Will we look lazy using electric bike on charity cycles?

Sussedit

My friend and I are hoping to do pink ribbon cycle next year. We would normally just do short leisurely cycles. Her brother has a bike hire company and has offered us electric bikes for use for the day.

Does anyone know if any cyclists use electric bike at this or similar events?

o1s1n

Kind of against the spirit of the whole thing, no?

Bit like doing a marathon and taking short cuts.

highdef

Unless there's an impediment which means you are unable to use a normal bicycle, then you'd look worse than lazy, in my eyes anyway. The whole point of these charity events is that those who participate go that extra mile and put a lot of effort, usually physical, to show how committed they are to their cause.

If you're on a mortised bike, you may as well go on a full fat motorcycle or better still,a car, in case the weather is unpleasant.

893bet

Who cares about the optics. Raising money for a good cause is the important thing. If you never did the cycle and passed along the money I wouldn’t care as as a donor.

I would say that as long as you are letting the donors know that it's an electric bike, it should be grand.

Will we look lazy using electric bike on charity cycles?

First, forget about what other people think. You'll live a longer, happier life

Second, looking lazy, see first point

Third, using ebikes, see first point

Go and enjoy yourself. Hell with the begrudgers

Tell me how

It's a charity cycle, the important thing is the numbers participating and the money raised. Struggling or worse still, not doing it at all so as not to use electric bikes would be a sad state of affairs.

Just don't hide the fact that it is an electric bike when asking people to donate. Or don't take glee in being less out of breath than someone on a conventional bike or whatever.

Bear in mind, an electric bike will give some assistance, but only to a certain level and for a certain amount of time/distance. You'll still have to put in effort.

cletus

You are asking this question on a cycling forum, where it is likely to elicit strong responses, as above.

I think it very likely that the vast amount of people who would be inclined to sponsor you for doing this event couldn't care less what type of bike you do the event on. In fact, I'd imagine once most people have donated, they will give little to no subsequent thought about the event at all.

robinph

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117952346#Comment_117952346

A marathon is a race to see who can cover the distance under their own steam in the shortest time.

A charity bike ride would be more similar to a protest march where numbers participating is the main thing, not how they are participating.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117952637#Comment_117952637

this. it's not a race, it's not a test. it's for charity.

if more people would do charity cycles if people weren't worried about being sneered at for using e-bikes, everyone wins.

Mr. Cats

I think the vast majority of people couldn’t care less and would have the view “If it gets them out on the bike, electric or not, that’s better than not getting out.”

At the same time you may encounter a few who judge it differently, and even one or two who feel the need to pass some remark or stink look, unfortunately. Such is life.

As recommended above, feck the begrudgers, and go for it. You could even embrace the e-bike element, making it a bit of a theme for your collecting efforts and again on the day, with a funny team name on a T-shirt (“Too posh to push”?)

In the end it’s for the charity. They set the rules so as long as they’re ok with it you’re good to go!

magicbastarder

The whole point of these charity events is that those who participate go that extra mile and put a lot of effort, usually physical, to show how committed they are to their cause.

i don't understand this attitude. yes, it might work when there's a significant physical element to help publicise the event, but many charity sportives (i'm not sure how the pink ribbon one works) raise their funds from the entry fees from the participants rather than off garnering interest from joe soap who otherwise wouldn't care.

cletus

The idea that you should be pushing yourself in a charity race of any description or you're not dong it right is nonsense. My most memorable moment from any charity/sponsered event was watching 3 women who had entered the event strolling along smoking fags and eating what looked like breakfast rolls while doing the actual event

Seth Brundle

I'd be of the mindset that the important thing is the fundraising and then secondary is the fact that you are out on a bike. The more people seen on bikes means that more might to decide to hop on one. The type of bike is largely irrelevant - if you were 90 and turned up on an ebike, many people would be queueing up to give you kudos!

