Like many others in retirement, “The Fisherman” and I have purchased e-bikes. Cannot say it was planned. My sister and her husband bought them and the next thing I knew, The Fisherman was shopping for one for himself and….well…..what was I to do? It sounded like fun, I used to ride a bike a lot as a kid, so why not? It would be something for us to do together in retirement. As we shopped at our local REI store, looking at gear, etc., we talked with a guy who works there who is in our age-range. I really wondered what he was going to think of e-bikes, but he said he’s all for them. To paraphrase him, he said, it’s our generation that really got into “cycling” and he said for himself and friends who have rode for years, they had worried and wondered if the day would come when they would have to give it up because their aging bodies might not make it as easy to ride as it once was. He said that has now entirely changed due to e-bikes. They are grateful they won’t have to give it up and he loves that these bikes are getting more people out and riding.
Now, let me say this if you’re someone “our age” considering an e-bike: You know that saying that goes something like, “it’s just like riding a bike—you never forget” alluding to the fact that once you learn to ride a bike, you can hop right on and do it again? Well, that’s not quite true with an e-bike. Don’t get me wrong–I’m all for the e-bikes, but there IS a learning curve, at least for those of us who rode the “old school” bikes of our youth. This e-bike is NOT my old banana-seat bike I had as a kid or even the 10-speed I saved my dollars for and got when I was 12. These e-bikes are HEAVY due to the battery and we have the “Fat Tire”-style e-bikes which adds to the weight (ours are the Lectric XPeak model and this isn’t a sponsored endorsement but their customer service is great and we love the bikes.) That was the first thing I noticed: How heavy the bike is. Then, thankfully my sister warned me to be ready for the Pedal Assist, because when you have that on, if you start to pedal, those pedals TAKE OFF when you pedal, and you better be ready for that blast of power. It’s probably why we’ve heard of many people crashing on them when they first ride one: They didn’t have my sister to caution them of how different it feels and to be ready. We’ve heard many people speak on how you need to work to get your confidence on one. I would agree with that and that’s been, at least for me, a little hard to accept because I used to be super-comfortable on a bike as a kid. I think “kid” is the key word. As I kid, I rode everywhere and I don’t recall any concern over traffic, dropping off a curb, taking a tight corner, starting from a stop, etc. I had no worries. Where did that kid go? I think it’s likely that old thinking of our youth that we are invincible. Now, I’m like some Safety Monitor. Sheesh! I’m concerned over traffic and crashing. I worry about tipping over. Now, in my defense, that’s partly due to the weight of the bike. Slowing down on the bike has me thinking, “Can I keep this sucker upright?” I also don’t feel like I can turn or maneuver it on a dime. I suspect it will come with time, but for now, I’m cautious.
The Fisherman?—He’s got mad skills. Seriously. He doesn’t seem to have a care. My worries on the bike began with adjusting the seat. I have short legs. I’m 5’6″ but very little of that is leg. I joke that I have a “Tall Butt” but I’m telling you–A good portion of my height is butt. My sister has long legs and I tell her some of that leg length should have been mine. So I get on the bike and I want at least some toe-touching-the-ground-capability. Now I know: Skilled cycling pros say that’s not necessary, but with this heavy bike, I want to feel like I can control it somewhat if I’m slowing down. Now, for The Fisherman, he’s really tall, like 6’3,” and he has really long legs. He had to crank his seat up so high I can practically rest my chin on his seat when I stand next to it. No chance I’ll be hopping on his bike! He jokes about how much we had to lower mine. I know if it’s too low it’s also not good for your knees, but actually I think I’m okay on mine. Refer back to my reference to my short legs. It’s all proportionate.
The other bit of advice I’ll give you is you’ll want to read the manual for the e-bike. I told you: There’s a learning curve. I didn’t take that serious enough. I don’t need no stinkin’ manual! I know how to ride a bike! Yeah, key word is “bike”—this new machine has an “e-” in front of the word bike. It’s a different animal. That “e” changes everything.
