I have always liked biking. I biked all over Hilton Head, around our neighborhood in Kentucky, anywhere there was a safe place to pedal. Wendy has never been quite as enthusiastic. Years ago I bought her a new Trek bike and it is still basically brand new, which tells you everything you need to know. Her issue is not balance or confidence. It is pedaling. She just does not enjoy the effort.

I figured if pedaling was easier, she might actually ride with me. Her sixty-fourth birthday was coming up and an electric bike seemed like the answer. If the motor could take the edge off the work, maybe we could ride together and explore some of the places we were visiting.

In Florida we kept seeing seniors riding electric bikes everywhere. On roads, on paths, through neighborhoods, down to the store. It looked practical and it looked fun. I could see it fitting into our life, especially with the traveling we planned to do.

The problem was that I did not really understand electric bikes at all. I did not know how they worked, what the differences were between brands, or what actually mattered. I had my eye on one on Amazon and was getting ready to order it as Wendy’s birthday present. One day I noticed the price had dropped from around eight hundred dollars to four hundred. That alone should have been a warning sign, but I ordered it anyway.

We were still in Fort Myers, but I figured we would be home before it arrived and it would be fine. A day or two later I got an email from the seller saying they were out of stock at that warehouse, but if I ordered from a different warehouse they would give me a ten percent discount. That sounded shady. I went back onto Amazon and canceled the order. The next day Amazon emailed me to say that the vendor was no longer an Amazon seller. I am pretty sure I dodged a scam.

Since we were in Fort Myers and the weather was good, I suggested we go look at electric bikes in person. I told Wendy I was just curious.

The first bike shop we walked into had exactly one electric bike. It was supposedly made by Trek and had a Bosch motor. Best in the business, the guy said. It was a Class 1 bike, meaning no throttle, pedal assist only.

We took it out into the parking lot and rode it around. It was incredible. The moment you started pedaling, the motor seamlessly added torque and suddenly you were flying. It felt effortless. Wendy rode it too and loved it.

The only thing I did not like was how it looked. It had a definite old-lady-bike vibe. Even though we now technically qualify as seniors, I am not interested in doing anything that visually reinforces that fact.

We got back in the car and Wendy said, “I would buy that bike for you.” She knew how impressed I was. I told her I was not buying the first bike we looked at. She made a smart-ass comment about how that was not usually my approach.

Next we went to the Trek store. They had similar bikes at similar prices, but these looked more like my road bike. They also had throttles.

Class 1 bikes top out at 20 miles per hour and only provide pedal assist.

Class 2 bikes also top out at 20 miles per hour but have a throttle.

Class 3 bikes go up to 28 miles per hour and have a throttle.

We rode a few of them around the parking lot and I was ready to buy. Unfortunately the salesman was tied up with a senior who was unhappy with the color of his bike. We waited. And waited. And waited.

When he finally got around to us, I asked if he would give us a deal if we bought two bikes. He said no. So we left.

We had to leave anyway. We did not have a bike carrier, locks, or any of the other accessories you need before you drop four thousand dollars on bikes and leave them sitting unattended.

We both agreed on one thing. We wanted electric bikes. We just needed to keep looking.

The next day we played golf in the morning. After sitting behind a pack of geezers grinding their way through an executive course, we bailed after nine holes and went bike hunting again. Executive courses should really be called geezer courses. The golf down south is hard to take seriously.

We first stopped at Target and bought a bike rack capable of holding two electric bikes, along with a set of locks. If we found bikes we liked, we wanted to be able to leave with them and have them secured.

From there we stopped at a small bike shop near our RV campground and were introduced to Lectric bikes. They were not particularly sexy, but they folded up and could be thrown straight into the back of the truck. No bike rack required.

They could be configured as Class 1, Class 2, or Class 3 bikes with adjustable settings. They cost about twelve hundred dollars each, significantly less than the Treks we had been looking at. They also came standard with rear racks, fenders, phone holders, and all the accessories that would have cost extra down the road.

I was completely impressed.

So we bought them.

Then we went back to Target and returned the bike rack and the locks.

That night, after I finished a couple of work meetings in the trailer, we rode our bikes over the bridge to Fort Myers Beach. We climbed that bridge like it was nothing. The new electric bikes turned what should have been a grind into something that felt more like riding downhill than pushing uphill.

 We stopped, had a beer at the beach, and rode back home, proud of ourselves for navigating the complexities of new bikes and a nighttime ride over a long bridge

We were thrilled and these new bikes were coming with us on the road where ever we went.