American Mountain Bike Riders-AMBR Access is an advocate for equal access to natural surface trails for all mountain bike riders, including riders of all Class 1 and adaptive ebikes. Today, it is eMTBs that are banned, excluded from local trails and from entire national trail systems available to analog bike riders. Pedal-assist Class 1 ebikes should be allowed wherever other mountain bikes are al
lowed, and not allowed where other mountain bikes are not allowed. A Class 1 ebike is a bike, not an ATV or off-road motor vehicle. As mountain biking advocates, AMBR.Access believes that the best way to retain and enhance access is to defend access for all forms of mountain biking. AMBR advocates for fair and equal access for all, whether we ride traditional mountain bikes, Class 1 ebikes, or adaptive ebikes. Divisiveness is counter-productive. Our community needs a Big Tent approach. We are all part of the same mountain bike community and share the same reasons to ride backcountry trails and love for our riding environment. Class 1 eMTBs are the fastest growing segment of mountain biking. eMTBs open new potential for bike riding adventures, long endurance high-altitude rides, and cross-country traverses. Less than one horsepower peddle-assist ebikes extend access to older riders and those with disabilities. Hunters and anglers don’t need ATVs or other noisy, polluting gas-guzzlers. Casual riders can keep up with a faster riding partners, while reducing their carbon footprint by parking the car and maintaining an active lifestyle. Land managers have begun to use eMTBs, which allow them to reach more of the areas they manage and provide a better understanding of how eMTBs can fit into their local area. Law enforcement and search and rescue groups use eMTBs to get to people in need of help quickly. Class 1 ebikes riders are burgeoning and diverse but as yet largely unconnected. Local activists are advocating for trail access on their own, and local access organizations are forming. At the national level, there is only People for Bikes, the highly effective bike industry organization and resource for all e-mountain bike activists. There is no national organization of bike riders representing Class 1 ebike riders. AMBR.Access seeks to fill that role. AMBR.Access works at the national level, forming relationships with others active in the mountain bike community and commenting on the proposed rules effecting eMTB trail access on public lands of the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and National Forest Service. AMBR.Access advocates not only for e-mountain bikes but we stand up for all mountain bike users to have fair and equitable use of open-space trails. We educate agencies, the public and other trail users about the benefits of mountain biking, and encourage all bike users to act as ambassadors of the sport who follow established rules of trail etiquette. AMBR.Access is equally committed to conserve our riding environment. Above all, we empower mountain bike users to be responsible and productive members of the backcountry community.
