Well, I finally caved and bought into the ebike world. Back in 2011 I lived in a mountain town, got into the best shape of my life, 6'2 175lb, and found mountain biking. Over the years life happened, career, wife, kids, mortgage, vehicles, etc. None of these things prevented me from biking, but I let them. Year over year the scale slowly crept up, 200, 220, 240, now 260! I still rode my same 2011 giant reign 0, occasionally, but never really loved it the last few years.
We moved, now the town I live in has great trails, but killer climbs. I took this beast out today to take it around the block, then just up the hill to the other neighborhood. Then it was just to the bike park, then to the top d off the bike park. After that I got on a connector trail, and started the climb up to the fun trails. Finally after about 13 k, a bunch of trail blazing through sections of snow 4-6" deep, I decided to turn back. I was gassed when I got home, but haven't stopped smiling about it.
The watch kept pausing/ locking, but the bike says 26k. It's likely been 6-8 years since a day like that, and this was in snow.
I feel like ebiking needs to be used like a tool. The best rides here are pushing 700+ m elevation gain, if you drive up to that connector trail before starting. I bought an ebike to get back to the epic ride days, the 25k rides me and my buddies would do on a split shift break. The 5-7 days a week riding. The exploring. Being destroyed after a sub 10k ride just got demoralizing. Is it the easy way out? Maybe, but I've never gone for a January ride, regardless of fitness level.
The best bike is the one you use. I hope maybe this will push someone else to get back to biking, whatever form it may be. It also probably helps that I was rapidly becoming the odd one out without an emtb around these parts….
by ShinyChicken7