Our E-Biking Life in the Rocky Mountainsfeatured

In June of 2020, I bought my lovely child, Sammie, a small e-bike (250W folding e-bike on Amazon) for their 10th birthday. I was hoping to give Sammie more opportunities to be outside with me on my walks with our dog, Gussie. Where we live, it is steep and not fun to ride a conventional bike. The e-bike was such a hit that I bought one for myself. Soon, we were riding the back dirt mountain road down to town for errands. We were together. No electronic devices. (All parents will understand the magic of this.) We routinely bought ice cream sandwiches in town and stopped by the river to enjoy them together. These are some of my best memories ever. We rarely drove our Jeep. I bought a small bike trailer which made my bike immensely more useful. We drove our Jeep even

Despite the worldwide COVID problems in 2020, our glamping business took off. Everyone wanted to be in a secluded glamping spot in the beautiful woods at 9000 feet in the Rocky Mountains. I took a leap of faith and bought a “real” utility e-bike in October. We purchased the passenger package and rode together. It was fantastic! Sammie was intimidated and wouldn’t ride this bike alone because it was so much bigger than the original bikes. One day, we were out riding on the dirt mountain county roads (little to no traffic) and Sammie decided to try the “real” e-bike. We swapped bikes. It was a hit and the big utility bike was now declared “Sammie’s Bike”. I reverted back to the Amazon bike. I could hook up the bike trailer and haul almost anything so it worked out fine.

Glamping continued to be popular so I took another leap of faith and bought a second big utility e-bike in early 2021. For this bike, I bought a front rack, built a large rear storage box, and designed a waterproof e-bike bag to hang on the box (check it out in the picture above – snakeskin :)). There is almost nothing this bike can’t do. I use it to haul water and propane up to our glamping spots; ride the trash down our steep driveway to the bear proof cans chained to a tree by the road; get propane cannister refills at the hardware store 2.5 miles down the mountain; and take “property rides” all around the perimeter of our 12 acres of paradise.

Every time we ride, people comment on how cool our bikes are. They ask questions and we chat. Well, I do. Sam is horrified. Since we don’t have mail delivery to the cabin in this remote area; we have to pick up mail and USPS packages in town. One day, there was a truck with the coolest tear drop off road pull behind camper parked at the PO. I told the guy that his rig was really cool. He said, “I was about to say the same thing to you.” We chatted about our respective gear and each left smiling. (Sam was still horrified. That was just a bonus.)

At some point, it was so much fun that we adopted an “E-Bike Lifestyle”. Given the choice we would ride our bikes. Year round. The mountain road down to town is generally well plowed in winter so riding in a bit of snow or ice is no problem. When we have to ride over ice on the shady parts of the road, we keep our feet down and go very slowly. We have amazing cold weather gear which makes it even more fun.

Most people don’t understand why we would choose to ride when we could drive. They haven’t tried it. If they did, I would bet they wouldn’t be driving as much.

We have talked about how we’ve met and made friends with many people that we would never had spoken with had we been driving the Jeep. We have a pug “friend” named Chloe who despises the bikes, or maybe it’s just me that she despises. It’s always fun to speculate if Chloe will be out and if we can outrun her. One day, I was certain that Chloe would leap on my leg and not let go. She didn’t. Leap on my leg, that is.

There is a beautiful spot on the ride down where Columbine grow profusely. We love to enjoy them as we cruise by. Butterflies often give us an escort. When the aspen turn golden we ride by some of the loveliest stands around. We see bones by the side of the road that we wouldn’t notice in the Jeep; beautiful grasses and wildflowers; stunning birds and even an occasional snake slithering past. It’s a practice in slowing down.

When people ask how I like the bike, I say, “It’s one of the best things I’ve ever bought. Hands down.” It’s good to be Mountain Girl.

Learn how we found our happiness and moved to the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Take our course, Shutting the Gate, to figure out your happiness. 🙂

Until next time!

Mountain Girl