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From: Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@sbcglobal.net>
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: Electric bicycles, social policy & culture
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2025 12:40:59 -0400
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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.

-- 
- Frank Krygowski