u/Pinacoladapopsicle

I am fully prepared to get eviscerated for this post but I am so annoyed I don't even care. I took my daughter on Beach Drive today for the first time. She's 9 on a regular bike. The only bike I own is my cargo ebike, so I rode that behind and/or next to her as appropriate. I had my pedal assist on at the lowest level and, again, I was biking next to my 9 yr old so I didn't go faster than maybe 8 mph the entire time.

On TWO separate occasions, middle aged white men in head to toe spandex, cosplaying as Lance Armstrong came whipping by us at top speeds --WELL above what I was doing -- and yelled at me for having an ebike. The first one yelled "NO EBIKES" and the second one yelled "GET OFF THE ROAD". My daughter was already nervous about riding on Beach Drive for the first time and she got very shaken up and I had to spend half of what otherwise would have been a beautiful bike ride explaining to her that some people feel very entitled to their own opinions and are under the mistaken impression that any of us care what they think. In conclusion, get fucked.

ETA: I should add that the vast majority of people were LOVELY. The trickiest part for my daughter to learn was how to time passing people and biking assertively but not aggressively, and people were very kind to her even as she didn't always get it exactly right. So I'm happy to say she had a great time and feels really proud of herself, and seems to have forgotten all about the men who yelled at us.

ETA2: I am pleasantly surprised I have not gotten totally flamed here for riding an ebike on Beach Drive! I know it's a somewhat controversial activity. I always try to stay at my low power when I'm in pedestrian areas and bike how I'd want people to bike around me.