'Granny Bought an eBike' - Episode 4

 

Episode 4

"Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it,

you've got to start young."

- Theodore Roosevelt

Onward!

We are lucky enough to live within a few klicks of our local stretch of the 

Trans Canada Trail,

tctrail.ca

and on a gorgeous day last Fall, we thought we'd try a section of it.

It is, (so I read), the longest multi-use trail system in the world, 

connecting all three of Canada's coastlines.

(We weren't going that far.)

Our stretch is part of the Lang-Hastings Rail Trail, 

on an abandoned (re-purposed) railway bed, beautifully flat and surfaced in crushed stone.

Peterborough to Hastings on the trail is about 

2.5 hours by bicycle.

(We weren't going that far either.)

We loaded our bikes into the back of the truck

and drove to a parking area and entry point to the trail

about eight kilometres from home.

Our plan was to ride a leg or two, as far as we were comfortable,

then do the return journey.

I'm happy to report that it was a huge success. 

We cycled east for about half an hour on the almost perfectly flat trail, 

with views of farmer's fields, wooded areas,

fall leaves blowing about, 

over creeks, crossing a couple of quiet country roads.

We met two cyclists going the other way, but that was about it,

except for the squirrels and birds. 

It being Autumn, it's too early for snowmobilers and cross-country skiers;

not a sign of runners or hikers.

Then we backtracked,

passing the same cyclists again, where they sat on a bench.

They looked up, and it was clear that they were having a difference of opinion. 

It's mid-afternoon on a school day, 

so perhaps they didn't expect to see another soul.

We hurry past.

On toward the parking area, but before turning in,

we meander north to check out the tunnel, (underpass),

 under a busier county road,

just to see what it was like beyond.

For five minutes or so we cycle on to where the TCT crosses 

another busy county road.

We turn around and head back toward the tunnel.

The lure

of the

tunnel.

We make our way to the parked truck, load the bikes, 

and head for home.

We will do this again, we say, the next section eastward of the TCT.

For sure.

Onward!

"To unpathed waters, undreamed shores."

- William Shakespeare

*Mercifully, we didn't cross paths with the arguing couple again. 

But as I post this, 

I think I see them way off in the distance in the third tunnel photo. 

Unintentional.

Stay tuned for Episode 5....

I Remember Peer Christensen

 

I Remember Peer Christensen

Oct 1953 - May 2026

When I arrived in Peterborough County nearly thirty years ago, one of the first people I met was Peer Christensen. I had come from Toronto, where I was working for a retail art supply company. I was also a struggling visual artist, an emerging one, though older than most emerging artists being in my early forties. I saw in Peterborough a community which I hoped would give me the time and space to produce some new work.

Peer was a central figure in Peterborough's thriving arts community. He had the ideal set-up for a visual artist and business person - a heritage building in downtown Peterborough with a bright open gallery space, framing department, artist's studio space one level up, and living space on the top floor.

I visited the gallery a number of times before mustering the courage to speak to him, but in Peer I found a kindred spirit. After a bit of a chat, he agreed to look at some of my work and offered me a spot in his next group show. He was also a strong advocate for the 'Kawartha Autumn Studio Tour' run by the 

Art Gallery of Peterborough, and convinced me to apply, this being something in which I would go on to participate annually.

For me, Peer was an advisor. If I was unsure of how something worked in the Peterborough arts community, he was the person whose counsel I sought. If I struggled with an artwork, his input was invaluable. Having a conversation with Peer was never anything but uplifting. Over the years I had a number of solo exhibitions in that beautiful gallery space. He and his wife Lori became not only the most trustworthy of associates, but

good friends.

In the pursuit of his own art practice, Peer was a driving force, a tireless seeker.

His works were a common sight at summer outdoor art shows across Southern Ontario, always gathering a crowd. For ten years, I had a tent at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition in Nathan Phillips Square, usually within shouting distance of Peer. When the traffic was quiet, we'd meet in the middle ground and discuss not art, but that which was all-encompassing at these outdoor events -

wind, weather, washrooms,

and also where to get a decent cup of coffee, the people wandering about, and how much we both loved living in Peterborough.

Relentlessly positive and deeply spiritual, his art reflected this. He saw the beauty in what some would find mundane - an industrial warehouse, a Canadian Pacific Railway engine, a city street, a row of leafless trees, the rusted hull of a Great Lakes freighter.

He created a lasting body of work reflecting the world around us in all of its varied tones and textures, its flaws and its elegance. 

An observer, an archivist, a painter, a mentor, and an unfailingly kind human being, he has left a

legacy of enormous worth.

-Anne Renouf

'Granny Bought an eBike' - Episode 3

 

Episode 3

"As soon as you feel too old to do a thing,

do it."

- Margaret Deland

"Further afield" turned out to be venturing onto our rural road, and not much else. But doing this ride to the railway tracks (north) and/or the mailbox (south)

pretty much tripled my daily cycle.

Ours is a quiet country road,

(unless something is amiss on the highway),

usually seeing only a handful of cars daily.

But car traffic on a rural road is an unpredictable science

and I found myself constantly doing the 'half-turn' to see if 

anything was coming.

So, a rear view mirror.

With my newly installed mirror and a lovely removable front basket,

(in order to have somewhere to put the mail),

I was off and running, (so to speak),

right out there, 

in the world,

where anyone could see me.

*

As I had purchased the bike in the first week of September 2025,

(the week that the kids went back to school), 

it was really beginning to be Fall-like 

by the time I was out 

on the (not very busy) open road.

A month later, we were hosting our annual 

Thanksgiving Fam-jam.

As this involved dinner for eleven

and all available floorspace was needed, the eBike moved

from its usual indoor parking spot to an undercover spot in the canoe shelter

about twenty metres from the house.

