The Case for the Excessive E-Bike

 

grommet - noun - a young surfer

There are two sides to every story. And in a debate, there are pros and cons: the case for and the case against. When it comes to the controversial e-bike, I presented the cons in my last entry. In this one, I'll present the pros. 

Actually before this past weekend, I didn't think there were any pros, but I was wrong. Sometimes I have to remind myself to look for the silver linings. In this case, I didn't find them in the clouds but on the path to a somewhat remote beach near San Clemente, California. If you have been following my blog, you may recall that I am dating a man who resembles James Bond in terms of his life experience, and his name just happens to be James. At the start of the 2002 Bond movie,"Die Another Day," viewers see the fictive James–Pierce Brosnan's stunt double along with trailing antagonists–surf down a titanous, tsunami-produced wave (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG9ql6GA9F8). At 65, my Bond doesn't have the confidence to tackle a wave of this magnitude, but he will take on the same waves as the local experts. In fact, he probably IS an expert. But I digress. 

Just south of La Casa Pacifica, the Spanish colonial ranch that once housed Richard M. Nixon and his loyal wife Pat, is a stretch of beach in San Onofre known as the Trestles: Church, Middles, Lowers, Uppers, and Cotton. This area has been set aside not for bathers, but for surfers. And if you are a surfer in SoCal, you already know this and have probably surfed these waves more than once. What makes it hard is that there isn't any official parking that is free. Surfers, in general, are not known to have much money, so they park next to the 5, strap their boards onto their e-bikes, and cruise nearly two miles on an antique portion of the Pacific Coastal Highway that is no longer in use just to get to the right beach. Because the wide, paved route is not traveled by anyone other than these e-biking aqua types (who are frequently alone), there is very little chance of collision. Ergo, riding via the "excessive" e-bike isn't extreme at all. It actually makes sense especially as there are hills along the way that a manual bike would find challenging, and the rider, exhausting. After all, energy must be reserved for the waves. While I was there, I also noticed that the riders were at least seventeen or eighteen, more mature. I didn't see one wheelie attempted because the intention was not to show off but to arrive at the destination as quickly, safely, and effortlessly as possible. (And a wheelie would no doubt damage the board.)

I am sure that either you or I can think of other practical uses for the e-bike as well. Overall, the point that I am trying to make is that all inventions can be toxic if placed in the wrong hands. Allowing a minor excess to something potentially lethal is never a good idea even if the minor happens to be a grommet. Again, using common sense is what makes sense here, there, and everywhere.

#e-bike, #blog, #blogger, #social commentary, #personal essay, #parenting, #James Bond