Re: Electric bicycles, social policy & culture

On 4/10/2025 12:09 PM, AMuzi wrote:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/are-e-bikes-a-godsend-or-the-road-to- perdition-an-amish-community-is-torn/ar-AA1CAple

A couple remarks:
Last night, after playing tunes with some acquaintances up north, we drove home after dark through an Amish area. I saw more ebikes than I normally see, but I can't say for sure that the riders were Amish. But at least in that area, Amish buggies now have headlights as powerful as those on cars. I assume this is partly due to LED technology. Many Amish households in that area have solar panels, useful for charging batteries and other things.
And regarding "in that area": I've been told that unlike many other churches with well defined "top down" authority structures, the practices of the Amish vary parish by parish or bishop by bishop. Way back when we did our first bike tour across Pennsylvania, a farmer at an Appalachian campground said some Amish in that area were allowed to drive cars, because the grades were too much for horses and wagons; but that the chrome on the car had to be painted black.
Holmes County, Ohio is quite hilly. We did a weekend there, riding tandems with our best friends. One little side road marked the first time we ever had to dismount and walk a hill despite our tandem's low gearing. I can see why the Amish there would be motivated to accept electric assist.
Finally, while I'll never be Amish, I can admire that a culture has priorities other than "How much shit can we buy before we die?" Community is very important to the Amish, and community is a good thing.
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- Frank Krygowski