As a kid I went everywhere on my bike and loved it - the cycling and the bike, even though it was a very basic six-geared road bike, with added cowhorns and knobblies, but then moved to London for uni and found buses and tubes so handy I got out of the habit of riding. After uni and no idea what I wanted to do, I bought a small motorbike, and loved that too, and then needing work I became a motorbike courier, and went through a few bikes - a couple of accidents, one was stolen, then cash problems forced me to get a cheap bike to keep me working and as it ground to a halt 50 yards from my front door having spent most of the weekend fettling it for the week ahead, I decided enough was enough and started looking for office work. Then a friend dropped by, who I'd met at one of the courier companies - he'd loved 'Guzzies, so I was surprised to see him on a push bike. He'd swapped petrol for leg power, and though the money was less, so were his costs and he was getting fit again into the bargain, and he persuaded me to give it a go, too. I'll get to the point - I did that for a few years, and after deciding I'd had a good run with no serious injuries I decided to get an office job, cycling in to the west end but arriving sweaty - after being a cycle courier, it's nigh impossible not go really go for it and as I progressed up the greasy pole the sweaty cyclist look didn't really fit and so stopped that and then gradually got out of the habit of riding at all.
Then, some 20 years later, having moved to Cornwall, got out of the rat race (though still working) and wishing I hadn't just dumped my Scott, I saw the Gtech ad on telly. I was 56, still smoking 15 a day (I'm trying the patches at the moment), hadn't done any exercise for 20 years, plus a heart attack (complete recovery) and thought that if I'm going to get back into cycling given those factors, I'd go electric. I did no research, but found a refurbished Gtech on eBay, and haven't looked back.
I then bought a Chinese rear hub wheel motor and popped it on a Specialzed mtb (and if the Bosch mid-motors are really so much better than hub motors, they must be amazing!). The Gtech was okay, except for the drag as soon as you go over 15.5mph, but I forced myself to do it and got quite fit quite quickly - and that led me to get a pushbike and now I use whatever happens to take my fancy. I still can't walk up long hills without getting puffed, but I can cycle on pedal power alone for miles - muscle memory, I guess.
My stable has grown - I've got six bikes, 3 pedal powered, three electric, and it's my all-consuming hobby, both in the shed changing bits for the sake of it as much as anything, and riding whenever commitments and weather (10 years working outside - I've done my bit in the rain!) allow. Anyone that dismisses ebikes as cheating is missing the point. They're enormous fun, and can lead to increased fitness, mobility and are simply fascinating too. Strength to all of us!
