A woman experienced every e-bike rider’s worst nightmare when her bike’s battery died deep in the desert, leaving her stranded for 30 hours and pushing her bike for 20 miles before rescuers found her.
Details are scarce, but Friends of Big Bend Ranch State Park reported the incident last week. It took place last November in the Chihuahuan Desert and highlights the risks of relying on electric bikes in remote areas—especially where they are not allowed.
Big Bend Ranch State Park is Texas’s largest state park, covering more than 311,000 acres along the Rio Grande. It’s known for its vast, rugged terrain and access to popular outdoor activities like bikepacking, gravel and mountain biking, hiking, horseback riding and river floating.
According to the National Park Service, the park offers more than 100 miles of paved roads and 160 miles of unpaved backcountry trails, making it “a premier bicycling location.”
The organisation even encourages people to explore by bike, stating that “bicycling allows outstanding panoramic views unobstructed by a windshield. It also allows the bicyclist to see and hear some of the smaller wonders of Big Bend from a more intimate viewpoint.”
However, due to the park’s rugged vastness, limited cell service and supplies, and temperatures that can easily exceed 100°F during the day, bicyclists must be extremely cautious and well-prepared before setting out.
The Friends organisation reported that the woman, whose identity has not been released, was recovered safely from deep in the park's interior and reminded all park visitors that e-bikes are allowed on the paved roads only – not the trails.
“E-bikes may sound like a good idea to make your adventure a little easier but in the backcountry, they're downright dangerous,” the organisation stated.
“If you can't ride it without the assistance of an electric motor, please keep it out of the park and off the trails.”
