On 6/17/2019 1:10 PM, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Thursday, June 13, 2019 at 4:54:52 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/13/2019 6:27 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Thursday, June 13, 2019 at 4:15:13 PM UTC-4, Zen Cycle wrote:
On Wednesday, June 12, 2019 at 9:13:46 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:

I
think it was John Allen (author of the excellent Street Smarts booklet)
who pointed out that until now, there's been at least a rough
correlation between a rider's average speed and his skill on the bike.
E-bikes destroy that correlation. "Chipped" ones will be worse.

I'd suggest these are Darwin Awards candidates, except that such people careening on a e-bike could kill innocent bystanders as well.

Or cause innocent bicyclists to crash trying to avoid those darn e-bikes. I've seen that happen a number of times on rail-trails around here which is another reason I avoid those rail-trails a lot of times. Some e-bike users seem to think that any off road path or trail is there for them to speed along at the top speed of their e-bike. They seem to EVER consider that maybe someone else is using the trail from the opposite direction.

Speed is weirdly addictive when you've got a motor.

I remember an incident back in the 1970s. I had been riding my
motorcycle and lost something I had strapped to the bike. (I can't now
recall what it was.)

Anyway, I took the motorcycle back out and rode the same streets and
country roads at low speed, maybe 29 - 25 mph, to look for the lost
item. And I remember thinking "This is really pleasant." At low speed,
there was very little noise from wind or from the engine. I had much
more time to look all around and appreciate my surroundings. It felt
like there was less risk of crashing. It was quite relaxing.

But ever since, with rare exceptions, when riding a motorcycle I've
chosen the highest speeds the law would allow.

--
- Frank Krygowski

I watch something cars doing that you do one bikes for a reason but cars really have no reason - drafting. I watch cars drive 100 mph to catch the group in front of them that is blocking the entire freeway. I even see them doing this in cities when you can SEE a red light up the road that will force you to stop. If they did a more moderate speed they could drive right through these lights all green for them. Instead it is STOP-GO LIKE HELL-STOP et al.

I have a real problem drafting anymore. I have to watch the road and the horizon since I don't have any balance. That means that I often cannot watch the person I'm drafting close enough and they will slow down and I end up half-wheeling them. So now I either ride alone of ride pretty far off the back.

While I don't get to do it very often, I still enjoy drafting. On a club
ride last week, a strong rider and I enjoyed sailing in the last few
miles at well over 20 mph. I was enjoying it because my front wheel was
about six inches behind his back wheel.

For a long time, I was the draftee in that situation. When my wife and I
are on the tandem, that's still sometimes the case. But that day I was
the drafter, barely hanging on - but having a great time.


--
- Frank Krygowski