First Ride with Utilitarian Purpose

[rayray]

I’ve been riding e-bikes for a bit over two years now. I haven’t ridden a tremendous number of miles..without looking up the total, I think I’m around 2,000. In all that time, every ride has been purely for pleasure and exercise. I’ve not used my bike to run any errands, as the theft problem is pretty bad around here, and I ride an expensive bike (Specialized S-Works Turbo Creo). Also, this isn’t a very bike-friendly area in terms of traffic safety, so I choose routes very carefully.

Well, today I took my SUV in for service at the dealership, and decided to haul my bike along. I ended up riding ten miles (10.01, to be precise) to get home, which is about half of my recent average ride distance.

I guess it’s not that big of a deal, but it was cool to be able to provide my own transport, and I sort of crossed a barrier in terms of taking a bit more risk….riding very busy roads in a somewhat unfamiliar area. Of course, as soon as the service writer saw my bike, he had to tell me about his two friends who were recently hit by cars while riding. Fortunately, I won’t have a similar story for him.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Ray,
I typically ride one of my e-bikes from/to the garage in the situation you've described. However, I have a funny story for you!

In 2013, I bought the first traditional bike in years. I owned a very bad van at that time, and drove it to a distant LBS to collect the bike. Of course, I loaded my new bike into the van and drove back home. At some point, my van broke; it had enough of momentum to be pulled over to a safe parking spot. I called my car mechanic, then unloaded my bike and had the first 12 kilometre bike ride...

In 2019, I used a cab to get to an LBS to collect my new Vado. That time, I rode all 25 km home on the new e-bike!

 

[rayray]

Now that’s a funny story!

I guess biking is liking boating; Do it long enough and you WILL have stories to tell. Although, in your case, it didn’t take long at all.

 

[tomjasz]

I've driven maybe 50 miles in 10 years. ALL my errands in my home town are on an eBike. And now having become less than able my eBikes are mobility vehicles. The latest are all 36V 500W and under. No need for speed here. My care giver drives me to medical appointments 25-45 miles away. Otherwise my daily freedom and transport is on two wheels, with two trikes in the wings in various stages of building for winter use.

I've owned bikes and ridden for ALL of 60 years. In my 20's and 30's 50-100 mile rides were relatively common. 531 butted frames and Campagnola gear. I don't miss sew up tires but they were fast...

 

[Rexlion]

About 3 weeks ago the ladies of my local church gathered at one member's home for a Saturday afternoon tea party. They asked me if I'd come and take pictures (I have a decent eye for composition and a DSLR). I was happy to oblige, and after mapping the location online and seeing how close it was to the MUP I ride, when the day arrived I loaded my camera into a backpack and rode my ebike to the tea party. It was much more fun than driving there and back, despite the temp being in the mid-90s (F).

 

[rayray]

I've driven maybe 50 miles in 10 years. ALL my errands in my home town are on an eBike. And now having become less than able my eBikes are mobility vehicles. The latest are all 36V 500W and under. No need for speed here. My care giver drives me to medical appointments 25-45 miles away. Otherwise my daily freedom and transport is on two wheels, with two trikes in the wings in various stages of building for winter use.

I've owned bikes and ridden for ALL of 60 years. In my 20's and 30's 50-100 mile rides were relatively common. 531 butted frames and Campagnola gear. I don't miss sew up tires but they were fast...

It’s very


It’s impressive that you have continued to push yourself to continue riding. I imagine the joy of cycling provides plenty of that motivation.

I don’t have any major disability, just the typical aches and pains from years of weekend warrior stupidity. The good news is that I actually feel much better when I ride. Perhaps it’s the endorphins, or maybe simply the movement and stretching. In any event, I look forward to every opportunity to ride.

I now have to confess that my wife drove me back to the dealership to get my car yesterday. In my defense, I did a lot of work around the house and was pretty worn out. At least the honey-do list was whittled down, and most importantly, my wife has that ceiling fan she wanted on the deck.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I guess biking is liking boating; Do it long enough and you WILL have stories to tell.

Per William F. Buckley, another thing like boating: Standing in a cold shower tearing up $100 bills.

At times, ebiking can be kinda like that, too.