Is riding an e-bike good exercise? Is it safe?

Le vélo électrique est-il un vrai sport ? Est-ce sans danger ?

Quels sont les bienfaits du vélo électrique ?

Cette année, le vélo a le vent en poupe : on vante ses vertus de moyen de transport écologique, bon pour la santé et, comparé aux transports en commun, réduisant le risque de contagion au coronavirus. Pour les plus longs trajets, nombre de consommateurs se tournent vers son alter-ego, le vélo électrique. Mais ce dernier a-t-il les mêmes bienfaits ?

As most of us are likely aware, bike riding has become extremely popular and aspirational this year, since so many of us are otherwise housebound. Riding gets us outside, active and heading somewhere — anywhere — else. But it also involves distance, hills, wind and sometimes leaden legs, which can be daunting. Enter e-bikes. Short for electric bikes, these are road or mountain bikes with an added battery-powered motor to goose pedaling power.

2. In the US, e-bikes sales have soared by 70% or more each month since the pandemic began, according to industry statistics. But this popularity may carry a price. Many of us have heard other stories about e-bike accidents. And some people wonder if riding one, with its pedal assistance, counts as a workout.

3. On that last count, though, a German study published in The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is reassuring. The volunteers who took part in the study agreed to alternate riding either a standard bicycle or an e-bike over two separate two-week periods. The researchers wanted to see how people, on their own initiative, would use the different bikes and whether their riding would change with the e-bikes.

DOES IT COUNT AS EXERCISE?

4. Electric assistance did change their habits. In general, the men and women rode more often during the two weeks with ebikes, averaging about five rides a week then, versus three a week with standard cycles. During the two weeks when the volunteers rode e-bikes, they accumulated sufficient minutes of moderate physical activity to meet the standard exercise recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate activity. When they rode the standard bikes, they did not.

CAREFUL WITH THE SPEED!

5. Another study published by Injury Prevention, is more cautionary, however. For it, researchers at New York University’s School of Medicine combed a national database of emergency room visits. In general, the e-bike injuries were more severe and more likely to require hospitalization [compared to normal bike injuries].

6. “We know that e-bikes can go faster than traditional pedal cycles,” said Charles DiMaggio, who led the study, ''And we know that increased speed often results in more-severe injuries.”

7. Before venturing out onto roads or paths on an e-bike, “familiarize yourself with the bike,” he said. “Wear a helmet. Follow traffic rules. Don’t drink and ride.”

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deep profond / NHS = National Health Service système de santé public britannique (équivalent de la Sécurité sociale) / relief soulagement; ici, stress relief détente, relaxation / safe en sécurité, pas en danger / to rest se reposer / response réaction / flight fuite. 5. so that ici, ce qui signifie que / rib côte / to puff out se gonfler/soulever /

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