ebike guest blogger
Posted on by Debbie

The wind beneath my tyres – a change of gears!

Charging on with life behind bars – the handle bars that is!

My name is Essie and I belong to Deb (of Deb’s World fame).

I’m the good looking one in this relationship with more bang for your buck and energy to burn.

I think Deb is a tad jealous of all I have to offer and how good I look.

A posing bike
A posing bike – how good do I look?

I lycra your wheels

In case you don’t know, I’m Deb’s trusty steed, the wind beneath her wings tyres, literally, as I’m her new best friend – Essie the electric bike.

I’m the one she turns to now, the steady as a rock (as long as I’m charged up) mode of transport, the one with the staying power and the one with the stylish looks.

She also featured me, well bits of me anyway, in her family photo challenge Variations on a Theme.

Life in the bike lane

She’s been through a few versions of bikes before me, road bikes, mountain bikes, hybrid bikes, touring bikes (after a trip to Europe) but I’m her first ebike, a fact I’m very proud of! I’m a Trek Dual Sport+ with great reviews and high quality components – I’m not the cheapest bike on the block but I’m worth every cent, as Deb tells me often 🙂

Apparently she was saving for a trip to England for her 60th birthday around Christmas time, but then COVID struck and overseas travel became just a dream. So instead of going overseas she bought me, and I must say, I’m pretty happy with that!

I think she’s still upset about not being able to travel but one day hopefully things will improve and she can get back over to see her daughter and baby Dottie.

Jump in April
bikes at Myola
Callala Beach
Debbie cycling the rail trail
Bike bell
Rail trail enthusiast
Myola bike ride

Just keep pedalling

I think she has become a bit smug to be honest, as she hurtles around, leaving the Mathematician in her wake, stopping periodically to ensure he is following along with a grin as if to say ‘where on earth have you been, I’ve been waiting here for ages!‘.

Social distancing while riding a bike
Social distancing while riding a bike

She loves the feel of the wind in her hair, (under her helmet of course), the speed as we whoosh along, the four levels of assistance available to her should she be feeling a bit tired and the simple fact that I know how to look after her. I’m worth my weight in gold and I know it!

She has added a few bits to me like a mirror and a ding-dong bell which she jauntily rings, as we pass walkers along the shared pathways, a little zippered case for her hand sanitiser, and a rack on the back for her panniers.

I provide the pedal assist and it’s not always an easy ride as I make her work hard as well. I keep track of her kilometres left in battery range, the total kilometres we’ve ridden together and the speed at which she’s moving. She likes keeping an eye on the speed!

We work well together I must say.

New bike and rail trail views
New bike and rail trail views

Life cycle

Deb first rode an ebike when on a cycling tour in Croatia – apparently the hills were huge and she’d only just recovered from an emergency appendectomy – so the ebike was a great choice. She found it a fantastic way of keeping up with everyone and actually found she enjoyed the hills!

She didn’t think she was old enough for one but took the plunge recently, after some of her close friends raved about theirs. The benefits to her and the environment became clear. I can’t believe she’s turning 60 later this year, she’s amazing isn’t she?

These words from this article resonated with her too:

Before I got one of my own, I thought electric bikes were for lazy, unfit people. But that night my legs ache in a way they haven’t since I was a teenager and had “growing pains.” The bike has a strange alchemy. You have to work, but it takes you further and faster. It is just very flattering – like you have suddenly become a lot stronger, the cycling equivalent of a performance enhancing drug.

Bike computer
Bike computer on ebike

She often says she feels like she’s riding in the Tour de France now, with that amazing speed at her fingertips, well her toes! She has a power she didn’t have before, and that’s me!

Crank it up! A few things annoy us as we ride along

  1. Dogs – both on and off a leash – we’re scared of dogs and what they can do to us so we always slow right down. We’re not saying we don’t trust you as you walk your dog but we are quite cautious.
  2. Parked cars – we worry about doors being opened onto us and also moving out around a parked car into traffic. It happened to us just today when a car could have easily moved over but didn’t and came close to hitting us, although Deb was being very careful!
  3. People who are walking, running, talking, but don’t keep an ear out for our bell or don’t stay over to the left as we come up behind them. They usually have earphones in and then get a bit scared and are liable to jump all over the path as we slowly and carefully make our way past them. Deb wrote a great post about Ringing your Bell a while back.
  4. Magpies – they scare the bejeesus out of us in spring!

Other than that we are quite easy to get along with!

Stay calm and pedal on

Deb takes her riding quite seriously and as she’s had a sore knee recently, riding has been her exercise of choice, so I’m happy with that.

She is a great advocate for rail trails and is very involved in the newly opened Tumbarumba to Rosewood Rail Trail – make sure you read the guide she wrote about it.

It’s been great to be a guest here today and I hope I can come back again one day, in the meantime you can find me out riding with Deb 🚴‍♀️

I’m definitely the wind beneath her….!

