I can still remember the first time my husband brought up the topic of investing in an e-bike for me. He claimed that it would help me keep up with him on our longer bike rides. Being the competitive person that I am, I was actually offended that he was implying that I was struggling to keep up with him on any ride. Technically, I was, but I was too stubborn to admit it.
The subject stayed on the back burner until the summer of 2022. A local library had e-bikes that you could check out on your library card for 24 hours at a time. After one trip with the borrowed e-bike, I was hooked. An e-bike leveled the playing field (or riding field) for me and John. Even with the bike on the lowest power-assist setting, eco, I could not only keep up with him, I could be the one in the lead setting the pace.
Hills? Wind? No problem. It felt a bit Pee-wee Hermann-like sprinting up hills, a smile on my face, enjoying the scenic ride, rather than just trying to make it from Point A to Point B without collapsing from the exertion.
On occasion, there would be two e-bikes available to check out, so both John and I got to experience the comfort and joy of riding e-bikes. Later in the summer, we borrowed e-bikes from his brother and sister-in-law to check out the hilly areas in their neck of the woods. That really convinced us that these would be game-changers in our quest for fitness and fun.
By the time the summer ended, we were determined to invest in e-bikes when we retired. While we really wanted the e-bikes for the summer of 2023, we were willing to wait another year to get them. However, circumstances changed for us this spring when John was gifted some money in his uncle’s will. Because of that, we went forward with the purchase of our e-bikes this May.
The consummate researcher, John spent months over the winter and early spring watching more YouTube videos than you can imagine on e-bikes before he determined the brand and style of e-bikes we would be purchasing. We ended up getting the Aventon Pace 500.3. John’s is the step-over style in black and mine is the step-through style in blue.
His uncle, Joseph Endres, Jr., was an avid fan of the Friendship Trail, which loops a portion of Little Lake Butte des Mort in Wisconsin’s Fox Cities. After his passing, a bench was dedicated to him and his older brother, Jerome Endres, who’d enjoyed that trail himself many times through the years. To honor Joseph (or Hans as the family called him), when we left the bike shop, our first destination was the Friendship Trail.
Talk about love at first sight. Or first ride. These bikes met all of our expectations and more. Biking is so much more fun when you’re not winded and can truly enjoy the experience, taking in the beauty of God’s earth around you as you ride, and not collapsing from exhaustion when you get back home.
Don’t let any non-e-bike riders harass you about “cheating” when you’re riding an e-bike. John’s standard response is, “Do you consider it cheating when you’re riding a $2,000 road bike and we’re riding $200 cross comfort bikes?”
These bikes have allowed us to go much further distances, ride longer, and head out for rides regardless of the wind or other weather conditions. I’d guess I’ve put more miles on this summer (500+ so far), than I have in the last three years combined.
John’s favorite thing about the e-bikes is watching me smile as we ride. All the pain from riding I used to have, whether it was my back, knees, or hands, has diminished since we got the e-bikes. With fall just around the corner, we’re anticipating riding much later into the year than we usually do.
E-bikes are an investment, but a worthwhile one. We plan to do even more bike riding next summer when John’s retired. What better way to spend our time than being together, working on our fitness, and living in a state of gratitude—particularly since we reside in an area with an abundance of river trails and other great biking areas.