GEEZER RENEWAL !!

By Bob Neel

Aug. 25, 2019

Background: I live on the highest point in all of Seattle, a city of hills. Riding a bike, once a favorite pastime, became a challenge. Going out — EASY. Coming back home — old knees and lots of wheeze weren’t fun anymore. Over a decade ago I gave up on biking.

Then son Mark talked up the virtues of electric bikes. On a visit last May I gave one a try and was HOOKED! As of my 74th birthday (Thanks Mark, KC & Tess!) I’m back into biking.

THESE THINGS ARE AMAZING! AND ADDICTING!! They deliver *all* the fun with *none* of the grunt. Big-ass hill? Just shift down a gear and invoke the motor. Steeper? Up the assist from “Eco” to “Tour”. Still more? Go for “Sport.” And then “Turbo” will propel you up any gut-buster in a gear 5X what you’d normally expect, at a speed that puts athletes in the dust, with virtually NO effort. NOT exaggerating!

As a true test, I went shopping DOWN at the local center. Picked up a 28-lb. box of copy paper at Staples, plus about 16 lbs. of groceries stuffed into a pannier. The rack & pannier worked great, and I got back up my considerable climb as though nothing was there!

Full Disclosure: True to all us selfish Boomers, I fully expect my kids to care for me in my dementia-riddled dotage. As such, this is an unvarnished promotion for all my Old Fart friends to get your saggy buns over to Castle Rock Bike & Ski and grab one of these rejuvenating miracles!!