E-Bike Stories: Jan

Jan is one of EB-UK’s biggest fans and riding an electric bike helped her meet her weight loss goals and changed her perspective on commuting. We asked her to share her success story.

“I am a 53 year-old mother of three who has lied about my weight for years. My driver’s license says I weigh 150 pounds, a weight I hadn’t seen since my early 30’s. My mother was obese. Type 2 diabetes runs in my family and, although I tried to stay fit by going to the gym, my weight was constantly creeping up. I knew this was a problem, but I convinced myself that being fifteen pounds overweight was really no big deal. By last spring when fifteen pounds had turned into thirty-five and I was headed to the store for “the next size up,” I knew I had to take action.

With the purchase of an electric bike from Miiebike, I decided to force myself to ride the bike once a week. “Get it over with on Monday morning”, I thought. My commute to work is five miles, half suburban, half urban, and to my surprise, it became obvious pretty quickly that riding the bike was so much better than driving. No gas to buy, no worries about getting stuck behind a school bus or in a traffic-jam, no parking garage hassles. It was quicker than driving the car and much more fun than I ever expected. I was getting fresh air and arriving at work fully awake without needing that extra cup of coffee. Biking to work, I felt more a part of the world around me. Waving to the crossing guards along the way and noticing the world around me gave me a different outlook. Instead of trying to get the bike ride over with on Monday, now I couldn’t stand to drive my car. I started riding to work every day that I possibly could. Pietzo turned a car driver into a committed bike commuter.

Right from the start I was losing weight. People think that an electric bike does all the work but using pedal assist power, the hills were easier but my heart rate was elevated throughout the ride. The best thing about electric bike commuting is that when you get home at the end of the day, you don’t need to go to the gym. It put more hours back into the day. Five pounds dropped off quickly and that motivated me to join Weight Watchers and within six months, I reached my goal. Before the holidays, I was at the mall searching for “two sizes down” pants. The weight on my license is still a lie, but now it’s too high and its all thanks to my E-Bike.