Over50
Well-Known Member
I was an avid but untrained biker in my younger days (from childhood BMX, teenager borrowing my brother's road bike, 20s-30s mountain bikes) until I went into sedentary mode in my 40s. Or maybe not totally sedentary but I was doing other things (like kayaking) and biking was just too difficult because I had relocated to the Detroit area from areas better suited to biking. Better suited both in terms of weather and places to bike.
A number of years ago I saw a story about Rad in the business press. I investigated e-bikes but was turned off by the weight. I thought 60 pounds was utterly ridiculous for a bicycle. I put the idea out of my mind for a couple of years. The desire to have a good bike and use it for transportation was gnawing at me. I started looking at touring and commuter bikes. I thought "maybe I could ride a bike to work once in a while" all the while acknowledging the difficulty of a 36 mile round trip commute, mostly in the dark, and partially through sketchy parts of town. I also wanted to find another form of commuting and my wife wasn't going to let me buy that Piaggio scooter I wanted. So I settled on a Spot city-commuter bike and fixed it up nicely (belt-drive, IGH, rack, fenders, dynamo...). I started riding a lot more on weekends and weeknights using it for errands and just around the neighborhood. But 10 miles was a long ride for me. 20 was about my limit. After a period of time I began to realize that maybe a 36 mile, 3-4 hour bike commute wasn't so feasible for me as a 50+ man in only so-so shape. The e-bike light went off again. I started investigating, reading the forums and watching Court's videos.
I ignored the naysayers such as my suburbanite co-workers who would say "doesn't an e-bike defeat the purpose of biking"? Or "are you crazy or just insane?" when I said I was going to commute to downtown via e-bike. And I settled on a Riese and Muller as my entry into the bike commuter world. I pedaled hard on that first commute. All my planning for pacing myself and getting into better shape gradually went out the window thanks to the fear of riding through the dark through Detroit neighborhoods sometimes in the fog and cold. Fear and range anxiety are great motivators and I got into much better shape much faster than I had anticipated. Wanting to be in better shape for the commute motivated me to return to some light weight training and other cardio-type exercises particularly during cold weather. I'm considering a spin bike as a polar vortex fighter.
The commute adventures piled up. From a road-rage woman in a minivan on my very first commute to a pack of feral dogs at 6 am on a dark, foggy street. I want to say I conquered the fear but I still get nervous before each commute. There is a lot that can go wrong. Taxi and bus drivers are maniacal. There is always traffic veering into and out of the liquor and lotto at 6am and with the cars parked in the street I am hard to see. Potholes are almost invisible in the dark and can form overnight. Pedestrians, skateboarders and joggers in the bike lanes with headphones. Road ragers and distracted drivers. Feral dogs, deer, skunks, rats, squirrels and sometimes a pheasant must be watched-for. Once, there was a young man sitting on a park bench shouting obscenities and he had a full-size axe at his feet. Another trip I encountered a shirtless, bald man with full-body tattoos who appeared suddenly on the sidewalk with a machete. But my concern subsided when he set about chopping weeds in a vacant lot. And I haven't been shot at yet. And, on the contrary, I've even run into a lot of really nice folks on my commute. Sometimes I'm surprised at how nice people can be. And the fear and risk is outweighed by the satisfaction I get from completing the ride and improving my times or changing my routes to see new things. I arrive at work in a better mood, I eat a better breakfast and I get home at night and find it easier to relax and sleep.
The commuting lead to wanting to use the bike for everything I could possible use it for which lead to a proliferation of e-bikes in my "stable". Learning from my commute and about my abilities also contributed to me expanding my bike collection or to switching bikes. I now have four e-bikes. One for hauling groceries. One for quick, easy ability to throw in the car. Both are bikes that my wife can also ride. And two for commuting or just whatever.
My wife now rides more than she ever did. Since I was riding more, she wanted to ride more. She was a reluctant convert but now finds biking much more enjoyable on the e-bike thus we ride more often together and we ride farther together. Weekends (when weather permits) our cars often sit. I'd like to only own 1 car but she's not sold on that idea. But for now we are both riding more and both in better shape (or will get back into better shape once the streets are clear of snow and ice). I still ride non e-bikes. Overall I ride a lot more miles versus when I just had a non e-bike for weekend use. I've spent a lot of money on this e-bike hobby but haven't regretted it one bit.
