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Wednesday, June 24, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Playground in action...
The Nugget Newspaper Crossword
By Jacqueline E. Mathews, Tribune News Service
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Members of the City of Sisters Parks Board celebrated the opening
of a new, expansive playground structure at Village Green last
week. The $189,000 structure features a swing, climbing walls,
and a rubber-tiled surface for safety. The installation crew got the
playground set up just in time for playgrounds to reopen under
Phase 2 of Oregon’s plan to ease COVID-19-related restrictions.
Fit For
Sisters
Andrew Loscutoff
Columnist
What’s the deal
with e-bikes?
Many avid cyclists who
sculpted their fitness over
years of hills, endurance,
and pushing the pedals don9t
see e-bikes as the next great
innovation in cycling prog-
ress. Grouchy attitudes of
<earning it= or <they don9t
deserve to ride unless they
can do it themselves= are
short sighted at best and big-
oted at worst. E-bikes are
here to stay, as the European
market is booming with
commuters, travel compa-
nies, and brands innovating
well beyond what is cur-
rently available in the USA.
There have been funda-
mental milestones in cycling
history: the <safety bicycle=
which is the shape of a bike
with two equal sized wheels
we know today; rubber pneu-
matic tires; the addition of
gears. The argument should
be made that this is the next
big step forward. All of these
innovations made cycling
easier, more enjoyable, and
took down barriers for many
potential cyclists. E-bikes
are poised to do the same.
Put aside the notion that
e-bike riders are on slimmed
down motorbikes. On an
e-bike, the rider still ped-
als; with the pedaling pres-
sure comes an electrical
assist that gives mechanical
advantage. They9re pedaling,
using their muscles and rid-
ing 4 albeit a little faster for
the given effort. E-bikes use
batteries, and are not other-
worldly powerful. No louder
than normal bikes, they can-
not roust or slash trails any
more than a mechanical bike
can with an aggressive rider.
They provide a little more
than what a fit cyclist can put
out in terms of power.
Another key complaint
around e-bikes is that they9re
dangerous because of the
speed they allow people to
travel. That might be the
case if e-bikes were being
piloted by daredevil arche-
types 4 but such folks gen-
erally are not riding e-bikes.
Most e-bike riders are new
to cycling; they have pre-
existing physical limitations,
or haven9t cut their chops on
rambunctious trail riding.
It is important to think of
cycling as an activity for the
general public and not just
the tribe of mountain bikers
or skinsuit roadies.
E-bikes create opportuni-
ties, facilitating commutes,
grocery runs, travel tourism,
etc. Most people haven9t
thought about how much
easier a trip to the store for
a few things would be on
an e-bike. It can take cargo,
doesn9t need a parking spot,
and makes for a casual spin.
The other opportunity is
in exercise. A person unac-
customed to cycling isn9t
going very far for very long.
Most people need to enjoy
exercise to want to do more,
and telling people to <get
used to it= obviously hasn9t
solved the obesity epidemic.
The opportunity to get
more people involved also
stands to help get more influ-
ence, power, and numbers
advocating for cycling.
The potential for e-bikes
to share the joys of cycling
with more people is phenom-
enal. Perhaps someone buys
an e-bike on a whim, imag-
ining the days of yesteryear
before work and obligations
took them away from the
freedom of childhood. This
person enjoys feeling their
body in motion, free to navi-
gate around their town. They
may never have felt this as
an adult; now they9re going
to the store, then riding local
paths, soon they find oth-
ers and make friends. Their
fitness, happiness, and life
have gotten better.
What is wrong with
including these people in the
cycling community?
— Last Week’s Puzzle Solved —
This Week’s Crossword Sponsors
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