Washington E-Bikes restrictions?

[coderdan]

I'm new to the E-Bike world and never thought beforehand about the whole e-bike hate/places not allowing them. For some context, I live in Washington and when I check trail forks pretty much everything shows as e-bikes not allowed although I think that's the default unless someone sets it as allowed.

So that brings me to how do people handle it in other areas, or anyone have experience with E-Bikes in WA?. Do you call up the places where its not clear(aka everywhere), just go and hope for the best?.

I love my e-bike but I'm starting to wonder if I'll really have to wait 1+~years until more trails "allow" them. Or if I should just get a traditional bike for dirt jump tracks etc and consider selling the e-bike if there ends up not being much good places for it.

Ie: SkillParks on TrailForks

 

[fenwick458]

this seems slightly worrying. so you say you need permission to ride at local trails?
my local trails are simply 1km mile away, I ride straight there, nobody's in charge it's just a forest with some trails that have been build by the local mountain bikers.
it is interesting to see how people go biking around the world though

 

[coderdan]

Reaching out to the Redmond Bike Park they said its allowed for class 1 Redmond Bike Park

The issue comes from a bill in 2018 that made riding E-Bikes on trails/natural surfaces up to the discretion of land owners and the default to consider them as motorized vehicles. Washington State clarifies e-bike rules on trails

Now it looks like places are opening up to them / becoming more aware but the whole thing seems like a pain in the ass and will take time to develop. Probably will have to end up emailing all the good places and making a list.

my local trails are simply 1km mile away, I ride straight there, nobody's in charge it's just a forest with some trails that have been build by the local mountain bikers.

That was my initial approach too until I realized the current state.

 

[Norange]

I live in England, where we have a "right of way" system in place, where routes are categorised. Bikes are allowed on all but footpaths - which do make up the majority of routes. For these purposes, an E-bike is the same as a normal bike. Professionally built trails would, I'd assume again always be treating a normal mtb and a e-bike the same.

Personally, I live surrounded by various woods, nature reserves and a huge private shooting estate. These have a mix of tracks I can legally use, footpaths I can't automatically use and unadopted tracks. My view is I'll ride responsibly, but feel pretty comfortable using all 3. Not many people here so don't see conflict. I'd be avoiding any working areas of a forest, and when a shoot is on it's best to stick to the main tracks! There is a massive national park near me which is open and welcoming to walkers to roam wherever, but is highly restrictive to cyclists. I'm massively resentful of that and thus won't visit or recommend it to anyone.

Scotland (and Wales too soon I think) have a more mature "right to roam" access which focusses on respectful behaviour and responsible use when enjoying the countryside.

 

[Stihldog]

I ride a peddle assist eMTB. I don’t have a throttle assist eBike. I don’t see any ebike’s, roadies, motorcycles, dirt bikes, atvs, surfboards, etc, on our trails, paths or access roads.

At a glance most of us can determine whether the method of travel is legitimate for our specific area. There are many definitions for modes of travel. I believe that I do not fit the definition of “EBike” when I ride my peddle assist “eMTB “. There are some hardtail bikes, gravel bikes, computer bikes and road bikes that use peddle assist also.
I can understand “Hikers Only” trails but most of our trails are built by mountian bikers and used by hikers. It’s generally accepted by both groups.

I can see defined definitions of travel with the recent increase of outdoor activities. This is where our defined community needs to become more active and vocal. Too many loop-holes. ie; speed restrictions may close a loop-hole. I guess the debate started when the wheel was invented.

 

[flash]

I just ignore Trailforks. Was recently riding in Tasmania and they listed all the trails there are non-EBike when the people who built the thing SPECIFICALLY recommend an EBikes because of it's length (Blue tier to Bay of Fires- 42km). Trailforks is the last hold out of the anti-ebike brigade.

Is there a way for a normal user to change the non-eBike label?

Gordon

p.s. this was snowboarding last century. We'll get there.

 

[coderdan]

I just ignore Trailforks. Was recently riding in Tasmania and they listed all the trails there are non-EBike when the people who built the thing SPECIFICALLY recommend an EBikes because of it's length (Blue tier to Bay of Fires- 42km). Trailforks is the last hold out of the anti-ebike brigade.

Is there a way for a normal user to change the non-eBike label?

Gordon

p.s. this was snowboarding last century. We'll get there.

Yeah you can edit them, needs to be approved though

 

[The Hodge]

I pretty much ride anything that looks OK..
The only time I observe the footpath rule is in urban or village / towns which have a heavy footfall ..country paths where I'm unlikely to see anyone are fair game ..
A right of way can have its status changed if it can be proven that its been regularly used for 20 years of more ..
25 years ago the red sock brigade were unbelievably hostile to mountain bikers ..I've had these arseholes chase me on legal bridleways in the past ..with sticks !
Slowly but surely attitudes have changed and rarely is there any conflict these days even in hiking hot spots ..but the sooner England adopts the same access laws as Scotland ..the happier I will be ..

 

[16vdady]

Who polices the trails?
Who would catch and what would happen if they caught you?
If you are respecting the area and others what is the worse that can happen?
Crack on and enjoy the trails!

 

[Emailsucks98]

I'm new to the E-Bike world and never thought beforehand about the whole e-bike hate/places not allowing them. For some context, I live in Washington and when I check trail forks pretty much everything shows as e-bikes not allowed although I think that's the default unless someone sets it as allowed.

Depends on where you are in the state. I live in Bellingham and have found no lack of great riding where eBikes are either allowed or, the trails are ”user built” (I.e. secret trails where access isn’t closely monitored).

You are correct that on TF, the default is no eBikes. It’s not always correct.

I’d really recommend these two things, which are closely related:

• Get familiar with who owns/manages the land where you’re thinking of riding. There are some privately owned areas, like Tokul, where you really might get fined, and worse, repeated offense could get the area closed to all bikes. Then there’s other areas (like some DNR lands) where the rules mostly aren’t enforced, so eBikes are semi-accepted though you might get some pushback. You’ll find that any trails within state parks that are open to mountain bikes are open to eBikes too.
• If you’re not already a member, join Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance and let them know you’re specifically looking for increased eBike access. They work closely with the DNR, FS, Parks Depts & BLM and have clout built up from years of volunteer work.