However, I would advise that depending on how long the charity cycle is, you could run out of battery charge and end up using as much energy as you would have on a regular bike.

tomasrojo

As long as you don't expect a donation from Mikael Colville-Andersen, it seems ok to me.

nicksnikita

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117952396#Comment_117952396

Exactly

nicksnikita

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117952707#Comment_117952707

Correct

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058210894/will-we-look-lazy-using-electric-bike-on-charity-cycles

go for it, its for charity, ignore the ignorant, and have a great day, oh and thank you for taking part

DavyD_83

It's not a race (is it?), so who cares. It's a day out for a cause.

And if it is a race just don't try to claim you won :)

JimmyAlfonso

Obviously it will look lazy.

Just because it is for charity doesn't give you carte blanche. Many people will have trained and worked hard and part of the day is the sense of occasion and being in it together. If people start turning up in random e-powered devices then I'm sure the organisers will not be too happy. There are a multitude of charity cycles and if you do one where many people are not cycling you'll be less inclined to do it again and the charity will suffer. You have been offered an e-bike but I'm sure you could get a regular bike instead.

If you feel you can't do the ride on a normal bike, try a shorter distance if available or just give a donation instead.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953601#Comment_117953601

people are mental, its a bloody charity run! best of luck to those that have trained hard, but seriously, its not a race!

magicbastarder

Just because it is for charity doesn't give you carte blanche.

carte blanche? what? *there are no rules to break*

Tombo2001

You'd be more silly if you didnt do it because you cared what people thought.

If anything, charity cycles should be a welcoming environment for ebike riders. A lot of people on ebikes are new to cycling. Going on a big 80k cycle on their own around the back roads of North County Dublin, or wherever, is not something they have the confidence to take on.

A Charity Cycle, especially if there are really big numbers, would be a (relatively) safe way to do this for the newbie.

cletus

Does anyone know how long this cycle is, or the route?

Also, carte blanche, will ye stop. It literally makes no difference whether or not people have trained for a charity event. The best you can do is set a pb of some sort. Nobody is "winning" this any more than you can win the women's mini marathon (which, by the way, has a large number of men dressed as women taking part most years, and nobody accuses them of cheating)

El Tarangu

I looked up the event, and it seems to take place next August(!)

OP - you have 10 months to train, I am sure that you be fighting fit by that stage 🙂

robinph

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953669#Comment_117953669

The Women's Mini Marathon is both a proper race with timing and rules that must be followed at the front, and a giggle with blokes in drag further back that nobody really cares about. There are discussions around if men dressed in drag at that event should be accepted or not, but nobody is intimidated about ebikes encroaching on the space of fully person powered cyclists in their own event.

El Tarangu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953669#Comment_117953669

While I agree with you in principle, in this particular event seems to make use of a cumulative leaderboard, which shows how many kms various teams or groups have competed over a 10 day period. So it would seem to go against the spirit of this (friendly) competitive element if one group was putting in the miles using regular bicycles, while another group was racking up miles on e-bikes.

Billgirlylegs

You are giving of your time for a good cause - good on ya.

Imagine sourpusses think they can decide how you should make the effort.

I would imagine your efforts would be welcomed with open arms.

oisinog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953601#Comment_117953601

As long as the charity is still raising money the organisers couldn't give 2 flying fs what type of bike you turn up on. I would say the op would be more inclinded to raise funds above the entry price than a typical cyclist who is doing it for fun.

I assume that the op is doing this on an electric assisted bike and not on a full electric bike so cycling will be required.

@Sussedit give it a go on the bike the most important think is riase money for the charity and enjoy your day, you may get a few jealous looks when you are getting up a hill easier that someone else but I can also guarantee you those people will be thinking I wish I had an ebike

dudley72

Its a day out, you are giving your time to a good cause.

Use the electric bike and enjoy the day!! I have a friend who cycles a lot, they done a trip over in the UK and he said two of them had electric bikes as they wouldnt be sued to the distance etc. He didn't care at all because it was social event as well for a lot of them

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953701#Comment_117953701

And do you think two people who admit to doing nothing more than short leisure spins will be looking to line out in the elite pen at the front of the race? Anyone in any fun race with an elite pen is going to a member of a club, and looking to accrue points. The rest of the people (including the op) will be kept at the back with all the others out for a bit of craic.

