'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....