Wakeup Wednesday 2022
Posted on by Debbie

Hitting a huge milestone with Essie my brave and trusty steed

Essie the ebike – our love affair

Back in April 2020 I bought an ebike and instantly fell in love.

I couldn’t travel as planned for my upcoming 60th birthday (later that year) so spent some of the money on a new bike – it was money well spent!

In July 2020, I invited Essie to write a guest post on my blog – yes I agree that sounds a bit odd but stay with me! Can I just say we were in the honeymoon phase of our relationship and it seemed like a good idea at the time 🙂

Here are a few snippets from that popular post:

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.

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.

If you missed reading that enlightening post, here’s the link:

The wind beneath my tyres – a change of gears!
A guest post with a difference!

Fast forward to February 2022

We hit an amazing milestone over the weekend – clocking up 5000km together!

To put it into perspective that’s like me driving from Tumbarumba NSW to Brisbane Qld (1369km), over to Darwin in NT (3423km), then down to Litchfield National Park (for a day trip) and back to Darwin (214km) – that’s huge!!!

It’s been a busy time lately with lots of activities, with riding being the main one. As I said in my recent post Tumbatrek 2022, I’m feeling a tad tired from all the riding and walking but it was worth it on Sunday when I saw that 5000km roll over. We were out for a Social Sunday ride with friends, a nice 30km to round the weekend off nicely!

5000km with Essie
5000km with Essie

Of course I had to stop and take a photo!

I also made a short video of our ride – my return trip was SUPER FAST!!

Social Sunday ride and clocking up 5000km on essie

Benefits to riding an ebike

This article sums it up well for me TOP 9 Electric Bike Health Benefits and I can vouch for all of these, especially no. 4 increased muscle tone (just ask my massage therapist) and no.7 improves well being and reduces stress.

I am keen to go for rides at any time now and I tend to ride for longer than before because I know I will have assistance to get home if I need it.

I no longer think that having an ebike is ‘giving in’, or ‘being lazy’ or equates to ‘getting old’. I am staying young at heart, fit, active, curious, spontaneous and having fun and where’s the negative in that?

As Essie said in the post (by the way I’ve since turned 61):

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?

Essie

Doing my bit for the planet

The ebikes have batteries that need to be charged regularly and we use a solar system to do this, which means we aren’t drawing on any of our household power to charge them – that’s a win/win in my book!

I also ride into town more instead of driving the car and use my bike whenever I can.

Since this post in July 2020, the Mathematician has bought 2 ebikes! One was unfortunately stolen off the back of our car in suburban Canberra just 3 months after he bought it so he replaced it (with the insurance money), with a newer version and he was lucky to get one as bikes, especially ebikes have become the new toilet paper during Covid. This means he is now able to keep up with me when we’re out and about 🙂

Many of our friends have ebikes and we ride socially each weekend, catching up for coffee, lunch or just a chat – it’s been fabulous way to stay fit and use our wonderful Tumbarumba to Rosewood Rail Trail.

Wakeup Wednesday 2022
Wakeup and be amazing Wednesday

Essie’s amazing, I’m amazing and you’re amazing too – and don’t you forget it!

It’s Wednesday and I’ve woken up feeling amazing – how about you? Let me know what you’ve been up to how amazing you are!

Deb 🙂

All my Wordless Wednesday posts can be found by clicking this link

Also joining Becky for her #squaredodds challenge today as some might think I’m a bit odd 🙂

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Contact Deb here

Debbie - mother of a 40 year old

Everyone has a story to tell! 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. She never imagined being Granny Debs would bring so much joy to her life! You can read more of Deb’s story here

Copyright © 2021 debs-world.com – All rights reserved

32 Replies to “Hitting a huge milestone with Essie my brave and trusty steed”

  2. Hi Deb – e-bikes are EVERYWHERE these days. I see so many people out and about on them in our area and lots of couples riding together – which is lovely. I tossed up between an e-bike and my scooter when it was my 60th and am happy with my scooter choice – although I often think that a bike would have been a healthier alternative! Well done on 5,000 kms – I’m just hitting 1,000kms with mine – so you’re obviously killing it with how far you’re riding 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Hi Leanne, yes they seem to be taking over a bit don’t they? Your lovely blue scooter is a wonderful and very bold addition, perfect for your 60th birthday of being fabulous!

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  4. This is such a fun post, Deb. We got our ebikes last March. I had to quit after my torn meniscus, but we have our first bike ride planned for tomorrow if it isn’t cold and snowy. It’s super windy today. I am so excited. Thanks for sharing bits of your fun post written by Essie. Totally adorable. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. That’s great to hear Marsha, I hope you can get out for a ride soon. Of course we are battling the opposite of snow, we’ve had hot days of 30degrees C so try to get out earlier in the day if we can. Also appreciate your encouraging and understanding comment about my Essie post – we do have fun together!

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  5. I remember first hearing about your Essie and never having heard of an ebike before that. Would like to check them out. I am such a scared cat, though, riding my regular bike on streets where there is much traffic. And equally scared to take it off-roading. Would like to test drive an ebike to see what they are like.

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  6. Pingback: A word for Wednesday – amazing – Thistles and Kiwis

  8. Well done on the milestone! Huge achievement. My husband is an avid cyclist, Peloton in the winter, various bikes in the summer (including an ebike) and he usually has a cycling holiday. I’m tempted to get an ebike when I retire but I am not very comfortable cycling in the traffic of London – I tend to walk everywhere.

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  13. Oh, I love this Deb. I’ve never thought ebikes are a lazy way out, I reckon they look awesome. We saw a whole heap of riders on their ebikes riding along the beach last week, it looked like so much fun. You and Essie sound like a perfect match! Enjoy! Happy pedalling my fit and fabulous friend. 😊

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  15. Hi Deb, congratulations to you and Essie on reaching such a fabulous milestone. Aren’t ebikes great? I won’t hear a word said against them. As you know there is still some criticism. I love the joy that radiated from your post. Keep pedalling.

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  16. I loved reading this and the cute little vid. What a great community it is where you live and I know both you and G contribute to that community feel in spades. Gosh that looks fun. I got a bike for my 52nd bday or something like it and I planned to ride…but no I didn’t. Being in Sydney suburbia and being helmet phobic (yes I still wore it) there were too many hills and dangerous roads for my liking. Sigh. Thank you for linking up to Life This Week at Denyse Whelan Blogs.
    Next Monday, on the last day of February, I have a special announcement of interest to all who link up their blog posts with my blog’s link up party.

    I look forward to catching up with you then.

    Denyse.

    Liked by 1 person

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