By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
With many cities in the Northern Kentucky area firming up their final ordinances on rules for the ebikes and escooters in their city limits, parents are beginning to weigh their children’s fondest wishes for birthday and Christmas with the reality of possible fines that might be accumulated and directed to them if the children don’t mind the rules for the vehicles.
But kids are not the only people using them. Another demographic has come to light. Older people have discovered that the ebikes are relatively easy to use and provide an excellent way of exercising while traveling to a destination.
Former Florence Council member Mel Carroll and his significant other, Sandy Hamilton, are already old hands at riding ebikes, and in fact, do a lot of traveling with their bikes.
“We travel all over, riding our bikes, and traveling to places to ride our bikes,” said Carroll. “The farthest west we have been was probably Moab, Utah, and we have been to Michigan, where we rode around part of Lake Michigan. It is a wonderful way to get exercise.”
About 20 years ago, Carroll retired, but before retirement, he met Hamilton, because they both worked in the school system, at Ockerman.
As part of seeking out each other’s company, they started occasionally riding their old bikes that they had in their garages. They were fun, but sometimes more strenuous than they wanted.
So they did some research about electric bikes, and found out that they could buy a front wheel for an ordinary bike that had a motor.
“You take a regular bike, and put this other wheel on the front, and run the controller wire up to the handlebars and you’re off,” Carroll said. “The motor, and battery are in the hub of the wheel. We rode around on those bikes for about four years. Then I had read some more about the bikes and we thought it would be good to upgrade. So we gave away our upgraded bikes, and went and bought regular ebikes.”
Carroll said that the cost to upgrade a regular 3-speed bike would run about $400, whereas to buy a regular ebike would cost about $1000, so with an investment like that he said you should be committed to using the bikes. They would be too costly to be just a basement ornament.
Hamilton said she has always loved to be outside, and since Carroll likes to be active and outside, these bikes are perfect for them.
The bikes are classified into three categories, and the third category has the capacity to travel at about 28 mph. Cities like Ft Mitchell, Ft Thomas, and Lakeside Park have limited the speed to 15 mph on the sidewalks, and riders have to wear legitimate helmets, and there has to be an audible signal. Both Hamilton and Carroll always prefer a lower speed, about 15 mph, and they always wear their reflective vests and gloves.
Carroll’s and Hamilton’s ebikes have a clear, resounding bell on each of their bikes, but they also shout, ‘bike coming on the left’ or other warnings as they come up on walkers or joggers. They also wear regulation helmets that Carroll has rigged up with microphones and headphones so they can talk to each other. Hamilton complimented Carroll on his ability to have an idea and rig it up to work, and said people have said he has a real talent, but Carroll chuckled and said, ‘yeah, no one thinks that’.
“We first saw the bikes years ago in Gulf Shores, Alabama, one winter when we were down there,” Carroll remembered. “A couple people, maybe middle aged or a little older, were riding their electric bikes. Then we went down the next winter and it seemed like every other person had an electric bike.”
Hamilton agreed.
“A lot of people down in Gulf Shores now have electric tricycles that they ride around all over,” she said. ‘“Even now, people come up to us and ask how we like our bikes.”
Carroll showed how they could fold their bikes in half, so they fit nicely into a car, if they wanted to take the bikes to the Miami bike trail, a trail that can go all the way to Cleveland. Recently they went to Zinnia where they have a railway area that was converted into a bike trail.
“These bikes are actually pedal bicycles, but they have an assist mode so that if you get tired of pedaling, you can make the battery kick in,” Carroll said. “We like to pedal a lot, but we use the battery if we have a larger hill. We have been down to Cade’s Cove in the Great Smoky Mountain state park, where they have an 11 mile one way loop road that closes to traffic one day a week and the bikes take over for a nice two to four hour trip.”
He said it takes about 6 hours to charge the battery, and then they can travel about 30 miles, and he said that’s about as far as they like to go. If they are on a trip, they might stop at a little grocery store and fill their saddlebags with stuff they like. He said there is a place on the Miami trail where they like to stop called the Monkey Bar, where the owner used to have an actual monkey back in the day who used to drink beer and smoke cigars.
It is a charming story, and a good place to refresh and rest their legs.
The couple have put their bikes in the camper and traveled to Arizona, and Colorado, and Elkhart County, where there is a Pumpkin Bike Trail that they like to ride along.
“Around here, we are very careful about where we ride, and how we ride,” Carroll said. “We have lights and everything, but if we go out to eat, when it’s time to go home it’s dark, and you have to be very careful. We don’t want to take any unnecessary chances, and we want everyone to see us.”
They like to ride their bikes at least once a week, and they say that Florence, Hebron and Union all have bike lanes in some parts of the city. Some places also have widened sidewalks. Recently they went to the Oktoberfest in Union and they took folding chairs, strapping them on the bikes over the saddlebags, and were able to spend the afternoon enjoying the music and ambiance.
The set of bikes that they have now are not that old and they have only logged about 500 miles, but before these bikes came, they had their first set of all electric bikes, on which they logged about 1200 miles, and Carroll gave them away when he felt like somebody needed them, just like he did the first set of converted bikes. Carroll likes the bikes, and thinks they are a good idea, for adults and children.
“I think it is good to see kids out and about enjoying the fresh air with each other,” he said. “It is better for them than spending all the time inside on computers. A lot of the kids just need more training.”
Carroll said what he likes the best about the bikes is the exercise.
Hamilton likes the exercise too.
“I just like being out breathing the fresh air,” she said.
Both being educators, they agree with the rules that the cities are setting out, because they know first hand how the exuberance of children can get out of hand.
By the same token, they both think bikes are not just for kids, and they would like to see more adults and older adults cultivating the changing sport of riding their bikes.
“You just have to remember to be careful,” said Carroll. “Our number one goal is to come back safe and sound. You can still have a good time and come back safe and sound.”