In Upper Michigan, Susan hadn’t done any exercise in over 10 years. She was in her 60s, and outside of going to the supermarket, was pretty much inactive…
Daniel moved to Washington DC from the UK. He hated cyclists. The streets of Manchester we built a long time ago, and cyclists got in the way of drivers…
In the 1970s, Robert was a pro cyclist. He trained hard and was competitive. His dreams of being on the national stage were dashed when his back injured in a non-biking accident. He hadn’t been on a bike since…
They say that once you learn how to ride a bicycle, you never forget. But we don’t always remember to ride.
Life happens, and people get busy. Between work and family and running errands, our days fill up. The hectic nature of modern life keeps us constantly moving.
So we tell ourselves that we need to slow down, and then we travel halfway across the country for a vacation once a year.
We tell ourselves that we need to breath, so we drive to a yoga studio to learn breathing techniques.
We tell ourselves that we need to get in shape, so we hire a trainer to help us exercise a few times a week.
We go faster and farther than humans have ever gone before on a daily basis, but still we tell ourselves that if we only had more time, we’d we wouldn’t be so stressed and scatterbrained.
We forget.
Susan felt tired. She was not able to keep up with her granddaughter. The young one loves to ride her bike, and Susan never thought she would be able to join her. Until one day she heard about ebikes.
She thought it was going to be difficult. She hadn’t done any physical exercise other than going from sofa to supermarket a couple times a week. But that little electric motor on her ebike boosted her off the couch and all around town. She lost weight, and felt like she reclaimed her life.
Her granddaughter now wants to spend more time with her. They go for rides all the time, and it is not Susan who tuckers out early.
Daniel was out watching the soccer match with friends at a pub in DC. Knowing he would have a few to many to drive, he thought he’d ride one of the rideshare bikes home.
After a few seconds of thinking his legs were super-powered, he realized there was a motor on it. He loved it.
His cycling friends back in the UK make fun of him for becoming such an ebike fanatic. He named his bike Mister Pedalsworthy, and carries his soccer equipment to practice where he teaches youth soccer.
The buzz never wore off.
Robert never had an interest in cycling after his accident. He actually just never thought about it. It was something that was now for someone else. Until his friend suggested an ebike.
He was surprised to be able to get up to speeds he used to when he was younger. It was invigoration.
He never forget, but it took him forty years to remember.
Our cities and the way we designed them, dictate how we live. We drive down the convenient arteries to get us exactly where we want to go. But that is only because we go to places we see from our cars. Our window to the world is a windshield.
Susan, Daniel, and Robert, and so many others took a chance to try something different and hopped on an ebike. They were instantly hooked. They remembered what they forgot.
To each and every one of them, it was an unexpected experience. It brought more experiences and more life into those experiences.
Once you learn to ride a bike, you remember what it is like to slow down, breath in the fresh air, and connect with our surroundings. We start to enjoy our commutes, enjoy dropping the kids off at school. We find little gems in the city we thought we knew.
These stories came from interviews from a completely different project. But stories have their way of sticking in our minds. The sheer amount of happiness that ebikes brought people was inspiring. People reclaimed their lives and see the world in a completely new way.
We wanted to bring that unexpected experience to more people.
As we ring in the new year, we look forward to more unexpected experiences for Popcycle. We will be working with all types of people to make sure others get back in the saddle and enjoy their new experiences.
There will be more resources so that people can adopt ebike living and do so safely, and we invite you to go on that journey with us.
And a special thanks to Anna, Taryn, Lori, Jason, Diane, Chris, Veronica, Steve and Linda for contributing to Popcycle this year!
Happy New Year! See you in 2023!