[Redliner]

Tally another one up as "newly converted former e-bike hater". Nothing pissed me off more as I was hating life grunting up the Husky Road (Prairie Mtn - if you've ever climbed this you know how much it sucks) than hearing the whine of an e-bike coming up behind me only to watch them blow by like I was standing still.

Fast forward to last spring when one of my best friends & riding buddies calls me up and tells me to get up to his place, stat. I arrive to find two e-bikes hanging off the back of his vehicle. At first I was disgusted, almost felt betrayed. Then I rode the thing. I honestly couldn't wipe the grin off my face for the first hour. It's a total game changer. While agree that you don't get as much benefit from an e-bike ride compared to a "normal" bike on a 1 to 1 basis, I find that the type of workout you get is different. I still get a decent amount of cardio because you're trying to spin that crank as much as you can to keep the motor going, plus you're going uphill at a much higher rate of speed which means you have to think about line choice and actually ride the bike as opposed to just suffering up the climb while moving at a snail's pace. The additional benefit - which I think is huge - is you get way more ride time. I can take my regular bike out to Moose Mountain or West Bragg after work and do one lap, or I can take an e-bike and do three. I still ride for the same amount of time, (or longer on the e-bike because I'm not completely gassed) but I get way more Km on the bike and have way more fun doing it.

To be clear, the above statement applies to pedal assist e-bikes only. The ones with a throttle are basically dirt bikes and should be treated as such. I still have a quiver of "normal" bikes that get used regularly, but as a busy person with lots of family and work commitments my time is increasingly limited and I find myself reaching for the e-bike more and more often as it's ability to maximize my smiles per hour while riding is unmatched.