From E-Bike Skeptic to Convert: My Unexpected Journey
▼ Summary
– Seattle’s hilly terrain makes cycling challenging, especially when towing a bike trailer with a child.
– The author initially resented e-bikes as a shortcut but reconsidered after experiencing their benefits firsthand.
– E-bikes enable comfortable family rides and expand cycling accessibility for people of different abilities.
– Using an e-bike has replaced car trips for the author, allowing practical errands and greater mobility.
– The author now embraces both regular and e-bikes, recognizing they serve different purposes and can coexist.
Living in Seattle means accepting that cycling anywhere involves a serious uphill battle, often in both directions. My own home perches on one slope, while the places I want to go, the business district, the local coffee shop, sit atop entirely different inclines. Each time I struggled up another steep grade, breathing hard and muttering complaints, I’d hear the quiet hum of an electric motor approaching from behind.
Someone on an e-bike, usually one of the few properly parked rental models, would glide past effortlessly. No sweat, no strain, sometimes not even pedaling. I’d watch them disappear up the hill and feel a surge of resentment. I dismissed e-bikes entirely, along with the people who rode them. But life has a funny way of changing your mind. Last month, I bought one myself, and now I can’t imagine life without it.
My four-year-old isn’t entirely to blame, though he played a part. After friends gifted us a pop-up bike trailer, I attached it to my bicycle, dreaming of pleasant family rides. Our test run through the park went smoothly, but the final hill leading home nearly broke me. Lightheaded and seeing stars, I had to walk the rest of the way. So much for a relaxing outing.
My husband didn’t fare much better. He towed the trailer once on our hilly route back from downtown and declared it a one-time ordeal. We found ourselves limited to a single flat route to the corner store, nice, but not exactly adventurous. We wanted more freedom, not less.
All the while, I kept noticing e-bike riders everywhere. They weren’t just reckless twenty-somethings weaving through traffic. Many were people like me, parents with kids on the back, cruising comfortably along waterfront paths. They looked happy, relaxed, and genuinely pleased to be outside together. More than that, they seemed to be having a genuinely good time.
I’ll admit some of my earlier disdain came from pure self-righteousness. I believed that grinding up a hill under my own power made me more deserving, of what, exactly? A medal? A pat on the back? It didn’t really matter. I was putting in the effort, and others, I thought, were cheating. But that mindset started to crumble when I rented an e-bike on a family trip to rural Michigan.
The rental shop only had e-bikes with child seats, so I had no choice. My city-raised son shrieked with joy every time we passed a cow or horse. He was so comfortable he fell asleep on the ride back. E-bikes are ideal when you’re hauling a small human around, and more importantly, they’re incredibly fun.
That experience flipped a switch. Maybe riding a regular bike and enjoying an e-bike weren’t mutually exclusive. Maybe I could appreciate both. That line of thinking led me to test-ride a model at a local showroom. We left with a boxed RadRunner and a toy BMX bike for my son, a clever nod to their target demographic.
These days, I do a lot of thinking while riding my e-bike, which is nearly every day. I’ve let go of the puritanical idea that cycling must involve suffering. It’s okay to do something simply because it’s enjoyable. Beyond that, e-bikes make cycling accessible to people of all abilities. I still love a challenging ride on my traditional bike, but sometimes the goal is just to get from point A to point B. Resenting e-bike riders is like being annoyed at people walking slowly on a jogging path, it misses the point entirely.
What’s more, I ride far more often now. The e-bike opens up routes I would have avoided before. It doesn’t replace bike trips, it replaces car trips. I outfitted mine with a large front basket that’s carried everything from farmers market finds to a bulky camera tripod. It’s fantastic.
Our family ride options have expanded dramatically, too. Recently, we took the e-bikes on the ferry to Bainbridge Island. While waiting to return, an attendant glanced at the mix of cyclists, about half on e-bikes, half on traditional models, and asked if we were all together. I said no, but in a way, yes. We’re all out here, sharing the road and the ride.
(Source: The Verge)
