look at it this way the dude having fun humping the blow up doll, well good on him, I know what I'd rather hump but if he thinks its real, he's got a smile on his face, he can even take that doll out for breakfast and she don't eat much.
but bro, when you lie in bed at night, ebike is on charge .... all is quiet, maybe you can contemplate what it could be like to really smash out a climb under your own power, or knock off 100k dirt on a sunday, maybe riding along at the start of an event and all you can hear is the buzz of tyres - you're there cause you've earned the privilege through sacrifice - doesn't take much talent just commitment, ahh you aren't going to know that and really don't bother stick to the assisted device.
Your pride is playing on you man!
A little bit of a yarn but here goes.....................
I was going to Canada this year, saved up and some dopey idiot ate a bat and we're grounded. I spent what I'd saved on an Ebike. I adore it, it's so damn good. Why? I ride more bikes more often. I still ride downhill, I still ride enduro, XC, jumps and road but now I also ride include rides on an Ebike. I ride downhill trails on it but ride back to the top, I ride enduro on it but do it five more times. I don't do XC rides on it, no point for me but you know what the best upside to an Ebike is for me? My wife who isn't a thirty year veteran of mountain biking can ride with me when I'm on a trail bike and keep up on the hills. There's so many upsides to it but also some downsides.............and they are you ask? Well, it's the people who don't have an Ebike and think their opinion on Ebikes grants them any sort of say in the makeup of the mountain biking landscape. Those guys can fuck right off. It's such a shit attitude to think that because you can ride something on a traditional bike that you're superior and you should consider being the guy that should get off the trails. Granted though, Ebikes can be seen as the bridge between roadies and unskilled rider's getting into mountain biking and making a commotion among the non-Ebikers but hey, gotta start our rad sport somewhere huh?
An example of my weekend's of late: Riding local trails on my enduro bike, hitting all the main lines and jumping stuff that other guys don't jump blah blah blah etc etc. All the guys and girls stand back and clap and admire what you're doing and even aspire to get to a level of confidence in doing that stuff. High fives all round, people are buzzing, all is well and Instagram is alive with cool video's of that stuff. Cool huh!
Now next weekend comes along and I'm sporting a pretty lively hangover. I'm keen for a ride so I go to the same spot and ride my Ebike. Same sort of crowd and even a few of the same people who took video's of me doing cool stuff last week. I ride the samelines, do the same jumps, ride the trails the same way but reduce my chances of vomiting last night's Gin & Tonic's on the climbs by cruising up on my Ebike. The top of the climb is a meeting point of sorts with a bunch of trails starting there and people are mingling. I say hi as I cruise past, ask how their ride is etc etc blah blah blah. Not one fucking person acknowledges me. None, not one. Last week though? Everyone wants to tag you in their stupid social media feed 'cause they think they're cool. I shit you not, not one person even nods or smiles out of around ten people. Do I care? Well I do a little because my wife rides with me on her Ebike and would cop the same shitty vibe from douchebags who think their social impression is more important than sharing cool trails with cool people.
You know what is really satisfying though? The new generation of people riding bikes in my area don't even know they're riding trails that I built. They don't know that their crap attitude makes it an easy choice for that guy on the Ebike to keep building secret trails elsewhere that are way too hard for them to ride, they don't know that that guy has had some pretty damn big results on a pretty high level, that guy also kept the scene pumping for twenty years by running a sweet club that basically created the gravity discipline in that area. That guy has two seasoned knee's from carrying all his trophies home from winning almost every basketball comp he's entered, he's got an ongoing problem of herniated discs in his spine from digging trails for thirty years and he's pretty run down from a 60 hour work week.
I hate talking like that but I'm actually starting to get sick of seeing the stupid jealous shade people are chucking on Ebike guys. Don't be too quick to judge; some of those guys could whollop your judgmental candy arse on any bike trail on any kind of bike. Pigeon holing someone for their bike choice? Pfft, thats lame. They might have chosen to buy an Ebike 'cause they're loaded, could've bought it because they just want to ride a bike, thats the goal huh?
This is just another case of the new thing on the scene copping heat because some people are too proud to admit they want it but probably can't afford it. Don't hate on it when you ain't got even a tenth of a reason to know why that person does what they do. You end up looking like the moron instead of embracing a cool change that gets people on bikes sharing the same enjoyment you do.
Remember the hate on 29 inch wheels? Hating on that was just as pathetic as the wankers who stockpiled toilet paper......................