E-Bikes are the New Golf Carts
Fully Rigid, 12/16/21
If you look into the history of golf and the introduction of the golf cart, you’ll see many similarities between then and the “now” of e-bikes on mountain biking trails. For golf, the cart literally was designed and built so that aging golfers could access the golf course, as they said back then, but not in those exact words. One particular maker of golf carts advertised them with the name “Arthritis Special.” Indeed, in the early years of golf carts (post-WWII into the 1950s-60s) the marketing around them focused on “senior citizens” and to people with illnesses that made walking the golf course difficult for them. The entire idea was that you didn’t have to walk the course or that if you couldn’t walk it, no problem, you could drive it.
Golf purists were not happy. Going all the way back to Scotland in the 15th Century, the understanding was that you walked the course. It was plain and simple. Even caddies were a point of contention. If you played golf, you were to carry your own clubs and walk from one hole to the next.
Nevertheless, the industry around golf carts saw an opportunity, as did the golf course owners. Golf carts were money in the bank, for the manufacturers and the fellas who owned the golf courses. In time, moving into the 70s and 80s, golf carts were more commonplace on courses. More carts allowed more people to continue golfing into their later years. A new cultural phenomenon occurred in time: golf and retirement became a “thing.”
It’s clear and obvious what I’m getting at here. The same thing is happening with e-bikes. We are seeing more people on e-bikes on trails and, if I may, a lot those people on e-bikes are my age and older. What’s more, we see them on trails where it’s clearly signed for e-bikes to not be on the trail. Land managers can post signs, but there’s little they can do to enforce it. They don’t have the time and resources to be out there checking on who pulls up to the trailhead with an e-bike where e-bikers are not permitted, let alone patrolling the trails.
Of course, this e-bikes now/future “thing” is happening because there is money to be made, as well as the reality that the drive for technological innovation is part of the “human” experience, generally speaking. E-bikes “assist” people in accessing trails they otherwise wouldn’t put the time and effort into with regard to physical ability, or if they don’t have the physical ability. This isn’t about being right or wrong. It simply is how it is. I am not saying e-bikes have no place in our mountain biking community. That’s not it.
What I am saying is that e-bikes are here to stay. The industry wants them. Consumers want them. People have money to buy them. Trails will continue to see more e-bikers on them. In some places, e-bikers will make things more crowded. Mountain biking culture will continue to change, as well, like it or not.
To sum it all up: E-bikes are the new golf carts.
Fully Rigid is a monthly column by James Murren about Mountain Biking Issues within the Mountain Biking Community.