Typical rides the last few months have included more squiggles than a paramecium, but yesterday’s was such a straight shot, I can tell you the whole route in about seven moves: Bosque Path to William St. to Coal/Zuni, through the Los Altos Golf Course to I-40 Path to NM-333 to NM-14 and thirty miles later I was done.

I attend a regular Friday breakfast with some similiarly retired acquaintances, and our roaming choice of restaurant took us to Lantern Ridge up near the “Triangle” (Sandia Crest turn-off, etc.) yesterday. At about 2,300 ft. of climbing and for other reasons, I took my new used ebike, a 2016 Haibike “XDuro Trekking XR” or some such.

Being a young, virile man of 62, I had been somewhat loathe to join the oldsters and others so infirm that they seek motorized assistance in their cycling endeavors. Exercise vanity and other concerns (e.g., lithium mining) had me eschewing ebikes, but I noticed I sure was looking at them online a lot. I even started looking through Craigslist ads, having never bought anything there before and truly loathe to undertake the interpersonal communication that would be necessary to make such a purchase.

Then I got over it all.

One month into dark side ebike ownership, I’ve put in just under 600 miles and am having the time of my pedal-assisted life. To be precise, only about half of those miles have been assisted, as I quickly discovered some truths to ebike riding that I previously didn’t know and/or was too lazy to research or consider. These truths include:

• You don’t have to ride with the motor on. It turns out, at least on this bike, I’m using the motor on steeper inclines (you can’t really call ’em hills much here in ABQ and environs), at intersections, when facing a disheartening head wind, and when I’m tired headed home and just want to “coast.”
• I definitely wanted a “Class 1” ebike over Class 2 or 3, as I REALLY don’t want a throttle or to go an assisted 28 mph on a bicycle. In other words, I wanted a bicycle, not a moped.
• Your heart rate, even when motor-assisted, isn’t the same as it would be watching “Frasier” on Paramount Plus while eating Cheetos. In fact given my particular uses so far (e.g., intersections), my average heart rate has been largely similar to “analog” rides, the big exception being…
• I don’t get much of that nearly/at/over 100% maximum heart rate now. I don’t know if this means I’ll die younger from lack of exercise overall, but the fact I don’t feel like I’m currently dying from huffing/puffing at my max heart rate feels, I must admit, pretty good.
• At 53 pounds, the bike is heavy and feel different, but it’s still manuverable, I can still lift it up over things like shorter ditch gates, and once you get going (perhaps with a bit of motor juice for momentum purposes) it rides the same.
• In particular, and this has been my most happy finding, it rides pretty much just like a loaded touring bike. And I LOVE touring.

So every time I ride sans motor I feel like I’m doing my typical bike tour of Portugal, Germany, wherever, but I get to do it at home. Same leg burn in new places, same need to pay slightly more attention to weight and manuvering, just more green chile than salted cod in Portugal and weinerschnitzel in Germany.

And it was green chile corned beef hash I dined upon after riding up to Lantern Ridge yesterday. Good stuff and I felt like I’d worked hard enough to “deserve” it after some fun Formula 1-esque calculating of how much battery to use versus Scot-power in making the trek. With some added thought going into the temperature (colder meaning less battery life), it ended up being something like 1/3 Scot, 2/3 battery on the steeper inclines. That mix also was good from a heart rate perspective, resulting in an average well above Frasier/Cheetos.

“Lantern Ridge Farm, Market & Nursery” is a remarkably un-East Mountain establishment, at least if your ABQ city generalizations of the folks living in the East Mountains match my own. Combining inventive meals like green chile corned beef hash with gourmet groceries (e.g., very expensive prosciutto) and a nursery out back that I didn’t check out, Lantern Ridge seems like a bit of Napa Valley has been somehow teleported to just north of Frost Rd. on NM-14. I find it somewhat amusing on several levels, including the fact the place sits so close to the former site of the famed/infamous Bella Vista and its “all you can eat” fine dining experience.

Maybe Lantern Ridge is the ebike version of Bella Vista’s “analog” bicycle, or maybe that’s just a lousy analogy. Regardless, after some tasty hash, your humble blogger coasted down the 2,300 or so feet back home and still had some battery left to “coast” along the Bosque Path, my pretty much squiggle-free ride leisurely at an end.