The Fisherman suggested we take our bikes out on the Banks to Vernonia Trail which is one of those great Rail to Trail paths, where they take an old abandoned railway and convert it into a bike and walking trail. It’s a brilliant concept and this one is a gorgeous ride. It’s 21 miles ONE WAY and we know we need to work up to that, even on e-bikes, so we road about 10 miles into it, then turned around.
I got out there and remembered why kids love riding bikes. You feel the breeze and we’re cruising along primarily with all of the other retired people on a weekday, although school was still out for the summer, so we did see some families with kids. Here is where my first “Safety Monitor” worry came in: I have to pass these kids on bikes and anyone else on the path. I’m sure the path is wide enough, but that didn’t stop me from going in my head “Don’t tip over….Stay upright…STAY UPRIGHT—DO NOT SWERVE!” All was well but that thought went through my brain every time I met someone else on a bike. Same thing for walkers. My “Don’t tip over!” mantra would go off in my head.
As for the pedal assist, THAT is so awesome! I said I was going to pedal on my own as much as possible for exercise and I still approach it that way, but hey, there’s no shame in my game. I’m 61 and I’m not going to lie: My legs got tired and I was happy to hit that pedal assist, and even the throttle at times. Here’s where my lack of studying the manual/handbook came to haunt me.
There’s a way to use the pedal assist and the gears. It’s different than that 10-speed you rode as a kid. Well, me, admittedly I thought “Why in the hell do I need gears when I have Pedal Assist?” Now The Fisherman, he is an expert on all things with motors, and technical stuff. He dove into it all and he read the manual, watched videos and studied—hard. But not me, oh NO, and here’s where the humor came into our ride.
We took turns following each other on the path, and I noticed while my feet were flying on the pedals (total blur of pedaling,) when The Fisherman was in front of me he was pedaling slowly, with a very slow amount of rotation. I finally yelled up to him, “How is it that you’re pedaling so slow?” I knew he was using Pedal Assist like me, so why was I like a squirrel on a wheel, scrambling with the pedals, and he was doing a cool, slow rotation?
He yells back over his shoulder “Ghost Pedaling” to which I yelled back ‘WHAT?” He then yells over his shoulder “Ghost Pedaling!! Ghost Pedaling!! You Are Ghost Pedaling!!!!!” At this moment, with me pedaling at warp speed like a maniac and him yelling over his shoulder “Ghost Pedaling!” it was like a scene from “I Love Lucy.” Had e-bikes been around back then, there would have been an episode where Lucy and Desi would have been on a ride with Lucy “Ghost Pedaling” in a frenzy and Desi would have been yelling “Ghost Pedaling!” back at her.
At the point that he’s yelling over his shoulder at me with that single phrase “Ghost Pedaling!” I started laughing because I knew he was rolling his eyes thinking “I told her to read up on this!” I was laughing because when I heard the words Ghost Pedaling, I DID recall him telling me about it. Without getting super-technical on you, “Ghost Pedaling” is the term used to describe when you’re pedaling on the e-bike and not really having any impact. It’s like you’re not there–like a ghost! What I failed to remember is that when you’re in the various levels of Pedal Assist on the e-bike, you MUST shift up (yeah, THAT’s what those gears are for!) so that YOUR pedaling contributes something along with the Pedal Assist so that you can pick-up speed. It’s like you’re assisting Pedal Assist! Otherwise your pedals are going crazy-fast and you’re contributing NOTHING. You’re a ghost using the pedals! That may not be a super-technical explanation, but that’s it…in my brain. The Fisherman probably could give you a better, more technical explanation, if he’s recovered from the embarrassment of being on the trail with a Ghost Pedaler.
I shifted up after he yelled back to me “Shift Up like I told you before” (you mean “before” when you told me to read the manual?!) and, wow, it made all the difference in the world. Who knew?! Well, The Fisherman knew, and when we stopped to turn around he was shaking his head laughing at me, and I was laughing thinking about how goofy I must have looked, with my feet flying away on the pedals.
Oh Lucy! Shift Up!
Observations on getting used to being one of those gray-haired retired people 