Updated: Apr 26, 2019

Fall is a perfect time to get outside, enjoy the beautiful Colorado weather, and get some exercise.

Exercise is one of the most amazing therapies for our bodies and minds. It keeps us lean, lowers our blood pressure, keeps our blood sugar balanced, and can free the mind from anxiety. When we exercise on a regular basis, we feel strong, energized, and happy. Along with healthy food and fulfilling relationships, exercise is basically the golden ticket to feeling good—but only if we have fun doing it.

At the Care Group, we often ask our patients what they enjoy doing for exercise. We started to hear the buzz about how much our patients love riding their electric-assist bikes. They were saying things like “exercise is no longer a chore,” and “I look forward to my rides every day,” and “exercise has become fun again!”

I had to find out for myself what this excitement over the electric-assist bike was all about. An electric-assist bike looks just like a regular bicycle except that it also has a battery-powered motor.

Although rules vary from location to location, you generally are permitted to ride the electric-assist bike anywhere you would ride a regular bicycle—on trails, down paths, or in the bike lanes of city streets. There is a distinction between bikes that require you to pedal to engage the engine versus those that have a throttle which will power the bike without pedaling (check your local park guidelines to learn whether electric bikes are allowed on your path).

You might think that riding an electric-assist bike is cheating in some way, but the reality is exactly the opposite. I have found that what my patients were raving about is true: the electric-assist bike allows me to ride farther, longer, and exercise even more than I would on a regular bike. I can ride for miles downhill with no concern about making it back up. I can turn on the full-assist turbo, pedal as fast as I can, and cover twice the distance in half the time.

The electric-assist bike gives me a sense of freedom to ride longer, harder, and farther than I would otherwise ride. It has made biking fun and carefree again. I am outdoors, I am seeing the sights of Colorado, I am exercising, and it is not a chore. In short—I love it!

I purchased my electric-assist bike from Bicycle Village in Aurora. The service team at Bicycle Village is fabulous! There are also several other bike shops around town that offer the option to rent electric-assist bikes and give them a try. Check them out, and enjoy the ride!

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About The Care Group: We promote optimal wellness by providing an individualized, functional medicine approach to address root causes rather than simply treating symptoms. We help patients with a wide range of issues including autoimmune/ inflammatory disease, digestive disorders, hormone imbalances, and mood disorders. To learn more about our practice, click here.

About the Author: Dr. Gerard Guillory, MD is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and has published two books on Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). In 1985, he opened The Care Group, PC. Today, his clinic is a Primary Care facility that is a hybrid of functional and traditional medicine treating patients with digestive disorders, autoimmune disease, and other conditions. You can learn more about Dr. Guillory here.