An E-biking Opportunity of a Lifetime: E-bike the C&O Canal Towpath with E-bike Lovers
E-bike Lovers' self-guided e-bike tour is divided in four days of outstanding e-cycling adventures. Each e-biking day has distinctive characteristics and offers unparalleled diversity with historic sites, towns, campsites, overlooks, locks, lock houses, aqueducts, waterfalls, tunnels, and hiking trails.
Four days of cycling provide unlimited e-biking opportunities on gravel cycling paths protected from motorized traffic.
2023 Schedule
Friday, 14 July: Arrival in Cumberland from Washington DC and overnight
Saturday, 15 July: Cumberland to Hancock (Berkely Springs) - 61 miles
Sunday, 16 July: Hancock (Berkely Springs) - Williamsport (Hagerstown) - 32 miles
Monday, 17 July: Williamsport (Hagerstown) - Brunswick - 47 miles
Tuesday, 18 July: Brunswick - Washington DC - 55 miles
Book accommodation soon in Hancock (Berkely Springs), Williamsport (Hagerstown), and especially Brunswick as options are limited.
How You Can Participate
Visit E-bike Lovers' Meetup page to register for the 2023 C&O Canal Towpath E-bike Expedition
E-bike Lovers Goes Cross-Country
We e-biked across America for a fundraiser. The tour started on April 2 and was completed after 4,500+ miles. We have designed a brand-new route that starts in Washington DC and ends in San Francisco.
The configuration of the Riese and Muller Supercharger e-bike used for the cross-country cycling route.
Dr. Gregory F. Maassen, founder of E-bike Lovers, raised over $178,000 for the Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy by e-biking 4,685.8 Miles = 7541.1 KM across the United States.
You can still donate. Be part of the journey. One Cent Per Mile, Tax Deductible
Dr. Maassen gives an update on the one-person e-bike convoy traveling across America. He has arrived at the finish line in San Francisco, California, after cycling 4,685.8 miles in four months.
Over 1,800 Miles of E-bike Lovers' Curated Trails
We proudly maintain the largest trail repository for e-bike lovers in partnership with RideWithGPS. We have e-biked them all. We love them, so will you. Click on any route for more information.
You can download the biking trails directly to the RideWithGPS app on your smartphone.
The routes are also suitable for regular "analog" riders.
Just check the elevation profile for each ride, as we love to e-bike in hilly terrains!
E-bike Tours Starting in Washington DC
Move the map with the mouse and click on + and - buttons in the top left hand corner to zoom in and out.
Win a Free $80 E-bike Lovers Custom-Designed Jersey
Thank you all for ordering T-shirts and jerseys. The shop is now closed.
To win a free E-bike Lovers Primal Wear top-quality jersey, you needed to order a jersey through the online shop. The winner of a free jersey was announced in March 2022 during this event.
E-bike Lovers participates in the 2022 Annual National Bike Summit
The 23rd Annual National Bike Summit will take place Sunday, March 27 - Wednesday, March 30, 2022. At the 2022 National Bike Summit, attendees will convene around the theme of Choosing Our Future.
E-bikes are our future. If the sales figures in Europe indicate the future of e-mobility in the US, e-biking will soon dominate new bicycle sales in the US.
Do you have suggestions on how we can improve infrastructure for e-biking? Do you have any concerns about safety standards, the regulatory environment, e-bike insurance, e-bike classification systems, and safety? Let us know.
Do you love E-bike Lovers?
Donate and keep the website and E-bike Lovers' Meetup rides for free.
Click on the secure Paypal button and feel instantly better knowing that you support the most inclusive e-biking group in the United States and possibly worldwide. Success and e-bike love are guaranteed! And, you will have access to all curated trails (over 1,800 miles) with turn-by-turn navigation that can be used offline (saving data and battery).
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E-bike Lovers E-bike Shop Survey
Are you happy with your bike shop? What makes you want to come back to the shop?
Is the "Internet-e-bike" you bought serviced by your local e-bike shop? What happens when you service an e-bike, and it gets lost?
E-bike Documentary
A story of the electric bicycle in the United States
Meet the Director
Starting in April 2022, we are going to e-bike over 3,400 miles cross-country along the Lincoln Highway, in search of e-bike stories. Do you live along the trail and have a story to tell? Please let us know.
E-Bike Lovers
We are an inclusive social group of e-bikers in Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland. Everyone is welcome
Who we are
E-bike Lovers is a social group of electric bicycle users
We bike in the metropolitan area of Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. We organize free guided e-bike rides (Meetup) and social events. We also review books, movies, and e-bike accessories, such as our favorite handlebar mirror everyone talks about.
