Question
have you taken a ride?
I have a question for you. Have you ever taken a ride on an e-bike? I see them all the time, both the scooters and the e-bikes, and wondered what it would be like to take a ride. I was a regular bike rider in my youth — back in the days when helmets were neither used nor mandated. I rode everywhere, including taking a cycling class in college, where we did 20 mile rides along the hilly roads out of and back into Corvallis, home to Oregon State University (the only OSU in my mind, btw). We rode through the fog and clouds, only coming inside on serious downpour days to run the steps of Gill Colesium.
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In high school I had my first bike stolen from right outside my back door, when we lived just a couple blocks north of the police station. It was a simple 3-speed with the high handle bars. After that my dad bought me a used 10-speed racing bike which I rode forever. It went missing during my college days, but then I had a little Kawasaki dirt bike (motorcycle) for a few years. It was street legal, but I didn’t want to mix with cars, so I just rode it off-road, which was a lot of fun. I bought a helmet and had straps to secure it in the back of my pickup, so I could drive to desert stretches and have fun.
That died after I took it apart and put it back together again. I didn’t miss any parts, and was proud of my mechanical achievement (easier than when I tried the same with a car), but the carburetor developed a leak which I couldn’t fix. I started running for exercise and ran a few 5-K’s, but now mostly go for long walks. I tried rollerblades, but was not comfortable. I see e-bikes along the trails in various places, seemingly abandoned, but I think they are just waiting for a rider.
So, I am curious if anyone out there has ridden one and how was the ride? It seems pretty straight forward, from the descriptive listing seen above. I like putting in the walking miles and go far sometimes, but curious about what more I could see if I took one for a spin. Just wondering. I might miss some of the wildlife sightings, since the creatures might be wary of the bike.
