I got beat by a 45-year-old mom on an e-bike

I pride myself as athletic and active — a 28-year-old year-round bike commuter. But I got squashed by a mom toting her 8-year-old.

We competed in a 2.5-mile bike commute through Des Moines, and though I was only one minute behind Roberson at the finish, my collared shirt was soaked with sweat and my heart rate was clocking 128 beats per minute.

My competitor, 45-year-old Kelly Roberson, out-pedaled me without breaking a sweat. Her passenger, Sophia, casually sipped a drink riding on the back.

Behold the power of the electric bike.

We aren’t talking a motorized scooter or mini-motorcycle. The increasingly popular e-bike is a bonafide bicycle with a battery-powered motor to assist pedaling.

Iowa law, like most U.S. states, treats e-bikes — limited to a 750-watt motor that tops out at 20 miles an hour — the same as a traditional bicycle.

Dan Koenig, owner of Ichi Bike in Des Moines, says he has sold nearly 30 e-bikes this year, compared with roughly half a dozen annually in 2010 and 2011.

The local sales mirror a national trend, with the New York Times reporting that roughly 200,000 e-bikes were sold in 2013, doubling the count in 2012.

“The market is growing,” Koenig said of the phenomenon that hit China and parts of Europe years ago.

Saying goodbye to sweat

Koenig said there’s a surprising niche for urban families with children, with the Robersons and at least three other families in nearby neighborhoods purchasing e-bikes.

“It’s families who have children and want to transport their kids around without getting into their car,” Koenig said.

Roberson, who lives in the Owl’s Head neighborhood near Grand Avenue and 28th Street, said she’s all about being active, green and saving money on gas and downtown parking.

But she’s less keen on showing up to work sweaty and having zero capacity for carrying groceries and kids, common problems for traditional bike commuters.

An e-bike offered an alternative.

“It’s been such a welcome change to how I see the city,” Roberson said. “I wanted to be a good model for my kids to show you can live in a city without having a car.”

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Roberson this spring purchased a Yuba Mundo cargo bicycle modified by Ichi Bike with the 750-watt pedal-assist motor.

It offers a large bag that Roberson has filled with a couple bags of groceries while two kids ride behind her.

It rides like a traditional bicycle, except a battery-powered motor — controlled by the rider with different settings — helps crank the speed up to as much as 20 miles per hour when the rider begins to pedal. Roberson’s model also includes an optional throttle to turn the pedals with minimal effort.

E-bike models at Ichi and most bike shops range from $2,000 to $4,000 or more with all the bells and whistles. Roberson’s version sells for about $3,800.

Is it cheating?

Koenig and e-bike owners say e-bikes are broadening access to alternative transportation, albeit at an added cost.

“The catch for many people is basically they want to ride, but can’t physically do it anymore,” Koenig said.

However, they occasionally provoke sneers from some traditionalists.

“Hardcore cyclists give you a look like you’re cheating,” said 58-year-old Lon Laffey, a downtown resident who regularly commutes to the State Capitol complex by e-bike.

A younger downtown dweller, Casey Beaty, 29, said she got similar treatment when pedaling her e-bike for two days of RAGBRAI.

Strangers have also made remarks when she joins her cycling-enthusiast fiancé for long rides.

“I would rarely enjoy the longer rides before I had my e-bike. Now I don't bat an eye,” Beaty said. “Cyclists should just be happy more people are out riding, whether it's on a road bike or an e-bike.”

Koenig said he thinks it’s mostly egos tripping up the e-bike naysayers.

Racing against an e-bike

Dollars aside, I know one road-bike commuter who would have embraced a pedal assist around 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

That’s when the heat index reached 90, and I was chasing Roberson and her daughter up the Grand Avenue hill on their daily commute from the Downtown School.

I covered the 2.5-mile route in 13 minutes, compared with 12 minutes for the e-bike duo.

My only advantage was the location of my house.

It was en route on my ride of shame back to the office, so I could stop and change my sweat-soaked shirt.