This week, reader “dw” wrote a comment which, as someone pointed out, was “nearly a guest BP article.” That’s true, and it was also an inspiring story.

Writing in response to our post about how Oregon has chosen to spend its $197 million in federal climate change funds on cars, dw talked about how riding a bicycle, and then an e-bike, ushered in a set of needed lifestyle changes which had always seemed out of reach.

Cycles of dieting, exercise — those strategies never stuck. But then dw bought a $100 bike, and here’s what happened next:

I also have a $3000 “luxury” ebike”, as my coworkers like to joke, that I spend about $200 a year on maintenance for. I’ve had mine for a little over 2 years and have put 10,000 miles on it.
I had a set of recurring mental and physical health issues that basically all boiled down to “lifestyle changes” for treatment. I went through cycles (no pun intended) of getting my diet under control, failing to get any exercise, feeling terrible physically, falling into a depression spiral, then letting the diet go because I felt like none of it really mattered so I might as well have Oreos for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

After not riding a bike since I was a kid, I ended up buying a used craigslist bike from some guy in Tigard for like $100 just because people riding bikes around my neighborhood looked like they were having a pretty good time. It hadn’t occurred to me that a bike could be a useful tool for transportation until I realized I could ride to Freddies in 10 minutes. I still drove to work, but basically every day for a month before/after work I was out riding to get all my errands done; riding to the grocery store, the barber, my favorite coffee place, the post office with a jank package-carrying setup on my no-rack 70’s road bike.

Toward the end of the that month I realized that I felt better than I had in years – and I made the connection that the bike was tricking me into getting exercise without having to “fit” it into my day.

The ebike has taken my radius of what I can accomplish – including commuting to and from work – and expanded it by several times. I still sometimes ride my analog bike to work, but anything above 65 degrees has me showing up to work a wet, sweaty mess to work. So I like that I can get some movement in my day without sweating like a hog. I can also cycle in my civilian clothes. I can carry tons of stuff up hills no problem. It really has replaced about 99% of my car trips. The only reason I still have my lil 08 fit is because it’s paid off and the registration + insurance is cheaper than what I’d pay for a rental whenever I drive. If/when it craps out I probably won’t buy another car.

I think ebikes open up utility cycling to an even wider range of body types, fitness levels, and lifestyles. As a public health intervention, I can’t think of a better way to get people moving than to make it fun, useful, and something they already do. Aka getting around.

I’ll end with a repetition of Lois’ point: Why in the (rapidly overheating) world are we NOT making this a no-cost/low-cost option for more people?

Thank you dw. You can read dw’s comment, along with many other strong comments, under the original post.