Having said that, if the event is over a period of time, accruing distance, then I agree it would be against the spirit of the thing to use an ebike

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953669#Comment_117953669

Would there be outrage if gasp one of the lads in drag actually won?

magicbastarder

but the goal is to raise money for the charity. the goal of covering ground is incidental.

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953800#Comment_117953800

Its very unlikely to happen. Any runners in the elite pen looking for points from the race will be first out, plus there's normally maybe a 5 minute delay before the release of the next pen. There are no make elite athletes being given access to the front pen.

Duckjob

I'm sure I read somewhere that a charity cycle effort is invalid unless you do it on a 40 year old Raleigh Chopper with flat tyres and dragging along two ship anchors and a grand piano behind you.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953837#Comment_117953837

...and you must use your shoes to break!

Canis Lupus

I won't lie... I do roll my eyes when hear people say things like they've done the mini marathon. Oh yeah? What time? I don't know, I walked it....

But at the end of the day it's for charity so as long as the charity wins who really cares.

But it is some time away, you could commit to training and doing it. You never know you might enjoy it :)

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953880#Comment_117953880

funnily enough, walking a couple of k can be a gigantic achievement for some, attempting to shame those that achieve such things, is just bloody ignorant

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953823#Comment_117953823

Ah so tis rigged.

Canis Lupus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953927#Comment_117953927

Maybe they should use heelys?

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117954073#Comment_117954073

heelys?

robinph

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953823#Comment_117953823

And any blokes quick enough to actually challenge the elite women in the mini marathon would be risking getting booted from their club and being able to enter races again where they would be good enough to win the occasional free pair of socks, cheap bottle of wine or vouchers for running stores. Plus the eternal shame of having to resort to such tactics.

Wouldn't be worth it for those good enough to "win".

Sussedit

I’m laughing my head off at some of those comments.

the distance is 50km. My friend has a dodgy knee and we both wouldn’t be the fittest. I’m kind of shocked at how strongly some people feel about this

robinph

If it's an event where you are ranked and timed/ measured against other people then it's taken seriously and people tend to care a lot about fairness and that others are not seen to be cheating, even if it's only for where they appear on page 17 of a list of results on an obscure website.

If it's a ride around in no particular hurry, and nobody cares who gets there first, or last, or how they get there then crack on and participate in whatever way you see fit and raise the profile of the event by participating and raising funds for the charity.

the_amazing_raisin

I have to say this whole thread is very amusing

Best part is that nobody has realised that the battery on most ebikes only last 25-30km. And they only assist pedalling, you still need to pedal the bike

I haven't done many charity cycles but the ones I've seen have different length courses, 40km, 80km & 120km being one I've seen

So an ebike would only really help out for the shortest course, which tends to be the "fun" course anyway. It won't make any difference on a long course

I don't think bringing an ebike to a charity cycle is lazy. You could make the same argument against bikes with gears

And FWIW, I don't sponsor people for charity events based on the amount of suffering they're expected to endure

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117954324#Comment_117954324

ah some people are just mental on the internets, hope you enjoy your 'cycle'

Sussedit

these bikes will definitely do more than 30km as I’ve used them before cycling the greenway. If you don’t use the really high settings they last longer. As previous poster mentioned you do have to pedal plenty. As for suffering, the last time I cycled 55 km on one I had difficulty going down stairs and getting off the loo for a few days so I can guarantee I will suffer a small bit 😂

all joking aside I just don’t want a scenario where people will be mean to us!

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117954562#Comment_117954562

dont mind the a-holes, enjoy the day

loyatemu

if it's next year, you've plenty of time to get in shape to do it on a regular bike - 50km is very doable, even with a dodgy knee.

can always have the eBikes as a backup plan.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117954364#Comment_117954364

Charity sportives usually highlight that it is not a race. If people take it seriosuly then they should take up racing but it is a fun social event that raises money for charity - nothing else.

Best part is that nobody has realised that the battery on most ebikes only last 25-30km.

erm, I did on pg1...

However, I would advise that depending on how long the charity cycle is, you could run out of battery charge and end up using as much energy as you would have on a regular bike.

dahat

I’m sure a few will appreciate the pacing from an e bike on the day.

Donate to the charity & enjoy your day on the e bike.