Electric bikes a welcome boost for pedal power

HAVING never seen an electric bike before, I had the false preconception that it was a first cousin to the electric car and that you could drive it like those bicycles you sometimes see in France with a little motor attached to the front wheel.

But that, I was informed by Derek at City View Wheels in Cork, would make it a self-propelled vehicle that would require a licence, tax and insurance.

The difference between this bike and a more conventional one is that, as you pedal, an electric motor assists you. It works along the same lines as the power of prayer: just as God only helps those who help themselves, so too will the power of the electric motor intervene only when you start pedalling.