Meet Don Miller, a professional photographer and cyclist. Don is an avid cyclist who shares the unique characteristics of maintaining cycling with age. As an experienced cyclist, Don discusses what motivates him to ride and shares about transitioning to eBiking so that cycling can be for all. He also offers advice to others transitioning to eBikes.
Transcript
Dirty Freehub 0:06
This is the Connection, a Dirty Freehub podcast connecting gravel cyclists to where they ride through short stories about culture, history, people, places in lands.
Meet Don Miller, a professional photographer and cyclist. Dawn is an avid cyclist who shares the unique characteristics of maintaining cycling with age. As an experienced cyclist, Dawn discusses what motivates him to ride and shares about transitioning to biking so that cycling can be for all. Yeah. So let’s kick it off. What is the unique challenge that you face in cycling?
Don Miller 0:42
Well, I. I don’t think I have any, you know, challenges per se. I think I view it more as an opportunity, which is I, I love cycling. I’ve been cycling all my life, and the opportunity is just to get out and ride it here. And then there’s plenty of places to do that.
Dirty Freehub 0:59
What inspires you to get out and ride?
Don Miller 1:01
Good weather or the opportunity to explore new areas, also to ride with my buddies. There’s you know, there’s a social element to this where you know, don’t go out and try and, you know, ride each other into the ground where, you know, we’re very social and in our approach. So we just kind of, you know, pedal along at the party pace and, you know, try to enjoy the day and each other’s company.
Dirty Freehub 1:26
Yeah, it’s kind of nice to do that, though, because I feel like it makes you, like, appreciate the sport more versus just driving yourself in the ground and like dreading to get on the bike. Are there things that you think people don’t understand, using an e-bike
Don Miller 1:38
Well, you know, there is still a lot of confusion over the types of ebikes that we have out there. When I ride as a pedal assist bike, so the thing doesn’t move unless I move. bikes, I think, you know, from for me and the class of rider that I am really, really good job of giving you a little extra that need. I mean, one of the reasons I bike was hang with my buds. You know, a lot of them are more ten years younger than me. want to be beholden to mob. at landscape of riding, things, it expands to people of all ages. like, you know, families all want to ride together. And they’re all at different ages and different athletic abilities. And, it allows them to enjoy a sport that I think is great and do it together without, you know, overburdening anyone else like that. And then, know, for other folks who have, you know, had injuries, maybe they’ve been active in sports their whole life and helps over that. limitation you might have from, you know, the pain that you might be having to tolerate to go out and enjoy riding the bike, you know, that kind of thing.
Dirty Freehub 2:48
Is there a way people can be helpful towards like people who are riding e-bikes or other things that you want people to understand about riding e-bikes?
Don Miller 2:55
I would say there’s nothing special. same kind of courtesies and knowledge about protocol on the trails and things like that applies. You know, if you’re on a logging road, what’s going on with the trucks? Yeah. So a lot of it’s just plain common sense. Be courteous.
Dirty Freehub 3:10
What would you say to someone who’s thinking about gravel cycling, or what advice would you have to someone for e-bikes?
Don Miller 3:17
I think gravels like going is a great thing if you enjoy cycling. They’re kind of like a Swiss army knife, almost bikes. And a lot of the rides I do, they’re a mix. You know, I’m part of the team, I’m on the road then, you know, when a trail comes up, you can jump right on the trail, get out of traffic. And when it when it comes to the the E section of it, if you’re looking at a new thing, you know, either moving from a traditional mountain bike or a road bike and you’re going to make an investment in another bicycle, you know, take a look at them. One of the things about the the bikes is because they have a motor and a battery in them, they tend to be a little heavier. And so, you know, when you’re transporting it,you got to take that into consideration. You know, do you have a rack? How easy is it to get the bike on and off the rack? That kind of a thing. Traditional bikes don’t have that extra hardware on them, they you know, they tend to be a lot lighter and there’s lots of choices out there. And help motivate you, you know, to get out there and get your heart rate off a little bit, you know, because it’s not I mean, the class of bikes that I’m riding, you know, Gary, I mentioned it earlier, it’s pedal assist. So it’s not like I’m sitting on the thing like a scooter, you know, like a motor scooter and just twisting a throttle. I got a I got a pedal. And that’s a good thing because that’s what helps me get exercise and stay healthy and, you know, stay out of the hospital and, you know, just overall well-being. I think that’s another aspect of it that, you know, the things I like about gravel cycling specifically, you get out into the forest here. But you’ll come around the corner and there’ll be some fantastic view of the Cascades you’ll be looking at. And it’s like, yeah, that’s why I’m here.
Dirty Freehub 4:57
That’s so cool. Thanks for joining us today, Don.
Don Miller 5:00
No problem.
Dirty Freehub 5:03
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