It's not as easy for me to get into shape as it has in the past. And I discovered a few years back that I like to ride even if I'm not going fast. Which lead to me getting much slower. And weight is an issue. Now that I'm trying to get faster again, it has been a struggle. I am not yet 60, so I don't think my goals will really be an issue, I just need to work harder to get to them. I know a lot of 70 year olds that are faster than me. I expect to be faster when I'm 70 than I am now. I expect to be suffering from dementia at 85, so that is something to look forward to.


I have wanted an ebike for a while for commuting. A lot of why I ride a bike for enjoyment is riding the bike, so I doubt I will be out cruising around on it for fun very often. But errands and commuting it would be ideal for me. It's over 100ft/ mile of climbing for me on my commute, that's not an easy ride. One of the fastest cyclists (under his own power) I know rides one on his commute, he loves it. I was looking at a Bafang mid drive unit, there is an extreme version of it for $250 (30%) more, I probably will get that even though it's not technically street legal. I am always very considerate of pedestrians and other road users, so I will only use the extra power for good, not evil.

I think my wife would really like an ebike. She likes to go biking at the shore, where it's flat. But she won't ride around here. Not sure it's worth the investment. I keep hoping that one of the lines of bikes that my LBS carries will have an ebike suitable for her. They dropped Trek because of corporate shenanigans, so that is unfortunate.

I think the problem that many cyclists have with the idea of ebikers is mostly theoretical. A lot of the people that will be riding ebikes in the future will be unconcerned about the reputation of cyclists as a whole. So it could be an issue for us. Counterbalancing that is that the more people that ride bikes, the better, even though they aren't like us.