Just a bit of its front wheel was visible, 

so

out of sight, out of... 

temptation.

Or so I thought.

*

Drinks in hand,

and a low table full of apps and chips and dips,

the extended fam sat on the patio looking out over garden, pond,

and the changing fall colours across our ninety acre woodland.

All were happy and peaceful as we caught up on news.

It was during a moment's silence, (as everyone sipped and nibbled), that I could see grand-girl-number-one peering directly at the canoe shelter, and then...

"Is...that...an...eBike?"

(Nothing slips past that one.)

*

They all tried the eBike. 

For the next hour, it was a little bit like the circus had come to town. The five kids appeared out of the woods and into the open area in various combinations of riders/passengers. (I was waiting for one of them to try a handstand.) They have all grown up with risky play: tree-climbing, rock-jumping, hiking, canoe trips, wake-boarding, etc., and as their parents were present, we didn't fuss.

One minor spill, but no damage.

(The kids were okay too.)

And loved it.

Stay tuned for Episode 4....

'Granny Bought an eBike' - Episode 2

Episode 2

"The journey of a thousand miles

begins with one step."

- Lao Tzu

So, I bought the eBike.

*

And lucky me, I bought it nearby.

In Peterborough.

I had an excellent sales guy, 

(in our local downtown upscale independent sporting goods shop), 

older and knowledgeable, who listened to me carefully, who remembered the '70's - and halfway through his balanced analysis of this particular eBike,

I said "Yes".

He took it away for a bit of a 'once over', and then told me to bring it in anytime if it needed repairs or adjustments.

I paid, and he helped me roll it to the car, load it,

and then waved me off.

Service.

As soon as I got it home, 

(the twenty minute car trip into the farther reaches of Peterborough County), 

I took it for a spin. 

In truth, I had to think for a minute how to turn it on, 

(not being used to 'turning on' a bike), 

but there, I did it, I was on, in my helmet, with my phone,

(just in case).

I learned how to use it by experimenting - trying out each gear, 

trying out each assist level. 

I rode up our long long laneway through the woods to the gate, got off, turned it around, and rode back to the house, 

a journey of about half a kilometre...

x 2.

Big smile.

Now, just so we're clear, this is not an endorsement for a specific eBike. 

No brands or lists of parts or stats or functions or prices.

Just the simple facts.

          Here's what I like about it....

                              ⇩

1.  It's low to the ground.

2. It's very simple to operate.

3. It's easy to get on/off, (step through).

4. Riding is comfortable and upright.

5. It can go surprisingly fast! :) 

6. It has small 3" wide heavy-duty tires.

7. It's great on dirt roads and trails.

8. It's easy to stop, start, steer.

9. It can carry gear.

10. It is so fun to ride.  

* 

 

   I repeated this easy and predictable cycle to the gate and back quite a few times over the next few days, feeling more and more at ease each time. 

And very soon, I was ready to go further afield.

Stay tuned for Episode 3....

 

'Granny Bought an eBike' - Episode 1

Episode 1

"The aging process 

is not gradual or gentle. It rushes up, 

pushes you over, and runs off 

laughing."

-John Mortimer

*

This quote could, quite possibly, have deterred me from 

making the purchase I longed to make

three months into my seventy-first year. 

But it didn't. 

I had always had an easy relationship with bikes,

and was comfortable cycling more for pleasure than exercise,

perhaps with more of a casual fondness than an unwavering dedication.

My first bike was this little beauty...

⇩

Anne - 1961

As a kid, if the weather was fit I rode my bike to school, 

a ten minute ride to one long bike rack in the schoolyard - 

(no bike locks in those days).

Hours and hours were spent circling the 'key-hole' on Cassidy Place, 

the street where my siblings and I grew up in Don Mills.

And off and on through high school and uni, 

biking day trips with various friends on my 'Canadian Tire' 10-speed .

For many years, Doug and I travelled to coastal North Carolina 

- Ocracoke Island -

(in our forties, fifties and sixties), 

taking our own bikes or renting a couple while there, as a means of getting around the little village, in fact rarely using the car. 

Ocracoke was (is) relatively flat and easy to navigate on a bike. Cycling was 

the ideal form of transport for us, especially when making our way home from

'Howard's Pub' at the end of the day,

(mobile phone doubling as a headlight.)

More recently,

we have taken our bikes to Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick.

Also a lovely place to cycle, 

but the terrain is somewhat hillier.

It was here that I, 

while on holiday with Doug, his daughter and son, their partners and kids - eleven of us, while climbing a steepish hill, (slowly),

on our way up to 'High Seas Convenience', heard a 'pop' in my right knee,

and felt a stab of pain.

"No", I said, refusing to acknowledge it,

and walked (hobbled) my bike up the hill the rest of the way.

*

It was the gentle meditative fifteen minutes on the stationary bike which concluded each physiotherapy session throughout the following Fall and Winter

that planted the seed of an idea of 

getting an eBike.

The repetitive motion was, (I was told), a low impact rehabilitation 

that helped rebuild muscle strength and improve motion,

without placing heavy stress on recovering joints.

It worked.

I was gifted a turbo trainer, and spent that winter spinning around, indoors,

 on my bike for five minutes at a time, regaining my knee strength. 

The swelling went away.

The dull ache was no more.

I settled into a routine of eBike research over the following months. 

I found some that I knew would do, but weren't quite what I had in mind.

And then, I saw this....

⇩

Stay tuned for Episode 2.....

*I use the term 'Granny', as in 'Granny Bought an eBike', as a synonym 

(according to my thesaurus), for 'Old Woman'.

While no one calls me Granny, (to my face), 

it seemed like a good moniker for an oldie on a bike.

ps - The step-grands call me 'Anne'.