My name is Sam.  And I ride an e-bike.  There.  I said it out loud.  Don’t shame me or look down your nose at my very un-bike rider body style and shape.  I like to ride my bike, and my e-bike has kept me in the sport.

Technically, the bike I ride is actually called an e-assist.  It has a 750w electric motor in it that “assists” you when you’re pedaling. You don’t pedal, it doesn’t go anywhere.  HOA’s, your neighbors and the local sheriff’s department are talking about “e-bikes” a lot and those are something totally different.  If it has a throttle on the handlebars, that’s not an e-assist.   That’s either a moped (with pedals) or a mini-bike.  They can be a menace.  Anybody would be hard pressed to differentiate an “e-assist” bike from a regular road or gravel bike. But in the bicycle industry, the bike I ride is generally referred to as an “e-bike.”

Apparently I’m not alone in my trepidation to admit I’m riding an “e-bike.”

“Europe was a little late to the scene as culturally e-Bikes were seen as ‘giving up’ on riding,” Clive Marshall, the owner and operator of Italy Bike Tours, a cycling touring company based in Northern Italy, explained. “The game changer was the aesthetics of the e-bike. It’s become less obvious and people feel more comfortable riding them and no longer feel odd.”

I started riding in the early ‘80’s thanks to my friend Rick, a photographer at the TV station I worked for.  Like everybody, I was on a steel bike for a while, Schwinn’s, Treks, Giants, and others. I started to make a little more money, which meant I could look beyond the bikes I’d been riding and into the top brands and all the toys that go with them. Once I sampled the different manufacturers and models my friend Phil had in the shop (www.championcycling.net) there was no question that I’d own a Pinarello.

Quintessentially Italian in design and function, I never feel like I get “on” my bike but rather I feel like I get “in” it.  There is something about the geometry of the Dogma 2 that fits me, so much so that I haven’t upgraded the frame in years but rather put SRAM Red electronic on it, Zipp 303’s and an EVO integrated handlebar that changed the feel of the whole bike. I know, I’m still the guy  with outdated rim brakes, and I’m sure sometime soon I’ll find another Pinarello that fits me.

Which brings me to e-bikes.  After two hip and two knee replacements and turning seventy years old, I still wanted to ride.  My surgeon, John Redmond, assured me I’d be able to do that and through a lot of rehab, physical therapy and time, I’ve proved him right.  I just completed the “Last 12 days of the Giro” with Italy Bike Tours covering about 450 miles and 20,000 of climbing in ten days of riding.

All on an e-bike.

When my friend Alex and I started discussing riding along with the Giro this year, I mentioned that an e-bike might be in my future.  “Thank God,” he said with a laugh and joined in. (When Alex told his cycling buddies he’d be on an e-Bike, one of his friends chided him for not riding under his own power.  Alex’s response?  “Hey, it’s my trip, not yours”.)

I’ll admit, having climbed Mt. Ventoux on a steel bike with a triple (the hardest thing I’ve ever done), finishing Alpe d’huez, and taking on numerous other climbs in Europe and the US, it was a leap to swallow my pride and get some help.

“An e-bike gives the rider a greater ability to continue riding,” Phil, my friend and still co-owner of Champion Cycling here in North Florida explained.  “When they have otherwise quit riding because of ailments or injuries, riding a conventional bike would have been difficult to maintain the same level of riding.  An e-bike can help with that.”

Watching professional cyclists compete and take on some of the iconic routes around the world is different than doing it as an everyday amateur. But that’s one of the attractive things about the sport, your ability to ride the same roads with the same equipment, take on the same challenges and in some cases, measure yourself against the best.  Few of us will ever serve at Centre Court at Wimbledon, stand in the batter’s box at Camden Yards, tap in a goal at Old Trafford or throw a pass from the 50-yard line at EverBank Field.  Golf gives you a chance to see how the professionals take on the best courses in the world (albeit under elevated conditions that are reversed as soon as a tournament ends).  Cycling offers that same experience.

“You see so much more when you’re on your bike,” Alex said of the experience chasing the Giro around Northern Italy. “Towns, vineyards, lakes, rivers.  It’s all the stuff you see on TV that you get to experience.  There’s no substitute for that.”

