upvote
What value is a friendship or connection that can not withstand a few months of "for the next months I will ride with some slower group" or "I may join you for the beginning but I can not go all the way"?
reply
What a weird take. It's not a case of "withstanding" a friendship, it's a case of enjoying some time with your buddies. If you enjoy spending time with the people you usually ride with why wouldn't you if given the ability to do so?
reply
What does "can not" even mean in this context? You could refuse to use an e-bike just like you could refuse to use an expensive bicycle.

Perhaps more interesting, a lot of people I know do train but don't push themselves to the limit. There is always something left in the tank. If their goal is to train to improve it's very [lets say] expensive. They invest a lot for small returns.

Now what if you could keep going if you would otherwise feel the need to quit?

I cycle for a good while then have to guess if ill still be able make it back home. Usually I bet on the safe side. When I bet to low I could add a few laps around the block but this requires an odd kind of discipline that I seem to lack.

Rather than grow it turns into a maintenance routine. If I wanted to do maintenance I would do much less and less frequent.

reply
> You could refuse to use an e-bike just like you could refuse to use an expensive bicycle.

I don't know if we are talking about the same thing. I am taking the argument from OP about "people recovering from surgery might need electric assist to keep up with the A-group", and I'm questioning this need.

If someone wants to have some assistance, then by all means go ahead and use it. I'm just not seeing why someone would need to have this sort of assistance, unless they are just doing some poor post-hoc rationalization for their wants.

reply
"Need in order to" is a common construction in English. It refers to a necessary condition, without placing any absolute constraints on the necessity. (Who's to say how the absolute "need" is defined? Do we need to live? Do we need good food, positive social interactions, exercise, shelter?)
reply
> "Need in order to" is a common construction in English.

I was paraphrashing. OP's original comment said "For some guys a high-end electric assist bike is how they stay riding with the A-group while they're recovering."

What I question here is, simply put, why "stay riding with the A-group" is in any way important? While one is recovering from surgery, what is so bad about riding with a B-group? Or why not ride with that A-group, but for a shorter distance?

reply