Hi all I wanted to share a short story from a cityslick that's been riding different 2 wheelers for all my life. What you probably experienced in your life as well once you turn 18 is the social peer pressure of getting a car. Like at every birthday party: "So when are you going for your car licence?" and I always kind of shrugged that off as something later as I was enjoying street cycling and mtb's. Then personal life and work kept me occupied and time went by fast and came to the conclusion having to haul a car around in the dense urban metro districts is kind of stupid. In rush hour every road is clogged with dusty fossil engines in stationary. And the drivers all look bummed out.
Anyway enjoy your favourite microtransport the future has just begun. E-bikes ftw!
P.S. who needs a 200mph engine when city limits are heavily enforced? No shame in a speed limiter.
This is the truth. I have a coworker who is into scooters and he was complaining about the NIMBY, ban-everything mindset currently pervading the entire electric scooter discussion.
I had to point out that the exact same arguments and whining currently being aimed at scooter riders -- e.g., "they're running up and down the sidewalk/ignoring red lights/weaving around traffic/'zooming' up my street/scaring my dog/wilting my rhododendrons/etc." -- are word for word the same arguments that were being directed against kids on (largely BMX) bicycles 30 years ago. Verbatim.
Now that there's a hot new thing to screech about, suddenly pedal bicycles are automatically wholesome clean safe fun for the whole family.
In a further 30 years when jet powered pogo sticks or whatever the hell are the new fad, no one will complain about scooters, which will by then be normalized, and the cycle will start all over.
Also: You can do a wheelie all day long on a pedal bike, too. I sure as shit did when I was a teenager.
people ride in the sidewalk because it's too dangerous to be with the cars. anyone who makes that complaint should support protected bike lanes. sidewalk riding is legal where I live and I do so without shame unless it's a quiet residential street or there's a bike lane that I feel safe using. I say let the kids do wheelies who cares