A number of years ago I saw a story about Rad in the business press. I investigated e-bikes but was turned off by the weight. I thought 60 pounds was utterly ridiculous for a bicycle. I put the idea out of my mind for a couple of years. The desire to have a good bike and use it for transportation was gnawing at me. I started looking at touring and commuter bikes. I thought "maybe I could ride a bike to work once in a while" all the while acknowledging the difficulty of a 36 mile round trip commute, mostly in the dark, and partially through sketchy parts of town. I also wanted to find another form of commuting and my wife wasn't going to let me buy that Piaggio scooter I wanted. So I settled on a Spot city-commuter bike and fixed it up nicely (belt-drive, IGH, rack, fenders, dynamo...). I started riding a lot more on weekends and weeknights using it for errands and just around the neighborhood. But 10 miles was a long ride for me. 20 was about my limit. After a period of time I began to realize that maybe a 36 mile, 3-4 hour bike commute wasn't so feasible for me as a 50+ man in only so-so shape. The e-bike light went off again. I started investigating, reading the forums and watching Court's videos.
I ignored the naysayers such as my suburbanite co-workers who would say "doesn't an e-bike defeat the purpose of biking"? Or "are you crazy or just insane?" when I said I was going to commute to downtown via e-bike. And I settled on a Riese and Muller as my entry into the bike commuter world. I pedaled hard on that first commute. All my planning for pacing myself and getting into better shape gradually went out the window thanks to the fear of riding through the dark through Detroit neighborhoods sometimes in the fog and cold. Fear and range anxiety are great motivators and I got into much better shape much faster than I had anticipated. Wanting to be in better shape for the commute motivated me to return to some light weight training and other cardio-type exercises particularly during cold weather. I'm considering a spin bike as a polar vortex fighter.
The commute adventures piled up. From a road-rage woman in a minivan on my very first commute to a pack of feral dogs at 6 am on a dark, foggy street. I want to say I conquered the fear but I still get nervous before each commute. There is a lot that can go wrong. Taxi and bus drivers are maniacal. There is always traffic veering into and out of the liquor and lotto at 6am and with the cars parked in the street I am hard to see. Potholes are almost invisible in the dark and can form overnight. Pedestrians, skateboarders and joggers in the bike lanes with headphones. Road ragers and distracted drivers. Feral dogs, deer, skunks, rats, squirrels and sometimes a pheasant must be watched-for. Once, there was a young man sitting on a park bench shouting obscenities and he had a full-size axe at his feet. Another trip I encountered a shirtless, bald man with full-body tattoos who appeared suddenly on the sidewalk with a machete. But my concern subsided when he set about chopping weeds in a vacant lot. And I haven't been shot at yet. And, on the contrary, I've even run into a lot of really nice folks on my commute. Sometimes I'm surprised at how nice people can be. And the fear and risk is outweighed by the satisfaction I get from completing the ride and improving my times or changing my routes to see new things. I arrive at work in a better mood, I eat a better breakfast and I get home at night and find it easier to relax and sleep.
The commuting lead to wanting to use the bike for everything I could possible use it for which lead to a proliferation of e-bikes in my "stable". Learning from my commute and about my abilities also contributed to me expanding my bike collection or to switching bikes. I now have four e-bikes. One for hauling groceries. One for quick, easy ability to throw in the car. Both are bikes that my wife can also ride. And two for commuting or just whatever.
My wife now rides more than she ever did. Since I was riding more, she wanted to ride more. She was a reluctant convert but now finds biking much more enjoyable on the e-bike thus we ride more often together and we ride farther together. Weekends (when weather permits) our cars often sit. I'd like to only own 1 car but she's not sold on that idea. But for now we are both riding more and both in better shape (or will get back into better shape once the streets are clear of snow and ice). I still ride non e-bikes. Overall I ride a lot more miles versus when I just had a non e-bike for weekend use. I've spent a lot of money on this e-bike hobby but haven't regretted it one bit.
