E-Biking to Fitness

E-Biking to Fitness

How E-bikes can Help You improve your Health & Fitness

If you have decided that this is the year in which you will get fit, try something new or simply explore your local area, then an e-bike could be your perfect partner. Electric bikes have been a fantastic addition to the worlds of cycling and mountain biking and we are great fans of the health and well-being benefits which they can provide.

Unfortunately, some critics seem to think that e-biking requires no effort and is only for lazy or unfit people who don't want to do any exercise. We thoroughly disagree with this sentiment and believe that lots of people can enjoy the advantages of riding pedal-assist bikes.

All good e-bikes have differing levels of assistance, so when the terrain is easy and flattish, assistance is minimal but if the hills get steeper or the ride is long and tiring, the rider can increase the assistance level. The bike takes more of the strain but the rider still needs to pedal the bike at all times, so they remain active but not exhausted. Put simply, e-bikes allow any cyclist to ride further and tackle more hills than they could on a normal bike.

E-Bikes are Great for Everyone

Regardless of your age or ability, e-bikes can open up new and exciting biking opportunities.

Infrequent riders who might shy away from long bike rides or routes including lots of hills no longer need to worry about their fitness levels.

Strong riders can use e-MTBS to improve their technical mountain biking skills - whilst the bike does the hard work on the climbs, the rider is free to concentrate on their mountain biking technique. It’s a great way to gain confidence and develop proficiency to tackle more technical trails, such as roots, ruts, rocks and uneven ground.

In other words, e-bikes are great for the young and the old, for those who are feeling a little out of shape and also for regular riders who are fit and confident on a bike. Instead of being daunted by even the prospect of getting on a bike, with e-bikes everyone can enjoy cycling.

E-Bikes Bring People Together

Another great benefit of e-bikes is that they allow riders of different abilities to bike happily together. Stronger riders can use regular mountain or hybrid bikes (depending on the terrain) whilst less confident or fit riders can use e-bikes. We regularly adopt this practice when we ride with groups of mixed friends or clients to ensure everyone has an enjoyable day out.

E-Bikes are Fun

E-bikes are superb fun and we can attest to the smiles that inevitably appear on the faces of everyone that we have ever seen try one.

Our E-Bike Tours

At Hike + Bike in Ronda, we offer a wide range of e-bike day trips. This part of Andalucia is hilly, so the e-bikes are a great way to open up the countryside for visitors to Ronda.

Our Leisure e-bike rides explore Ronda and the nearby landscapes using a mix of quiet roads and easy unsurfaced tracks. These rides are suitable for everyone and are available guided or self-guided.

Our e-MTB rides are specifically designed to maximise the benefits of e-MTBs. The easiest rides are available guided or self-guided and can be enjoyed by novice bikers. More challenging rides are guided only and will put the bikes and their riders through their paces. We guarantee that even fit and strong mountain bikers will find something to challenge them on these rides. 

However, you class yourself, we have an e-bike ride to suit you.

E-bikes can also be used on any of our place-to-place biking tours, such as Ronda to Seville or Ronda to Cadiz.

Join the e-bike Revolution – Join the Adventure!

E-Bike Testimonials

When we first introduced local Montejaque resident Carolyn Emmett to e-biking along the Via Verde, this is what she had to say about it:

Fantastic for the young-at-heart, but not so young!

Electric-assist bicycle riding is great fun, especially for those of us who are not as young and agile as we used to be. I recently rode 43 km off-road and on-road, achieved 25.9 km/hr up a steep hill (using turbo) and, for the majority of the ride, found that the eco setting was sufficient to replace those young legs I once had. At the end of the ride, I felt that I had had a good workout without feeling exhausted. Not only that, I still had 50% of the battery life left, which meant I could have ridden the route all over again! Riding an electric bike has opened up a possible whole new area where I would not have been able to ride before.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g265784-d14770489-Reviews-E_Bike_Tours_Spain-Ronda_Costa_del_Sol_Province_of_Malaga_Andalucia.html

Another recent convert is Ronda resident Wendy Smith, who tried out an e-bike for the first time just before the Covid-19 lockdown in March last year. As soon as lockdown restrictions eased, she was raring to go out again on one of our e-bikes and was delighted by its effect on her mood, health and overall well-being. She loved it so much that she has now bought her own e-bike and is regularly to be seen cycling happily around Ronda’s many tracks and trails:

I recommend e-biking with Hike and Bike to anyone looking to keep fit whilst keeping at a safe distance from others.

In these strange times I wanted to try new activities which allowed social distancing. Ronda is famous as a centre for biking but, not having ridden a bike for many years and about to celebrate my 60th birthday, an e-bike experience seemed just the thing.

Through the Hotel Molino del Puente near Ronda I discovered Hike and Bike the Sierras. Hike and Bike are a small local company with a good range of quality bikes including ebikes. They offer a wide selection of guided or selfguided rides for all levels of riders from the fittest regular cyclists to people like me who hadn't ridden a bike for many years and am about to celebrate my 60th birthday. Wayne and Heather have lots of experience and knowledge of the area, all the equipment you need and plenty of patience for novices like me! If I can do it you can!

My E-biking day was a fabulous experience and, despite having a dodgy knee and no recent biking experience, it was fantastic to be able to enjoy the amazing mountain scenery around Ronda. I loved it so much I am now renting an e-bike longer term! Without the power of the e-bike I wouldn't be able to tackle such hilly terrain and would be missing the stunning views you get from biking in this area.

Thank you so much Hike and Bike and Molino del Puente for introducing me to such a brilliant past time. I recommend it to anyone looking to keep fit whilst keeping at a safe distance from others to give this a try. 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g265784-d3863731-Reviews-Hike_Bike_The_Sierras-Ronda_Costa_del_Sol_Province_of_Malaga_Andalucia.html

 

Heather Cooper, Hike + Bike    9/1/2021

 

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