The Boomers Are Zooming!

The Vancouver rain was pouring down as a lineup of seniors on electric bicycles, or e-bikes, made their way through the bikeways around Trout Lake Park.

Adorned with neon yellow reflective vests, the group traversed through parks, along quiet back routes, up hills and down busy streets.

They are part of an e-bike beginner class offered by HUB Cycling. Adults of all ages can join to learn how to ride an e-bike and maneuver them on the roads in Vancouver. On this rainy Thursday evening, the class was populated mainly by older adults.

“I see people on e-bikes all the time, and they look like such a good time,” said Karen Hawkins, a senior student in the e-bike class. “So, I was like, ‘I need an e-bike.’”

Although the rain had soaked her clothes, the smile was unmistakable on Hawkins' face.

E-bikes, or electric bikes, are bicycles that are usually equipped with batteries and motors that kick in to assist riders when they start pedalling.

The seniors in the cycling class swapping their regular bikes for e-bikes is part of an upward trend of e-bike users in Vancouver. In the last six years, e-bikes on off-street pathways have gone up from five per cent to more than 16 per cent of vehicles.

For seniors, riding e-bikes is about more than them participating in a trend. They are taking part in a more accessible form of cycling.

“[E-bikes are] an incredible tool for older folks to enjoy the city and their community in a different way that they may have lost touch with before e-bikes existed,” said Nick Anderson, the general manager of Cycle City, a Vancouver shop that specializes in bicycle tours, rentals and sales. “And now they’re reconnecting to their city and their community.”

Out of the car and onto the bike path

While driving remains the top mode of transportation for seniors in Canada, e-bikes are helping seniors find new ways of getting around.

Part of the reason is the ease that e-bikes provide in traversing Vancouver and, crucially, parking.

Beyond ease, each e-bike helps reduce an estimated 460 kg CO2 net emissions in Canada each year.

E-bikes also create opportunities for seniors who aren’t driving anymore to get around. “If you’re no longer driving your car, your options are bus, taxi, Uber, or having to ask somebody to give you a ride,” said Gloria Gutman, a professor emerita at the Department of Gerontology at Simon Fraser University. “So, the e-bike gives people independence.”

Another draw to e-bikes for seniors is how they make challenging terrain in Vancouver, such as the hills, more accessible.

“As you age, your parts break down,” said Christine Coutts, a long-time cyclist who participated in one of HUB’s e-bike classes. “An e-bike is easier on your bones.”

Hills in Vancouver used to be a nuisance to 72-year-old Karole Sutherland. She’s been cycling around the city since 2015, but as the years went on, she became increasingly hesitant to get out on her bike because of the steep hills across the city.

But after getting an e-bike in 2019, Sutherland’s perspective of the hills on her cycling routes changed.

Using the e-assist on her new bike, Sutherland found that she could “just zoom up, without a problem.”

Even though e-bikes assist in getting up hills that would be more difficult on traditional bikes, Jessica Bourne, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of British Columbia who studies the use of e-bikes and their impact on health and the environment, warns against calling them “cheater bikes.”

“The difference between regular bikes and e-bikes comes in on those hills where someone might need more assistance, so it’s slightly less intense,” said Bourne. “It’s still a moderate-intensity activity.”

According to a 2019 study that compared the physical activity of e-bike users to that of traditional bike users, the health gains from using e-bikes are similar to those of traditional bicycles. Even though e-bikes require less exertion from their riders, they enable cyclists to travel further for longer.

Bourne highlights that for seniors, having an e-bike lengthens the number of years they can cycle. She estimates that an e-bike can extend their cycling longevity for 10 to 15 years, “Which, I think is only a good thing,” she said.

A social ride

The boost that e-bikes give seniors not only helps them get more exercise, but produces more opportunities for connection with friends and loved ones.

“The social [aspect] is as important and maybe even more important than what it does for your physical body,” said Gutman.

In 2023, Statistics Canada found that almost one in five people over the age of 65 reported experiencing loneliness.

That’s why Lesley Lim, the director of bike education at HUB, said that e-bikes and e-bike classes are essential for providing seniors with opportunities to “reconnect with the community.”

At Cycle City, Anderson often observes that seniors on e-bikes are forging new intergenerational connections across their families.

“Suddenly they feel like kids again, [riding] with their 12 year-old grandchild who is super active and adventurous,” said Anderson. “Suddenly, Grandma [and] Grandpa are right behind them.”

