ABC News: Electric bicycles provide disability friendly, and cost-effective alternative to cycling

[ebikemom]

Ebikes in the TV news...

https://www.abc17news.com/news/elec...fNZYLsS1SRuDvBtEV6Thz07YJejfbQ8ktL7nN8NlSf3Sc

News story transcript:
Some people are choosing electric bicycles as a disability-friendly cost-effective alternative to regular cycling. "People that want to get back into riding that aren't strong anymore or young anymore," said Columbia Bike-Pedestrian coordinator Ted Curtis. E-bikes have a rechargeable battery and an electric motor that assists the rider as they peddle, Curtis said during an electric bicycle seminar on Sunday. He said e-bikes allow elderly individuals or people with injuries to ride. "It was a game changer, and I'm in better shape than ever," said Richard Rosenberg, a Pedego bike shop employee. Rosenberg said he was hit by a car when he was 16 years old and his back injuries made cycling challenging. He said the hilly terrain in Columbia added to the difficulty of riding. "I had to cut my distance of driving on my bike, and I had to find certain areas to enjoy my bike," he said "I pretty much gave up biking for two years." Getting an e-bike, Rosenberg said, allowed him to ride again. He said he uses his electric bicycle as a main method of transportation and he rides it more than 25 miles to work each day. An e-bike costs about a nickel of electricity to fully charge. Electric bicycles can reach a top speed of 20 miph and can be ridden on Columbia's trails when kept under 15 mph."

 

[rich c]

Really don't care for that alternative to cycling headline. Gives the riders who think we cheat already a little more ammunition. Help like that we don't need! The story does shed a much better light.

 

[DDBB]

.. best answer I've seen to the "you're cheating" question is .... who am I cheating?. I didn't think about the headline being negative but yes, they could have done better, otherwise it's a positive piece

 

[Ian Moone]

Or the Crack about Not being Strong or Young any more was a bit Rude !! ? The Author should have chosen a Wiser route !

 

[ebikemom]

Really don't care for that alternative to cycling headline.

I agree because ebiking IS cycling, and for many of us who ebike, a non-electric bicycle would not allow us to do what we do, so is not an alternative at all.

For me, ebiking is an alternative to driving. An alternative to sitting on a bus. An alternative to sitting in a movie theater. A transportation and recreation solution that promotes the health and activity of the user.

 

[DDBB]

The piece was not perfect by any means but it WAS positive. I'll take that over any negative news coverage!

 

[Ken M]

For those us that actually consider ebikes as an alternative to a car for whatever transportation needs it can address the benefits of motorized assist become crystal clear. It does flatten the hills and increases the average travel speed a bit (which actually can help stay cool on hot days) such that urban commuting on a bike can be as fast or even faster than a car even up to distances of 20 miles (that is my reality in Denver).

For those who call it cheating, that's funny because I lost 30 lbs my first year of commuting (did almost 6,000 miles on the ebike) so clearly I wasn't cheating that much. Now would I have lost more on a traditional bike? Maybe, but the dramatic increase in travel time and arriving at my destination far more sweaty would not have been desirable. I literally got to the point that I was far more happy to get on a bike than in my car on a daily basis (I still have to drive more than I like).

I still believe the long term HUMAN SCALE TRANSPORTATION benefits an ebike provides will gain wide understanding. I think there is so much development and marketing $s going towards the enthusiast mountain ebikes that this kinds of reduces the awareness of the transportation potential. I think the mindset in Europe is vastly different than here in the US ... it's like you have to pry a steering wheel out a dead person's hands (that person was usually obese and watched 4 - 6 hours of TV a day) and then if someone is commuting on an ebike people instantly think they are poor and can't afford a car so there is a stigma attached that makes no sense to me. I'm not going to go into all the positives of riding an ebike vs driving a car because that has been addressed in many articles.....people just have to commit a month or two to actually getting back on a bike (an ebike) and they will experience all of them and the mindset will change.

 

[Deleted member 4210]

The piece was not perfect by any means but it WAS positive. I'll take that over any negative news coverage!

Yep. Agreed. If that's the worst thing grabbing headlines on ebikes, we are indeed making good progress in this industry here in the US. We'll likely never grow as fast as countries that already depend less upon the automobile, but it appears to be heading in the right direction.

 

[Taylor57]

Our local news team is doing a story on Ebikes tonight. I just saw a trailer and they mentioned 3 things you need to know before buying an ebike. There was another reference to battery issues. I will try and attach a clip if possible. My guess is that it is not going to be super favorable for ebikes...