Please read about our COVID-19 response and Code of Conduct.
why we do it
Together we achieve more
In these difficult times, we can do more together than alone. As COVID-19 impacts all of us, it is essential to be in nature, exercise, and socialize safely.
E-bike Lovers provide the opportunity to meet new people and jump on a bike and explore areas seen from a new perspective. We follow COVID-19 social distancing guidelines.
Donate at least $20 annually and download our trails with the RideWithGPS app for free.
All donations offset the running costs of E-bike Lovers.
E-mountain bikers - We need your support with new groundbreaking research
E-bike Lovers supports a research project by Dr. Tim Jones of Oxford Brookes University (UK) into the growing participation in electric mountain biking (EMTB). I have already participated in the interview, and it was a lot of fun.
If you are interested in taking part in a 45-minute interview (online or by telephone), please contact gregory_maassen@ebikelovers.com or contact the researcher directly at Dr. Tim Jones (Researcher), School of the Built Environment, Oxford Brookes University, 01865 483436 tjones@brookes.ac.uk
To qualify, you need to have mountain biked with an e-bike. You do not need to be a professional biker. All experience levels, from total beginner to expert, are welcome. I am a total EMTB beginner and still could share a lot of useful information with the researcher. I am sure, you can too.
What is the purpose of the study and why have I been asked to participate?
The off-road, E-Mountain Bike (‘eMTB’) market is growing. This is arguably providing an opportunity for people, particularly older people, who would otherwise have difficulty cycling in this type of environment, to access the outdoors to improve their health and wellbeing. However, critics point out that eMTBs should not be sharing the same trails as human-powered mountain bikes because of their incompatibility in terms of speed and experience of users leading to potential conflict.
We are interested in understanding your motives for and experiences of becoming an electric mountain biker and what this might mean for culture and sport in general as well as other domains such as transport and health.
Meet other People
We are an inclusive, social group, and everyone is welcome, even if you don't have an e-bike.
Explore
We bring you to places in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia you may not have seen before.
Get Exercise
E-biking regularly is a great way to be active and improve your health. Get on an e-bike and join us.
❝
Nathan Merris
Regional Representative - E-bike Lovers
We deliver miles of smiles.
We organize bike rides and social events
Download our e-bike friendly trail sheets with self-guided directions and jump on your e-bike to explore the DC Metropolitan Area.
Relive your e-biking experiences and highlights, and meet others during our special events announced on our Meetup page.
inspiration
Meet Sushil Reddy and his Guinness Book World Record-Breaking E-biking Attempt
Sushil is not new to breaking world records with solar-powered bicycles and vehicles. In 2019, he drove across India for 6,000+ kilometers in a partially solar-powered retrofitted electric tuk-tuk.
Now he is breaking a world record e-biking from North Carolina to Texas, a 6,000+ mile journey in 90+ days from August to November 2021 as part of the Sun Pedal initiative.
E-bike Lovers is a proud supporter of Sun Pedal 2021 by providing a Riese & Muller Supercharger e-bike for the record-breaking attempt.
Did you know?
The supporting e-bike, a Riese & Muller Supercharger e-bike, was provided by E-bike Lovers for this Guinness Book of Records cross-country biking project.
E-bike Lovers
My next car is an e-bike
We are the only and largest e-biking group in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia
We keep track of E-bike regulations and technology
Learn more about the maintenance of your e-bike, safety, e-bike classifications, technology, equipment, and legislation in partnership with E-bike Lovers' partner organizations.
Regulatory Update - Forest Service
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, is proposing to revise its directives to update and clarify guidance on the management of electric bicycle (e-bike) use on National Forest System (NFS) lands.
Currently, e-bike use is not allowed on NFS roads, on NFS trails, and in areas on NFS lands that are not designated for motor vehicle use.
To promote the designation of NFS roads, NFS trails, and areas on NFS lands for e-bike use, the proposed revisions include new definitions for an e-bike and a Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3 e-bike, as well as guidance and criteria for designating e-bike use on NFS roads, on NFS trails, and in areas on NFS lands.
opportunities
Become a team member
Editors and writers
Do you have good writing and editing skills? Join our editorial board
E-bike trail coordinator
Interested in coordinating e-biking events? Join our group of trail coordinators
Event organizers
Love to meet other people? Join our team of event organizers