Using the assistance of e-bikes to connect with family is something that 67-year-old David Finnis knows well.

Finnis got into e-biking to help take his grandchildren from place to place. Starting at Trout Lake and traversing to Arts Umbrella on Granville Island, he and his two grandchildren travel along the seawall for part of their 20-kilometre round trip on his orange RadWagon electric cargo bike.

“It’s really fun. And on a day like today, it’s glorious,” he said. “We’ve come back sometimes with all the light reflecting off the buildings. [They] will comment on the colour of Science World, or BC Place’s lights changing.”

On the e-bike, Finnis often overhears his two grandchildren making up imaginary stories of dragons with the city around them as the setting for their tales as he carts them to art class.

“We’re travelling at a speed where we can observe,” said Finnis. “We [can] stop and point out things. And you can pull over a lot easier on an e-bike than you can in a car."

Speed bumps to access

While more seniors are adopting e-bikes, barriers to accessibility still exist. A study that surveyed older e-bike users found that the fear of falling and injuries was a deterrent for seniors.

Gutman said that the fear of falling is well-founded for older adults. “If they trip and fall, [they're] more likely to break something.”

The e-bikes’ heavier construction was also a concern among seniors in the study.

Seniors expressed that along with a learning curve for the e-bike, they also need to learn the unique ways of Vancouver’s roads from a cyclist’s perspective. “They don’t make [the bike lanes] very direct,” noted Coutts.

“It’s also a learning point for cars,” said Bourne. “There probably needs to be some education of drivers as well as how to, you know, now we’ve not just got pedestrians and cyclists, but we’ve also got these cyclists in the mix, and they move faster.”

However, Vancouver still has relatively safe bike infrastructure, as Meghan Winters, a professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and leader of the Cities, Health, and Active Transportation Lab (CHATR Lab), pointed out.

“Vancouver took a deep dive into building what we sometimes call ‘all ages and abilities infrastructure,’” said Winters, “meaning that people who are very young or very old would feel comfortable on it, and people with different abilities would feel comfortable on it.”

This doesn’t mean that all bike lanes are as good as they can be. “Generally speaking, we do need our paths to be wide enough to accommodate this growth in users that we’re going to see,” Winters noted.

Getting into e-bikes can also come with a financial barrier, with the average cost of an e-bike being $2,000. Even though some e-bikes are less expensive, Anderson cautions against purchasing them due to their poor quality.

Purchasing an e-bike is not the only option available for seniors who want to cycle. Currently in B.C., there are several ways for people to reduce the cost of the ride, including the B.C. e-bike rebates program and e-bike share programs through Evo Car Share.

Recently, Finnis was able to test out a cargo bike for free by borrowing it at the North Vancouver City Library. “That was an experience turning it because it’s quite different, but that’s why they’ve got them there, so people can practice and learn.”

A smooth ride on three wheels

Beyond helping seniors connect with their loved ones, e-bikes are also assisting seniors in reconnecting with their communities, even if they aren’t pushing the pedals themselves.

Cycling Without Age Vancouver is an organization that does this by taking seniors living in long-term care homes out on trishaws. The trishaws are powered by pedal assist, meaning they provide the volunteer cyclists a boost, like e-bikes.

Jake Winn, the executive director of Cycling Without Age, stressed that the e-assist component was essential to the trishaw experience.

“The e-assist allows us to ferry people regardless of their weight,” said Winn. “Cycling can be jarring, even in a city like Vancouver, with such incredible bike lanes and bike infrastructure, there are still a lot of bumps and bounces and things like that, and the e-assist allows the rides to be really smooth.”

Winn said that the smooth ride makes it easier on the senior in the trishaw and the volunteer pushing the pedals. Saying that the less intense exercise allows them to “actually have a wonderful conversation and connect.”

The connection is what Anne-Marie Comte, a recent retiree, loves about volunteering at Cycling Without Age. She said that she can see the seniors’ demeanours change from when they start their ride to when they get into the city.

Comte explained that the riders might begin the ride feeling apprehensive, but they open up when they start seeing places that they used to frequent, telling the volunteers stories of old buildings and hangout spots.

“They are people with a lot of experience,” says Comte. “[Their stories] are so interesting. I love it.”

Travelling by e-bike is helping riders see their potential in a new way. “People feel this sense of freedom,” said Bourne, “Just being able to go around wherever they want.”