Why I Ride an Electric Bike – A Doctor’s Story

Electric Bikes help you go further and faster, all while sporting a giant smile on your face. ERIK’S receives inspiring stories all the time on how owning an E-Bike has positively impacted someone’s life. Please keep reading to hear one of our favorites from Rachel G, a Pediatrician in Illinois.

Rachel purchased her Specialized Vado 3.0 Step-Through Electric Bike from ERIK’S in December 2019, before she knew anything about COVID-19 and how that would drastically change everyone’s life. Like most people, biking became one of the main ways for her to get exercise safely, but riding an e-bike specifically has benefited her in so many other ways.

Why do you ride an E-Bike? Rachel’s story

Commute to work without a sweat.

I’m a pediatrician. My office is about 3 miles away from home- just far enough to build up a sweat when riding a regular bike.  

I bought my e-bike for several reasons, the first being I wanted to simply be able to bike to work without a sweat. 

Inspire others to get out and ride safely!

Second, as a pediatrician, I work hard to educate kids and their parents about biking and walking safely to school. With other members of my community, we got a grant from Safe Routes To School in IL to map out routes and improve conditions for biking and walking to school. By biking every day, I set an example for my patients. They see me in the community with a helmet on my head and a smile on my face.

Reduce my carbon footprint.

Third, I wanted to make an impact on the environment in some small way.  I have already ridden 500 miles since I got the bike. That means 2 1/2 fewer tanks of gas and less wear and tear on our car.

Less driving, more riding!

Fourth, my 16-year-old son just got his license. We were talking about getting another car before I bought my bike. Now we can delay that for longer. He loves driving the car, and I love riding my bike!

It’s just fun to ride!

I love my e-bike! It is so much fun to ride! The greatest compliment is when I ride by someone, and they say, “nice bike”!

There was a little learning curve, but now I feel very safe on my bike and know how to share the road with cars safely.

There was a recent article in the New York Times talking about a study that found you actually get more exercise on an eBike because you use it more! I can confirm this!

It will be fun to start seeing more eBikes out there!

~Rachel G, Illinois

Ready to get your turbo smile on?

Check out our selection of eBikes online here. We have recreational electric bikes for casual riding, eMTBs for mountain biking, and eRoad bikes for fitness road cycling and racing. Check out all of our models here.

Or, swing by your local ERIK’S to test-ride an e-bike today. We’ll teach you how to use the controls on a stationary electric bike in-store first. Once you’ve learned the basics, we’ll send you outside to experience the turbo charge for yourself. We guarantee you’ll return with a smile on your face!

Want to read other inspiring electric bike stories? Click here – we’ve got lots.