Hi, I'm Diane. I am at Sixthreezero in San Clemente, and I want to talk a little bit today about how e-trikes and e-bikes have kind of changed my life. In terms of riding, again. And this is the Relaxed Body E-Trike by Sixthreezero. And I'm going to be riding this one today. But just to touch a little bit on my journey, my adventure with test riding and considering which e-bike or e-trike I want, just a little bit of background. I was a marathon runner. I ran my first marathon when I was 40. I did my first triathlon when I was 50, and now I'm in my 60s. A lot has changed over those 20-plus years, from marathon running to being a triathlete, and candidly, my body's changed a lot, and I have pains now that I didn't have when I was in my 40s or even my 50s, and E-bikes and e-trikes have really helped me get back out into the world and enjoy the things that I like to do. I don't like to stay stationary.

Low-Intensity Exercise & Pain Relief

So one thing that I really like about e-trikes is that It's a low-intensity exercise. And so when you can rely on something like pedal assist or something like a throttle and still have your gears to help you make it through any type of ride that you want to do, it takes out some of the pain that you may feel. Everybody's a little bit different, right? What I started to feel when I was riding my road bike, let's say. And a road bike is, you know, the bike that you see out on the road. Thinner tires, your position is leaned over, so there's a lot of impact on your wrists and on your shoulders. Every time I was out on my road bike, I was feeling the pain back here. I mean, the burn. If you're over 60, you know what I'm talking about. And it made it not fun anymore. And so when you're riding an e-trike, or an e-bike, you're sitting more in an upright position, so you're not leaning over.

Upright Position & Adjustable Intensity

I've done a lot of test rides on these bikes. I've never felt that pain at all. Where I also feel pain, and again, everybody's different, I'm just sharing my journey, is when I'm pushing really hard, the next day, I feel it like inside my knee. So another benefit to riding an e-bike trike is that you can pedal on your own if you want to. You're always in control of how intense you want this ride to be because you have pedal assist. And there are five different levels of pedal assist on all the sixthreezero e-trikes. And so I can make this ride as easy or as difficult as I want. So it's an assisted ride, but you get to choose how much intensity you want in your ride. 

Building Muscle, Endurance & Mobility

However, because you can also turn the pedal assist off, I'm able to help build the muscles in my legs and in my core and also build up my endurance. Because I can go out on any terrain and make the ride as intense as I want. And I want to because, as you get older, it's so important to continue working on building up your muscles. And this is an easier way to do it also helps with balance and coordination. So riding an e-trike as opposed to an e-bike, there's a different type of balance. Like when you're riding a regular two-wheel bike, you're balancing constantly. This requires a little bit of a different amount of balance, maybe a little bit less, but you're out, and you're getting exercise. So nonetheless, you're getting some type of exercise.

Regaining Independence & Quality of Life

And, you know, because this particular model has a forward pedal system on it, meaning that I'm lower to the ground, but I'm still getting the leg extension when I'm riding. It's keeping my flexibility and my mobility going. So that's all important. So I just wanted to point these things out to you because this is what I've learned as I've gone through my test ride journey and decided which bike or which trike is going to be right for me. And there are just so many benefits for health. Especially when you're over 60. And again, this has given me my life back. It's given me the ability to be independent, to go on paths and trails that I've avoided over the past several years, hills that I will no longer attempt because I know it will be, I'll pay the price the next day if I try just to do this on my own.

Conclusion

So anyway, come out. Test drive a couple of e-bikes and e-trikes. See what's best for you. But don't let your age and the aches and pains that you may feel when you wake up in the morning stop you from getting out there, because you don't have to. Thanks so much. Have a great day. Thanks for joining me.