Evolution or Devolution: Covid, E-Bikes, and the Outdoors

     When 2020 happened, and people weren't allowed to do anything that put them in close proximity to one another, it happened to coincide with Spring and Summer, and this was good. People seemed to rediscover the outdoors, and cycling benefitted from this, too. Outdoors was the perfect place to be together- but with plenty of breathing room (pun intended) to keep the requisite 6 feet from each other. 

    And something started to happen. The parking lots at all the state parks and state forests were filled to capacity. More trash began appearing in the woods. Certainly there were more cairns. And most of this was fine. The trash wasn't, but I for one assumed these were just growing pains from people that hadn't really spent much time outdoors and didn't know the etiquette. And then people began painting on rocks and trees in the middle of the woods. "We're all in this together!" and "Stay Safe!" and other cheerful and well-meaning slogans. Totally inappropriate and out of place in the woods. but... they were just learning, right? This too would pass.

    But along with the trash and paintings and rock piles came two other things that were linked. People's lack of endurance and the rise of the electric assist bicycle. The THEORY here is almost sound. Spouses or children of stronger cyclists can use the E-Bike to keep up with them. Aging cyclists or those facing health conditions (one popular youtuber began reviewing E-Bikes after she underwent treatment for cancer, for example) can keep doing what they love. I'd see one of these E-Bikes every once in awhile. You couldn't really tell them apart from other bicycles. The riders seemed to be going quicker than you'd expect, but they acted in every other way like all the other people on bikes. 'And besides' said the bike companies, 'these are only e-assist bikes. they can't pedal themselves. And they don't offer any assistance past 20 mph anyway.' 

    But then a "miracle" happened. These self-imposed limits might've been true of bicycle companies, but when word got out that there was money to be made with these electric bikes, other people seem to have gotten into the game. And with their bikes, pedals and chains seemed to be secondary to electric engines. 

Bicycle? Moped? Electric motorcycle?

    And I witnessed other seemingly impossible occurrences. I'd see people on the trails riding uphill WITHOUT PEDALING. What kind of dark magic was this? Why, if it wasn't for the pedals and cranks, I'd almost think I was looking at a small electric motorcycle. And the majority of ebikes seemed to get bigger and louder. Not loud in a gas engine sort of sense, but they had big fatbike tires that buzzed a lot on the road, much like when you hear a big 4x4 approaching from behind while driving down the highway. And despite the obvious rolling resistance and weight, these "new" ebikes seemed much faster than before. 

    And their riders stopped looking like other cyclists as well. For one thing, they didn't wear helmets. That was a little out of the ordinary, but their choice. And not an unheard of one for recreational cyclists. But I also noticed they didn't seem to like shirts very much.  That was quite a bit different from the average biker/hiker/equestrian/hunter or really anybody else you regularly see in the woods. 

    When we look around, though, this seems almost inevitable. "Acoustic" cycling can be hard. There's no questioning it. Going up a significant hill is not "comfortable"- especially when you're new to riding. And in every other part of modern life, we're totally OK with  allowing technology to make our lives easier. Our cars make phone calls for us. Our phones have taken the place of paper maps (and cameras. And many other things.) How can we be surprised that the average consumer would rather make it easier to pedal than harder? Faster with less physical effort-who would say no? Well, I would, but that'll need to wait for another post.