Category: Mountain Biking

Gitche Gumee Gran Fondo Honors Steve Tilford’s Legacy

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The Gitche Gumee Gran Fondo starts in Cable, Wisconsin (this year it was on August 26th) and treats riders to scenic back-country roads and even crosses the Continental Divide. This year’s event teamed up with The Steve Tilford Memorial Fund, as the event’s official charity, with a portion of the proceeds going to support the fund’s partnership with USA Cycling’s mission to foster a commitment to the safety, integrity, and joy of cycling. This fund honors Steve’s passion for cycling and continues his legacy. If you couldn’t make it this…

The Interior Secretary Wants To Sell More E-Bikes, But At What Cost?

jimmymac

The one-page document from Interior Secretary David Bernhardt (Order Number 3376) did far more than redefine non-motorized recreation. The Order revealed a seismic shift in how the Department of The Interior views its responsibility in overseeing public lands. Conservation and stewardship are replaced with a new mandate to exploit public lands to the fullest. And maybe that’s what the majority of Americans want? The Interior Secretary also showed a lack of understanding by adopting the language crafted by the e-bike industry, whose objective is to sell more e-bikes. Trying to…

Department Of The Interior Redefines Electric-Motorized Bikes As Human-Powered Bikes

jimmymac

The United States’ Secretary of the Interior on August 29th signed Order Number 3376 titled “Increasing Recreational Opportunities through the use of Electric Bikes,” that instructs Federal land management agencies to view electric-motorized bicycles the same as a human-powered bicycle. Dennis Byrd, Outdoor Recreational Planner-Travel and Transportation Mgt, explained to Jimmy Mac On Two Wheels that “This newly penned Secretarial Order gives new guidance on how to manage e-bikes on BLM (and other DOI agency) managed lands. E-bikes, as defined in 15 U.S.C. 2085. will be allowed where all bicycles…

Opening Trails To Class-1 E-Bikes Opens Trails To All E-Bikes UPDATE 8/30

jimmymac

UPDATE AUGUST 30, 2019: The Secretary of the Interior today signed Order Number 3376 that adopts the e-bike industry’s class structure and pushes land management agencies to open their non-motorized trails to this form of motorized recreation. The Order sets the path for agencies like the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management to allow all 3 classes of e-Bikes on trails that are currently designated for mountain bike use. Fortunately, e-Bikes won’t be instantly added to trails on DOI lands. Each agency will first have to promulgate rules…

Mountain Bike Hall of Fame Announces 2019 Inductees

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Otis Guy, Director of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, has announced the names of the four individuals elected into the Hall following the tabulation of 2019 ballots. The inductee-elects are Tim Neenan, Myles Rockwell, Rebecca Rusch and Derek Westerlund. The Hall’s new inductee-elects will be honored and officially inducted at the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame’s induction weekend on Friday and Saturday September 13-14, in Fairfax, California at the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. The weekend’s events include a meet-and-greet Friday night; celebrity rides on the trails of Mt.…

Best 2019 Tour De France Article Wasn’t From The Cycling Media

jimmymac

I haven’t really cared about the Tour de France since Andy Hampsten retired from professional bicycle racing. I try to watch the action covered on TV and reported in the media but always leave with the feeling that I’ve been had or duped. So when I saw an article posted about the Tour by the best “cabinet of chic curiosity” website, I had to read Messy Nessy‘s opinion on the event. Their article ‘The Tour de France is a Beautiful Mess and Maybe that’s How it Should be” didn’t disappoint.…

E-Bikes Prove To Be Cleaner Transportation Than Electric Scooters

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Researchers at North Carolina State University were skeptical of emissions claims made by Lime and Bird about their dockless electric scooters. These claims were based on the assumption that the electric scooters’ life cycle is two years. The North Carolina State University study looked at real-world usage and found the product’s life cycle to be closer to two months than two years. That is a lot of obsolescence happening very quickly. Factoring in the emissions released from making, shipping, charging, collecting, and disposing of scooters, the report found that Lime’s…

Mountain Bike Hall of Fame 2019 Inductee Elections Now Open

jimmymac

The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame Inductee elections are an annual tradition that dates back to the beginning of the Hall in 1988. Each year, members and inductees of the Hall of Fame choose the most deserving candidates from a ballot of select nominees submitted by people from all corners of the globe. You need to be a voting member (click here to make that happen) and you need to vote before the July 15th deadline. The new inductees will be announced on August 1, 2019 and a two-day induction event will…

Lyft E-Bikes Return To The Streets With New Brakes But Will Fix Work?

jimmymac

CNN Business is reporting that Lyft E-Bikes are returning their rental fleets to the streets after being removed due to a number of crashes linked to the front brake locking the front wheel (and the rider going over the bars). CNN explains that the Lyft fix is to replace the bikes’ roller brakes with disc brakes. I theorized that similar crashes experienced by Citi Bike renters were more likely due to rider error than a mechanical issue. Lyft’s disc brake solution will certainly test my theory because disc brakes are…