Riding through the finish line on a few stages of the Giro was fun with people six-deep along the last kilometer or so. Italy Bike Tours offered that as part of their package and while it wasn’t an overriding factor in choosing to go with them, it was a nice perk along the way.  I’ll admit though, “How many of those people recognize I’m on an e-bike?” did go through my head a couple of times.

But I got over it.

Two factors played into my ignoring I was on an e-bike from an athletic standpoint:  First, the bike doesn’t go anywhere unless you pedal it. There’s a torque meter in the crank that signals the small electric motor to kick in and help.  And second, in Europe they limit the help only up to 25 Kilometers per hour (about 15.5 MPH).  I had a Guerciotti Navir I.ON, a traditional Milanese Italian bike, painted the colors of the Italian Flag. Gorgeous machine. It had five levels of assist, disc brakes and handled beautifully.  But it was heavy. Twenty-two kilos. If the group decided they wanted to push the pace a bit, I was providing all the power above 15 MPH.  There were some other riders in our group on e-bikes made by Ridley, lighter, and easier to pedal above where the assist stopped.  They didn’t have any problem staying with the main group.

“I decided to do one climb without any assist,” Alex said, with a bit of wistfulness in his voice. “But I only did that once.  Learned my lesson.  On the flats, no problem.  On the climbs, a little assist goes a long way. E-Bikes are like metal woods. They’re a new tech that benefits everybody.”

I did fall behind on the flats, which I didn’t mind, especially since the IBT guides, Julio, Nicolai and Nicola all kept an eye on me, dropping back to check that I was doing fine.

“Tutto bene,” I’d say when they asked.  Eventually they figured out that I was biding my time until the next climb or hill in the Italian countryside.  That’s when the assist really makes a difference.

Holding onto a little bit of pride, I kept my bike on level three of five, partially conserving battery and partially because I wanted to get some work in.  Three (of five levels of assist) was great for me, I know Alex turned his off occasionally and used two generally, but three was the right number for me.  As the road would tick up, my level of work would also increase but it was a great feeling having the bike helping me along.  I imagine that’s what the great climbers feel like all the time!  I still had to get on the right chainring and in the right gear to take on some of the steeps, but finding a rhythm and a line on the hill was the focus instead of, “Am I going to make it?”

“When you’re on a bike tour, it’s about the riding, the scenery, the camaraderie and the wine, the whole experience.  But how you feel the moment you put your foot down and that day’s ride is over might be the most important thing,” Marshall explained.  “Are you exhausted? Miserable?  Happy?  Joyous?  That’s what you’ll remember.  And for some people, the e-bike provides that moment.”

I burned plenty of calories, I saw beautiful vistas and I didn’t feel like I might collapse when I finished the climbs on this trip.  Just what I was looking for.

Living in Florida, most of my riding is flat, but I do own an e-bike.  It’s a Pinarello Nytro Gravel with a single chainring on the front.  It has three levels of assist, and I usually ride it with none or one.  The first level of assist negates the weight of the bike.  If it’s super windy, I’ll use some assist riding into the wind. And if I’m in a group ride, I can keep up with the riders who occasionally want to hammer at the front with just the touch of a button.

“About fifty percent of our customers are buying e-bikes,” Phil explained. “The popularity has been very rapid.  They’re bringing in a very wide range of customers, a lot of customers we wouldn’t have seen in the past.”

This is where Europe is still a bit behind the curve. You could say the riding standard of fitness is higher in Europe than it is in the US but the riding population as a whole in the US is far larger than it is in Europe. So it’s caught on in the States with a more casual cycling crowd more quickly.

But it’s growing worldwide.  The Giro d’Italia has sanctioned an event called the “Giro-E.”  Italy Bike Tours has started a whole new brand that just caters to e-bikers.

“We created Mamma Mia E-Bike Tours because guests want to ride with fellow e-bikers,” Marshall explained. (https://www.mammamiaebiketours.com) “About fifteen percent of our riders are on e-bikes but I feel there is a space that just caters to e-bikers.”

Marshall has also seen an increase in “multi-generational” holidays where whole families can ride together to explore cultures and countries.

My Dogma 2 still gets plenty of use, especially when I’m specifically working on fitness.  And I just like to be on it.  But when it comes to hills, or keeping up with my friends, I’m grabbing my e-bike.

And I won’t feel bad about it either.