In 1967 I was eight. I wasn’t allowed to ride my bicycle anywhere near my home, which was on a steep road known as Lookout Mountain. I had a bike, a 20″ Sears Spyder, but it was pretty intimidating considering I didn’t have many opportunities to ride until we moved to “The Valley” in Southern California.

I don’t know where the Spyder went and the only bike I remember from our home in North-ridge was my sisters purple Stingray. It had a two-speed Bendix “kick back” hub and a knee-action “springer” fork. I hated the color so when I cracked the frame, (impersonating the motorcycle Desert Scramble riders), I painted it grey after the repairs were complete. I knew my dad could do anything so when I broke the frame I looked forward to bringing him the repair. He taught me to use the torch first to burn the paint off, scrub the frame with a wire brush until the surface was clean and then to fix the crack using powdered flux, a torch and a brazing rod. We found bigger jumps and steeper hills which helped solve the “OK, it’s fixed” problem.

I thought about my bike quite a bit. I also thought about motorcycles, cars and airplanes. I drew pictures and made plans. I was really happy when I could draw a chain and bolts on a motorcycle. My friend Chris and I modified our bikes and organized championships – and I still painted my bikes grey. I played with motors as well but the cost was excessive so I went back and forth until I realized I could train on a bike and race on a motorcycle.  I wasn’t great at either but, damn, was I having fun.

Bikes and motorcycles were always the same thing with me. One involved a lot of petrol stuff, maintenance and physical strength while the other required a lot of steady hard work and a deeper understanding of my personal limitations and ambitions. They are both mechanisms designed to move at a smoother faster pace than walking or running but only one is powered by a human. It’s a mechanism that has the same genetic infrastructure and vehicle dynamics as a motor vehicle but uses an easy-to-find fuel, (human food), to enhance its performance to a pretty impressive level. Cyclists are able to average a speed many times faster than a walker with nothing more than a device or mechanism and the distance one might travel is increased the same way. There are boundaries, however.

Some years ago while riding my mountain bike, I happened upon a trail with blue paint marked on the trees and markers along the trail. It was super challenging and I had to carry my bike quite a bit. I had never heard of “hiking only” trails or trails with any restrictions at all, but I found out they do exist. Unintentionally, I was using this one illegally. The people who built this trail didn’t build it for a bicycle. One might argue that leaving a more rugged trail denies access to certain groups of non-mechanized users such as the elderly and, if you are on foot, do you really need a trail? You sure do if you don’t have the skills and equipment to get from point A to point B through the rough – especially if you have weekends to enjoy a family hike.

I didn’t see any hikers that day and I was reminded that, in many cases, mechanical devices were really more of a hindrance than an advantage.  Things have changed for both those in search of remote, silent solitude and those, like myself, that like both experiences – even though it’s actually only one “experience” and it’s me doing my thing or you doing yours.  You may feel you have a right to do this or that, but you really may not. The land you use isn’t yours to control. You don’t have the right to fill my ears with your noise or cover the earth with your filth. To some degree, we all do that to each other – sometimes  protected by law and other times in secret. One way or another, we affect each other. But we often have the ability to do what we want without undoing what someone else wants. I like that idea.

Let’s do things where they should be done – not where they shouldn’t be done.

Except for this past Memorial Day weekend ride at the Moto Meat Fest, I don’t ride gas burning dirt bikes much anymore. Not because of noise pollution, environmental damage, fuel use or anything specific. It’s just that I really wish moto was more like a bicycle and easier to have fun on one without getting chased off, shot at or cussed out. That’s why I enjoy electric assist bicycles. I think Ebikes are the direction transportation needs to go. Even though owning one doesn’t give riders additional rights, you may have to share with us some privileges you currently enjoy. People have gotten used to hiking into a beautiful wilderness, hearing a plane overhead or a truck laboring over a steep highway in the distance. Common sense tells us not to hike along a highway or airport while in search of solitude so, clearly, we can adapt.

It seems like we have adjusted pretty well with motorsports parks for motors, trails for hikers or cyclists, runways for airplanes and lifts for gravity enthusiasts. I love the feel of electric assist and look forward to riding home at the end of the day and climbing the 700’/10%+ hill to our house.

Despite the onset of e-bikes, I’ll never forget  the Sears Spyder or the grey two-speed Stingray or my never ending search for bigger jumps and steeper hills as a wanna-be Desert Scrambler. But, damn, I’m still having fun.