splattering someone/something on their hood or the road. But you can take most of the exits and then get back on if laws allow. Unless the alternative is lengthy and or dangerous I would not use the freeways unless it is an emergency or am traveling cross country.

 

[Rin]

I ride quite regularly on a major highway. It is the only way to get along in the particular area. I mounted a camera on my helmet and took a video looking toward the rear to get an idea of how things look with the approaching traffic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[youtube]IoI2-QHBCTE[/youtube]

 

[Jason27]

This addiction to speed is getting a little ridiculous.. an electric bike for safety purposes shouldn't go over 25 MPH in my opinion. Do you really want your cause of death to be from an accident on an ebike??

 

[veloman]

This addiction to speed is getting a little ridiculous.. an electric bike for safety purposes shouldn't go over 25 MPH in my opinion. Do you really want your cause of death to be from an accident on an ebike??

Are you talking to me? If you think 38mph on an ebike is dangerous, then I don't know what to say to you. The main danger is in with not flowing with traffic. The closer my speed is to traffic, the safer I am. My bike feels very safe at these "high speeds". I'm not the typical inexperienced guy on a bike though. I've been riding and racing road bikes since I was 14 and have done around 75,000 miles on bikes.

I've never lost control or crashed any of my bikes on road, not in a race (where riders fell right in front of me).


Honestly, you sound silly, calling this "an addiction for speed". I wish I could tell you how slow it feels to do 40mph on a good open road.

 

[Lemlux]

In Southern California bicycles and ebikes are allowed on I-5 only in sections where no adequate "surface road" is deemed to be available. This most notably covers segments of the highway which pass through the Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton between San Diego and Orange counties. It's confusing because construction regularly changes the location of such segments.

 

[hjns]

This addiction to speed is getting a little ridiculous.. an electric bike for safety purposes shouldn't go over 25 MPH in my opinion. Do you really want your cause of death to be from an accident on an ebike??

I really don't see the difference between crashing with an ebike at 40mph or crashing with a motorbike at 40mph. Here in Europe, (e-)bikes are not allowed on the highways. Our highways usually are so good that with my ebike, I would get maximum efficiency out of it. However, given my topspeed of 78mh, I would not be able to keep up with traffic rushing by at 120kmh. I think, that is the major danger.

Here in Switzerland, we have some great roads, where my bike technically can do 40mph without any issues. It is against the law, which sets a maximum of 45kmh (30mph) to ebikes. Oh, and anything above 11kW needs to have a full motor licence, so that is definitely another category, although with my MethTek Monster controller at 150A 84V, I am closing in on that category....

To be clear, many pedal bikes here go faster than 40mph when going downhill. People are generally used to seeing racebikes going at that speed, although most cars will be irritated by another lycra doing "only" 70kmh on a mountainroad where the cars could easily do 80kmh.

So, tell me, why should an e-bike not go faster than 25 mph?

 

[veloman]

I was a main road - with a 35-40mph speed limit. I had my ebike WOT at 33-35mph and I felt in danger, going too slow. Had I been able to go 40mph I would not have traffic coming up behind me.

25mph limit is fine for the noobs or cracker jack idiots who have no experience on a bike.


I normally aim for 18-25mph cruise speed on low traffic roads, that's my ideal ebiking speed, as long as there isn't any traffic coming up behind me.

 

[liveforphysics]

I get on the highway sometimes just for fun. Deathbike feels more exciting than a motorcycle at the same speeds, but overall feels safer than highway speeds on more curvy roads with worse surfaces like my normal riding.

 

[HumboldtRc]

I like riding my 4wd mountainboard on the freeway as a test loop. It is crazy going 55mph standing up with only a dirt-bike helmet for safety! It is quite an adrenalin rush going that fast with nothing but a board under you feet. It is the most fun I have had on 4 wheels.

 

[cwah]

I've done highway several times because my GPS doesn't indicate information correctly. It's every time very annoying as the car are going so fast and so close to me.

It's like they do it on purpose because they know I'm not allowed to ride there.

My brompton has a top speed around 27mph. On freeway it's uber dangerous

 

[sn0wchyld]

I like riding my 4wd mountainboard on the freeway as a test loop. It is crazy going 55mph standing up with only a dirt-bike helmet for safety! It is quite an adrenalin rush going that fast with nothing but a board under you feet. It is the most fun I have had on 4 wheels.

oh please get some footage of that!! ha, sounds fun mate. wouldnt want to get speed wobbles doing that though!

 

[ions82]

In my experience, it is quite safe. The shoulder is quite wide and there is a section of rumble strip separating the bicycle part of the shoulder from the traffic lanes. I feel much safer on the interstate than I do on the local, 2-lane, highway that it dumps me on to.

So, yes, I have done it, and frequently. It is not frightening or a death defying stunt. No, I do not ride in the traffic lane, I ride on the wide and smooth shoulder, well separated from auto and truck traffic.

This has been my experience, as well. I've done a couple organized rides in the western states, and the events were being run mostly by people with no cycling experience. They thought that riding on the interstate was a recipe for death and the absolute worst idea ever. However, they would also put a slow-moving van behind one or two cyclist and block traffic on a 2-lane road. More than once did we have pissed off drivers go around the van with the pedal on the floor and then slam on the brakes when they saw the cyclists in front. I felt MUCH safer the few times that I rode on the interstate. The big shoulder, wide lanes, and rumble strips offer some "protection." Additionally, most interstates aren't very "winding", so drivers can see you from a long way off.