Pedal power!

Essie 🚲

You can also find Deb’s World in lots of other places – stay in touch by clicking any of the buttons below.

Everyone has a story to tell!

Debbie - mother of a 40 year old

Deb is a young-at-heart & active 60+ blogger/retiree, after being made redundant from her 22-year career managing education programs in a men’s correctional centre (jail). She now spends her time reading, blogging, riding her ebike and travelling. Deb was awarded a Bravery Award from the Queen when she was 17 after a tragic accident – a definite life changing moment! She is married with 3 grown-up daughters & has 4 grandchildren. You can read more of Deb’s story here

Copyright © 2024 debs-world.com – All rights reserved

48 Replies to “The wind beneath my tyres – a change of gears!”

  1. Hey there Essie, lovely to meet you. So glad you and Deb met – you sound as though you’re BFFs already. See you one day on the bike trail – but as I’ll be walking you’ll leave me far behind.

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  7. Watch out Debbie, Essie is almost as good a writer as you are! What a great post, I enjoyed your sense of humor as well as the information. you are definitely a serious biker and a great role model. Pedal on! Michele

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  8. I lycra your wheels too. Clever take on the post Deb. I was surprised to read of this purchase but then I didn’t know much about e Bikes. As you say you might have initiated a few converts. You are lucky to have trails so near by. I am guessing you are riding into with the e bike town too? And the “former bike” does it get taken out?
    I liked franklparkers comment, tried to like it but couldn’t, what is going on there?Something new in WordPress I don’t know about?
    Broke my wrist in May and don’t trust getting back on a bike for a while.
    Haven’t posted in an age, my blog gets organic traffic and just bubbles along by itself. Few people researching, leave comments though. I am reading others much either but decided to have scroll through the reader this morning and couldn’t resist reading your post and making a comment. Stay safe. Louise

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    1. Lovely to hear from you Louise and I’m so thrilled you picked this post to read! I’ve been worrying about you and hoping you are coping ok. I’m using Essie to ride everywhere these days. No stopping me and one day I’ll be the pinup poster girl for ebikes. Stay safe and sane. x

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  9. Essie aren’t you brilliant! wonderful that Deb has chosen you. I’ve seen your cousins here in Canada and one day I’ll certainly be getting my own Essie. On our last cycling trip our guides practically begged me to get one next time. You and your family seem a bit heavy to me so i can see why its still a very good work out to ride your type. Now you be nice to Deb and stay away from the bloody dogs and door openers. They can be such a bother.

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    1. Thanks Sue, Essie is brilliant and is starting to feel her power! She is a bit heavy but I’m coping well and am still getting a good workout with her. Glad you enjoyed the post!

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  11. Dear Essie, can you recommend a dating site? I’m getting old and tired and so is my rider. I think, if I could find someone like you to live with, he might leave me alone to dream my dreams of once again climbing hills whilst he took her out. I really don’t mind him having a new mistress, I’ll be content to listen to her strories when she comes home having made hium feel young again.

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  13. Essie sounds like a wonderful companion for all of your trips out Deb. Someone you can truly rely upon to keep you moving in the right direction and will support you through thick and thin. Long may your relationship continue.

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  14. Hi Essie – you tempting little creature you! I had thought electric bikes were for the lazy and the elderly……and now you’ve lured me in with your charms! To be able to ride uphill without having to get off and push must be amazing – maybe I’ll start saving all the money I make from blogging to buy myself a bike like you – so far I’ve made enough for the bell and possible a bike pump!

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    1. Deb says thanks for your comment Leanne and she is aiming to be the ‘poster girl’ for ebikes. If sales increase across the nation because of my post she is taking all the credit. 😂😂

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  15. Great post, love reading about ebikes I am committing to getting one. I am an old and lazy rider I am afraid and haven’t ridden since my daughter was a toddler. I felt quite daunted by those fit young things at the bike shop when I went in. Good point about the dogs and it is easy for us dog owners to forget the hounds can be a pain for bikes even if they are on lead.

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    1. I am so happy with my ebike Sharon, and my confidence has increased as a result. I’m sure you’d enjoy it once you get past the fit young things in the bike shops. Maybe I should start getting a commission for ebike sales!

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  20. It just occurred to me recently that an ebike would be good, especially as my bike went to the tip when we were doing some big house changes! cycling back to our house always involves a steep hill or the zig zags up the cliff from the beach.

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    1. Thanks Carol, I’m so happy to read that! I was a bit worried it wouldn’t work but I had so much fun writing it and my family got involved in thinking of alternative titles – I’ve ended up using most of their suggestions in the piece as headings. They also rolled their eyes at their mother’s quirkiness!!

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      1. I really appreciate creative writing! It was wonderful, put a smile on my face, and reminded me of my riding years. (Although physically powered!) Those paths look great!

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