This morning was perfect for a bicycle ride from Longmont to Lyons, a distance of about 10 miles if you start at the Smith place. It’s always great fun to be on the road with nearly as many cyclists as motor vehicle operators. Mrs. Smith and I aren’t the slowest people on bicycles, but we’re not so fast that we miss the scenery, the road-killed snakes, and all the yellow skins apparently shed along the way by bananas that no longer need them.
We’re also noticing more and more of those e-bike things, which I thought were referred to as such because they have electric motors. Silly me.
I read in the Denver Post after our human-powered morning ride that the U.S. government has decreed that e-bikes are actually “non-motorized.”
And up is actually down, unless I have that backwards.
My favorite and funniest part of the article, even though this is no laughing matter:
“The Interior statement said riders must use the motor only to boost their pedaling on the trails, and not zip along on motor power alone.”
The absurdity is obvious: The Department of the Interior has determined that the riders in question don’t have motors. What’s more, we all know that cyclists, motor vehicle operators, and even riders of non-motorized contraptions that do have motors routinely fail to do many of the things they must do.
I wouldn’t deny anyone the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors, as much as or even much more than I do. The arguments in favor of using e-bikes to get around are numerous, and many of those reasons are actually good.
As a writer and editor who cares about language, however, I do take exception to calling things and people something they are not.
By the way, I thought I’d share a picture of my cat, since people love cat pictures so much.
Pedal on, my friends.
B.J.
The Smith Compound 