Kootenay Mountain Culture magazine has started using electric bikes to do local deliveries.

Mountain Culture Group and Pedego Electric Bikes have joined forces to deliver magazines in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia via electric bicycle. Rather than burn fossil fuels, we’ve chosen to use electric cargo bikes to deliver boxes of magazines. Each box can weigh upwards of 60 pounds so the Pedego Stretch cargo electric bike is our steed of choice to get the magazines to retailers. This video shows just how easy it is to bicycle around Nelson (even up hills) using a Pedego.

Being an independently owned publishing company, Mountain Culture Group does all its own distribution, from Tofino to Portland to Calgary. For the long-haul trips we elect to use Toyota trucks because of the distances and loads we carry but when it comes to local deliveries, as well as commuting, we realized the trucks were overkill. That said, it’s no fun sweating your butt off lugging around heavy boxes of magazines on a normal bike. Nor is it that enjoyable grinding up the Nelson hills. So, we chose to go with the electric bike offerings of locally-based Pedego Canada, which offers 18 different models of ebikes from cargos to cruisers.

We now use City Commuter electric bikes to get around town and the burly Stretch cargo electric bike to lug loads of up to 400 pounds.

Above: KMC Managing Editor Vince Hempsall delivers a heavy box of publications to Valhalla Pure Nelson in downtown Nelson, BC, using a Pedego Stretch electric cargo bike. Top: Vince and Nelson Brewing Company brewmaster Simon Barna enjoy some reading in between delivery stops.

The most notable thing about using an electric bike is how much fun it is. Driving around town, having to find parking and then paying for it is never that much fun. But with an electric bike you can cruise right to the front door of where you’re going and park it for free. And you never have to break into a sweat because the bike’s motor can assist you when you’re riding into a headwind or up a steep hill. (Or you can choose to keep it in normal bike mode and not engage the electric motor.)

In the summer 2016 issue of Kootenay Mountain Culture magazine we did an article about the rise of electric bike technology and there were some detractors who believed electric bikes do not belong on singletrack, non-motorized riding trails. That debate continues but when it come to riding around town, we can’t say enough good things about using electric bikes versus cars or regular bikes or any other form of transportation. (There’s no way in hell you’d ever catch us on a scooter.)

For more information regarding Pedego electric bikes, visit pedegoelectricbikes.ca.

The Pedego Stretch electric cargo bike can haul upwards of 400 pounds effortlessly. Which is good ’cause our magazines are so heavy and full of amazing content.