My wife and I are both senior citizens.
These are the E-bikes we have:
I am very considerate and careful on my bike, and she follows my example. We do between 10-15 mph (with a max speed of 27, but if I alter the default settings, can get it up to 30-35 mph. I don't alter the settings.
The only time I go at max speed (26-27 mph) is when there is nobody else on the trail, or if I am on a road cutting over from my house to a trail, or trail to trail.
We take them on vacation, see if there are new bike trails we haven't been on. Last year, we did a beautiful one up in Vermont that went along the coast of Lake Champlain, the only problem is, it ends in Burlington, VT which is a fever swamp of Moonbattery.
We are older. Neither of us is in great shape, and to go out on a walking trail and walk isn't something we enjoy. The E-Bikes let us see things in a way, together, and we can converse through our helmets. I figure we only have a few more years on them, but we sure like it. Like many older couples, we need to find things we can both do together, and this is one of them.
But we have to be careful. Even at our age, a small dump on the bike can be serious.
Just four years ago, I was riding on my own, and on a paved trail, there were some pedestrians, so doing about 13 mph, I diverted onto a narrow worn path on the grass that was parallel to the rail trail to give them space, and up ahead, the path went back onto the trail. As I approached the bump where the trail met back up with the paved part, I stood up on the pedals. At that point a young couple appeared on the trail with their backs to me.
I was still about 50 feet away, I gave them a ring of the bell I have on the bike, and suddenly the guy turned off the trail and walked in front of me. (I presume he thought I was coming behind him on the trail, and he stepped off, right into my path) My eyes were on him, and being unfamiliar with the trail, there was a large tree root the cut across the trail about four or six inches high, and with my eyes on the pedestrian, I didn't see the tree root. I hit it and flew about 15 feet through the air (measured from the root to where I landed) while out of the corner of my eye, I could see the bike flying above me, spinning in the air.
I hit the packed dirt hard, and the bike landed in front of me. I lay there motionless for about five seconds, wondering if I was going to sustain some injury, then gradually began to move my legs and arms. Nothing appeared hurt or broken, and I sat up. A woman in a car, and a guy on a bike who saw what happened came rushing over, but the guy who stepped in front of me just went on his way with his girlfriend. They both couldn't understand why the guy just stepped out in front of me like that.
Amazing. I only ended up with road rash on one leg and a crushed eyeglass case, it could have been worse. I was 64 at the time, and I felt pretty lucky to have flown through the air like that and impacted the ground with such minor injuries. Amazingly, for flying through the air like that, the bike had zero damage. Nothing. I thought it would be wrecked, but like I said, it weighs 60 Lbs and is built like a Sherman tank.
And I have grown quite adept at managing the energy level. After having to pedal that 60 lb bike for four or five miles one cold November evening in New England, I learned that wasn't a mistake I wanted to make again.
It is also why I don't want to own an electric car. I despise having to watch my power gauge which is inaccurate. But I learned how to interpret it.