Right, but some folks are competitive athletes and some folks just want to ride a little. Some folks are really into fitness and exercise, some aren't.
I don't see any benefit (personally---others are of course free to think whatever) in looking down on the e-bike folks. Better than couches, better than cars ... nothing I want to do, but even though I am old, fat, and slow, I like the physical challenge.
Some folks might not or might not want every ride to be a challenge ... and I am all in favor of folks having harmless fun.
Originally Posted by
ironwood
You're not even sixty. I know we all age at different rates, but you should be able to keep your strength through your sixties. is one of my reasons for cycling; There are enough labor saving devices already, the challenge is to stay active.
This is almost comical. The first clause is negated by the second clause.
For some folks ... we all know people in their seventies or eighties who are riding strongly ... look at OldTriGuy, Carbonfiberboy ...
On the other hand, as the sentence says, everybody ages differently. The OP is not some other person ... he is himself.
And whether or not he could maintain his pace by doing harder physical exercise---maybe he doesn't Want to. Maybe he is happy doing the amount of exercise he does, and the idea of adding a few hours of exercise each week to try to regain the speed of his youth isn't the best use of his ever-shortening remaining life. Maybe he has too few hours in each day already to do all the things he wants, and for him, the choice of adding exercise or getting an e-bike ... is an easy choice.
Not putting down the folks who have made exercise the most important thing or one of their life's top priorities ... but neither putting down folks who maybe put it fifth or seventh.
If I am out riding and I see someone out in the bike lane ... I don't care what brand of bike s/he rides ... not if it has an electric assist or not. If the person is going in the proper direction (I met a guy on a gas-assist bike coming head-on at me in a bike lane a couple years back---he had a big smile and apparently no clue he was forcing me into traffic) and seems to be obeying traffic rules ... why should I care if the rider has a battery ... or a pacemaker, or is doing steroids or EPO for that matter? After all, I am not competing with anything but the onset of death and my own laziness.
Some other rider's e-assist doesn't make me more or less lazy, more or less old, and doesn't affect the speed of time's passing.
Nothing wrong with encouraging someone to ry harder ... but neither is there a reason not to encourage a rider to continue to enjoy riding.