Three Rivers set to add electric bikes to trail mix

Scooters and other motorized vehicles are banned from metro area trails, so where does that leave increasingly popular electric bikes?

Arguing that power-assisted, pedaled electric bikes are not motorized vehicles, Three Rivers Park District staff is recommending that the board welcome them to its trails and hoping that cities with connecting trails will follow suit.

So far Bloomington, Eden Prairie and Plymouth are considering updating city bike ordinances in favor of the e-bike. Minneapolis says electric bikes belong on the parkways with other motorized traffic. St. Paul has yet to take up the issue.

City questions about speeds of electric bikes caused Three Rivers, which oversees parks in the western suburbs, to postpone this month's vote on the staff proposal.

"It's the unknown -- a little bit of fear that these bikes will go faster than classic bikes -- which really isn't the case," said assistant superintendent Margie Walz. "Classic bikes can go much faster."

Ordinances keeping trails clear of mopeds, scooters, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and other motorized vehicles were set before the advent of the e-bike, Walz said.

Electric bikes, with a top speed of 20 miles per hour, are gaining appeal as alternative transportation to a car among bike commuters, and as a strength and energy equalizer to help people keep up with faster bicyclists and go farther.

"E-bikes are a quiet, non-polluting, low-speed bicycle that will allow people who normally wouldn't ride a bike to get out and try bicycling for recreation or transportation," said advisory board member Mike Mason of Minneapolis. "We think that's a good thing."

As electric bike technology improves and the baby boom population ages, "you are going to see more and more people turning to an electric-assist bicycle," said member Dan Breva. "There are motorized bikes out there now and they are behaving in an appropriate manner so they are not seen." The bigger issue is not whether electric bikes are on the trail but whether riders use them safely, he said.

E-bike 'seems like cheating'

Three Rivers staff argues that welcoming electric bikes to its trails would encourage more people to use trails and connect with nature. There is no speed limit on Three Rivers trails but bikers are required to operate at speeds safe for conditions, which could mean less than 10 miles per hour on crowded trails, Walz said.

Electric bike owner Karen Howells, 52, of Long Lake, takes her bike everywhere. "They fit right in with bicycles," she said. "If you are going to be a jerk on trail, you are going to be that way whether you are on an electric bike or a regular bike."

A common reaction she gets is that "it seems like cheating, it seems like you aren't getting the exercise," said Howells, who is in shape. "But the bike itself is much heavier than a normal bike so you are working harder to pedal. I also go longer distances. As I am going up a hill, I am still pedaling and still working but it's that little extra assistance that gets you up the hill."

With the electric assist, Howells said she no longer hesitates to join her husband for a ride. "If I am out of energy and have to go up a hill, I can just rev her up and away we go. Instead of my trying to keep up with him, he's trying to keep up with me. It's great. Because I am a little competitive."

Keeping up, riding longer

Chuck Ankeny, co-owner of Pete's Electric Bikes in Wayzata, said electric bikes are suitable for trails. "I think there is a misperception that electric bikers are akin to gnarly people on a motorcycle," he said.

Most electric bikers tend to be 50- to 70-year-old women who are out enjoying a Sunday afternoon ride with their husbands or grandkids, Ankeny said. For some it offers the ability to go the longer distances they rode when they were younger. For many couples, "the electric bike allows them to ride together for the first time," he said.

Other parks on electric bikes

In Eden Prairie, electric bike users can take city trails if they observe the trail speed limit, said Jay Lotthammer, director of Parks and Recreation for Eden Prairie.

Bloomington will decide how to treat electric bikes after Three Rivers does, said Randy Quale, manager of parks and recreation for Bloomington. "If used properly, I think it is something we would consider in our parks," Quale said.